Research Needs for Human Factors (1983) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 78-124
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From page 78... ...
Gantz and Peacock (1981) estimate that the total computer power available to U.S.
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From page 79... ...
The f indings of that study are generally in agreemen t with more informal reports in the popular press and other media about cliff iculties people have with computers and their use. Indeed, concerns about mak ing computers easy to use can have serious economic consequences that may have to be faced by more and more computer manufacturers .
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First, computer hardware, software, and interface design features are changing very rapidly (for a summary of the trends and progress in computer development see Branscomb, 1982) So, for example, the increased availability of modularly arranged components for microcomputers for personal use, in the office and at school as well as new networking and communications features allow design improvements to be made quickly by trial and error.
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81 able results. Constraints and opportunities are therefore more likely than assigned priorities to dictate what research is performed.
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Hardware means input devices, output display, and signaling devices, and the work station that the computer operator has to use. 4 m e Software.
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83 to categorize or classify computer users into various g romps or along var ious d imens ions, there is today no generally accepted way of doing either. Computer tasks, by contrast, can be cla~sif fed under the same headings an are used in task analyses.
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From page 84... ...
stand and identify which of many possible user characteristics are important for software design. In addition, research is needed to understand how to express and t ranslate user character ist ins into terms that can be used in systems design, i.e., into specifications for des igners of system sof tware .
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85 SYNTACTIC KNOWLEDGE I ittle g little LL 3 o if a cat a lot of Cal a tot . Naive user Data entry job control language (JCL)
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has addressed this issue in part. Perhaps the two most press ing research needs in this area are to f ind some meaningful way of classifying or categorizing users and translating user characteristics into specific recommendations that can be used In the des ign of computer hardware, software, and documentation.
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From page 87... ...
COMPUTER HARDWARE Computer hardware cannot be designed in isolation because the kind of hardware available on a computer terminal determines in part the kinds of dialog and the kinds of command languages that can be implemented in the system. Ideally, decisions about important aspects of computer dialogs should precede decis ions about terminal hardware .
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From page 94... ...
Research is needed that will lead to a set of recommenda-~ tions about the kinds of input devices that are best suited to general classes of tasks (e.g., text input, input of numerical data, selection of commands and operands from displays, discrete positional [graphical] input, and continuous positional [graphical]
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96 TABLE 5-2 Recommendations for the Use of Auditory and Visual Form of Presentation Use auditory presentation if: 1. The message is simple.
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From page 96... ...
First, the recommendations are oriented more toward output devices rather than input devices -- that is, they do not compare speech with other possible forms of data input. however attractive speech may appear as an input medium, some data are available suggesting that it is not necessarily the solution for all situations (see, for example, Braunstein and Anderson, 1961)
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From page 97... ...
displays are the most common forms of output devices used in computer systems, there are numerous other possibilities: plasma displays; light-emitting diodes (LED) and liquid crystal displays; tactile ~ displays; audio displays, including synthetic speech; graphical displays; laser displays; and even psychophysiological output devices.
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99 c cn ~0 ~ ~ ~o : ~- Is a, ~O o ~x .
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From page 101... ...
Questions on the use of color on CRT displays is also still essentially unresolved. The advantages of color coding for identification purposes are, of course, well documented, but the long-term effects of working with colored CRT displays for data entry, inquiry, or interactive dialog are not known.
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From page 102... ...
Workplace Design Computer displays and input devices are generally assembled into work stations consisting of terminals, consoles, desks, and chairs. There in, of course, a very large and useful literature on the physical layout of workplaces (see, for example, Van Cott and Kinkade, 1972)
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From page 103... ...
Computer work stations in America appear to be as poorly designed as those in Europe (see Grandjean and Vigliani, 1980; Brown et al., 1982) , forcing operators to adopt strained postures and to contend with glare and generally substandard viewing conditions (Ketchel, 1981)
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From page 104... ...
Vibration, high-g forces, immersion in water, and perhaps other environmental conditions affect machines as well as their operators. Certain input devices, for example, light pens or even keyboards, rely be difficult or impossible to use when the computer and the operator are subjected to excessive movement, vibration, or g-forces.
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From page 105... ...
Many authors express the need for additional careful research studies in software design and criticize many current results as incomplete and inconsistent due to poor methodology, use of subj eat populations limited to particular types of users (e.g., college students) , inadequate experimental designs, and misuse or poor use of statistics.
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We need research to evaluate how important feedback and system response time are for improving user efficiency or ease of use. There is a need for methodology and quantification of user ease and efficiency.
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107 A variety of studies are needed in order to evaluate how best to develop natural language dialog systems and in particular what kinds of language-based models of human communication are most appropriate for commands in operating systems, editing systems, knowledge-based systems, and query systems for human computer interactions (e.g., Reisner, 1981)
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From page 108... ...
. AS a final point, it should be noted that we need research on the interaction between hardware and software design features as new developments such as voice input and video disks become more commonly incorporated into all types of computer systems.
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109 system it describes or explains. Recent experience indicates that on-line documentation has many advantages over print-on-paper documentation.
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The latter research has led to many improvements and the total effect has been significant, but, insofar as conventional documentation is concerned, diminishing returns have set in. Computer-based documentation, by contrast, with the capability of the computer, offers hope of a very major advance.
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From page 111... ...
111 conclusion is that now Is the time to make a strong research attack on computer-based documental ion, including self-instructional programs, coherent system-wide help systems, documentation keyed to the behavior of programs (so that an error calls forth an explanation of what went wrong) , and programming languages that write programs to explain themselves.
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From page 112... ...
With the iconic approach, it may be possible to provide something analogous to a zoom lens, through which one would be able to monitor and control the broad The computer Is picture as long as everything proceeds according to plan, then focus on the offending details as soon as trouble arises. Documentation in the Form of Knowledge Bases Conventional documentation takes the forms of natural language text, diagrams, sketches, pictures, and tables of data; it is designed exclusively to be read by eye.
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From page 113... ...
understanding the target group of people that the documentation is intended to help and the tasks in which they will be engaged when they use the documentation and (2) using computer systems, with good editors, formatters, and composers to facilitate creation and production of conventional documentation.
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From page 114... ...
Studies in evaluating software are barely beginning to provide data for design use. We don't yet know how to conduct systematic research studies in software design, what independent variables are most important, and what dependent variables of human-computer interaction should be recorded.
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From page 115... ...
International Journal of Man-Machine Studies 4:2SS-284. Al-Awar, 3., Chapanis, A., and Ford, W
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IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics ., HFE-2:56-57. Brown, B
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IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics HFE-~:21-32. Dolotta, T
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IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics NFE-8:5-15. Federico, Pat-Anthony 1980 Management Information Systems and Organizational Behavior.
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119 Hornsby, M
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IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics HFE-3:62-65. __ Mayer, Richard E
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121 Myer, T
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122 Shackel, Br fan 1981 The Concept of Usability. Paper presented at the Software and Information Usability Symposium, IBM, Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
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From page 123... ...
J 1967 Human Operator Response Speed, Frequency, and Flexibility: A Review Analysis and Device Demonstration.
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124 Williges, Robert C., and Williges, Beverly lit 1981 Users' Considerations in Computer Based Information Systems. Technical Report CSIE-81-2 .
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