KnowledgePro windows: The order of merit?

The producers of KnowledgePro look set with their latest release of KPWIN (KnowledgePro Windows) to fulfil Richard Hale‐Shaw's prophecy that it will become ‘one of the most powerful visual development environments’ (Hale‐Shaw 1992). Comparisons are drawn in this paper between the KPWIN family of products and other authoring tools. The conclusion is that KPWIN is worthy of being included in any courseware developer's tool set. Reasons for preferring a tool from the KnowledgePro family of products for courseware development over three main competitors ‐ Authorware, Toolbook and Visual Basic ‐ are explained, and the merits of KPWIN and KPWIN++ (a version that generates C++ code) are examined

SWiM: A Simple Window Mover

As computers become more ubiquitous, traditional two-dimensional interfaces must be replaced with interfaces based on a three-dimensional metaphor. However, these interfaces must still be as simple and functional as their two-dimensional predecessors. This paper introduces SWiM, a new interface for moving application windows between various screens, such as wall displays, laptop monitors, and desktop displays, in a three-dimensional physical environment. SWiM was designed based on the results of initial "paper and pencil" user tests of three possible interfaces. The results of these tests led to a map-like interface where users select the destination display for their application from various icons. If the destination is a mobile display it is not displayed on the map. Instead users can select the screen's name from a list of all possible destination displays. User testing of SWiM was conducted to discover whether it is easy to learn and use. Users that were asked to use SWiM without any instructions found the interface as intuitive to use as users who were given a demonstration. The results show that SWiM combines simplicity and functionality to create an interface that is easy to learn and easy to use.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Human factors workplace considerations

Computer workstations assume many different forms and play different functions today. In order for them to assume the effective interface role which they should play they must be properly designed to take into account the ubiguitous human factor. In addition, the entire workplace in which they are used should be properly configured so as to enhance the operational features of the individual workstation where possible. A number of general human factors workplace considerations are presented. This ongoing series of notes covers such topics as achieving comfort and good screen visibility, hardware issues (e.g., mouse maintenance), screen symbology features (e.g., labels, cursors, prompts), and various miscellaneous subjects. These notes are presented here in order to: (1) illustrate how one's workstation can be used to support telescience activities of many other people working within an organization, and (2) provide a single complete set of considerations for future reference

Second language user support

Computer users rarely experience entirely trouble-free interaction. The natural variety ofindividuals ensures that no software systems yield constantly fluent interaction for allusers. In consequence, software designers often strive to ameliorate this situation bybuilding 'user support' into their systems. User support can take different forms but,conventionally, each aims to assist the needy end-user by means of facilities directly supporting the performance of certain operations, or through supply of information thatadvises the user on available system functionality.The present paper briefly characterises a range of user support facilities before describingone requirement in greater detail. This aspect considers the needs of users whose mother-tongue is not English, but who are obliged to use English-based information systems. Inthis context, 'helping the user' must reasonably extend beyond mere advice on systemoperation to selective elucidation of information content. We regard this move as alogical extension of the user support concept, by seeking to address specific interactionneeds in a target user population. An example of this approach is described through aninformation system, in the domain of civil engineering, for native Chinese speakers ofEnglish

Second language user support

Computer users rarely experience entirely trouble-free interaction. The natural variety ofindividuals ensures that no software systems yield constantly fluent interaction for allusers. In consequence, software designers often strive to ameliorate this situation bybuilding 'user support' into their systems. User support can take different forms but,conventionally, each aims to assist the needy end-user by means of facilities directly supporting the performance of certain operations, or through supply of information thatadvises the user on available system functionality.The present paper briefly characterises a range of user support facilities before describingone requirement in greater detail. This aspect considers the needs of users whose mother-tongue is not English, but who are obliged to use English-based information systems. Inthis context, 'helping the user' must reasonably extend beyond mere advice on systemoperation to selective elucidation of information content. We regard this move as alogical extension of the user support concept, by seeking to address specific interactionneeds in a target user population. An example of this approach is described through aninformation system, in the domain of civil engineering, for native Chinese speakers ofEnglish

The role of metaphor in user interface design

The thesis discusses the question of how unfamiliar computing systems, particularly those with graphical user interfaces, are learned and used. In particular, the approach of basing the design and behaviour of on-screen objects in the system's model world on a coherent theme and employing a metaphor is explored. The drawbacks, as well as the advantages, of this approach are reviewed and presented. The use of metaphors is also contrasted with other forms of users' mental models of interactive systems, and the need to provide a system image from which useful mental models can be developed is presented. Metaphors are placed in the context of users' understanding of interactive systems and novel application is made of the Qualitative Process Theory (QPT) qualitative reasoning model to reason about the behaviour of on-screen objects, the underlying system functionality, and the relationship between the two. This analysis supports reevaluation of the domains between which user interface metaphors are said to form mappings. A novel user interface design, entitled Medusa, that adopts guidelines for the design of metaphor-based systems, and for helping the user develop successful mental models, based on the QPT analysis and an empirical study of a popular metaphor-based system, is described. The first Medusa design is critiqued using well-founded usability inspection method. Employing the Lakoff/Johnson theory, a revised version of the Medusa user interface is described that derives its application semantics and dialogue structures from the entailments of the knowledge structures that ground understanding of the interface metaphor and that capture notions of embodiment in interaction with computing devices that QPT descriptions cannot. Design guidelines from influential existing work, and new methods of reasoning about metaphor-based designs, are presented with a number of novel graphical user interface designs intended to overcome the failings of existing systems and design approaches

Operational computer graphics in the flight dynamics environment

Over the past five years, the Flight Dynamics Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Goddard Space Flight Center has incorporated computer graphics technology into its operational environment. In an attempt to increase the effectiveness and productivity of the Division, computer graphics software systems have been developed that display spacecraft tracking and telemetry data in 2-d and 3-d graphic formats that are more comprehensible than the alphanumeric tables of the past. These systems vary in functionality from real-time mission monitoring system, to mission planning utilities, to system development tools. Here, the capabilities and architecture of these systems are discussed