From: riander@well.sf.ca.us (Richard Ivan Anderson)
Newsgroups: ba.seminars,comp.human-factors,comp.cog-eng
Subject: BayCHI (Oct 13) - Beyond UI Widgets & CPSR / J Johnson (reminder)
Date: 29 Sep 92 00:44:18 GMT
Distribution: ba
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link


                                      BayCHI,
                       the San Francisco Bay Area ACM SIGCHI
             (Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction),
                          announces its October meeting:

                            Tuesday, October 13, 1992
                                  7:30 - 9:30 pm


                       Going Beyond User Interface Widgets
                                        &
                 Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
                     (Current Programs / Questions & Answers)
 
                           Jeff Johnson, HP Laboratories


                               Xerox PARC Auditorium
                               3333 Coyote Hill Road
                               Palo Alto, CA 94304

ABSTRACT: Going Beyond User Interface Widgets

Most UI toolkits and UIMSs make use of widgets, e.g., buttons, text
fields, sliders, menus.  Designers construct user interfaces by
choosing and laying out widgets, then connecting them to application
semantics.  This approach has four problems.  First, most widgets are
too low-level;  constructing interfaces from them takes too much work. 
Second, working with widgets focuses attention on appearance and layout
issues, rather than on more important semantic design issues.  Third,
designers can easily make poor widget choices, yielding poor
interfaces.  Fourth, widgets do not mesh well with application
semantics;  they know nothing about the variables they control.  We are
developing an application construction environment in which designers
and implementers work with semantic-based controls called Selectors
rather than with widgets.  Selectors are classified according to their
interface semantics (e.g., mutually-exclusive choice), rather than
their appearance.  Each type of Selector can be presented in a variety
of ways; this may be chosen semi-automatically.  Selectors mesh well
with application semantics:  their values are application data-types
and their views determine how to present valid values automatically.

ABSTRACT: Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
              (Current Programs / Questions & Answers)

CPSR is a public-interest alliance of computer professionals interested
in the impact of computer technology on society.  We work to influence
decisions regarding the development and use of computers because those
decisions have far-reaching consequences and reflect basic values and
priorities.  As technical experts, CPSR members provide the public and
policymakers with realistic assessments of the power, promise, and
limitations of computer technology.  CPSR programs include: 
Reliability and Risk of Computing Technology, Civil Liberties and
Privacy, Computers in the Workplace, Women in Computing, and The 21st
Century Project.  Jeff will give a brief overview and history of the
organization, describe its current programs and activities, and then
take questions from the audience.

BIOGRAPHY

Jeff Johnson has worked as a user interface researcher at
Hewlett-Packard Labs since late 1988.  Prior to that, he was a
researcher at US West Advanced Technologies, a designer and implementor
at Xerox, and a software engineer and manager at Cromemco.  He received
B.A. and Ph.D. degrees in cognitive psychology from Yale and Stanford
Universities, respectively.  His interests include application
development technology, principles of user interface design, document
editing systems, participatory design, and making computer technology
accessible to the general public.  He is Chair of Computer
Professionals for Social Responsibility.

***************************************************************************

                             COMING ATTRACTION

        November 11
        Groupware Success: Barriers and Strategies
        Ellen Francik, Pacific Bell

***************************************************************************

                                About BayCHI

BayCHI, the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of ACM's Special Interest
Group on Computer-Human Interaction, brings together systems designers,
human factors engineers, computer scientists, psychologists, social
scientists, users, ... from throughout the Bay Area to hear and to
exchange ideas about computer-human interaction and about the design
and evaluation of user interfaces.

To join BayCHI, which will get you added to the mailing list for the
newsletter, enable your access to the jobbank, enable your listing in
and access to the consultants directory, ..., send a note to
SAnderson.chi@xerox.com or to BayCHI, PO Box 25, Menlo Park, CA 94026,
and we will send you a membership form.  Membership forms are also
available at the BayCHI meetings.

***************************************************************************

                         BayCHI Steering Committee

The BayCHI steering committee meetings are open to anyone who is interested
in attending.  The meetings are generally held the first Tuesday of the month
at 7:30 p.m.  Please contact any member of the committee for directions to the
meeting.

Chair/Program Chair    Richard Anderson    rianderson.chi@xerox.com
Vice Chair             Rosemary Wick       wick.chi@xerox.com
Treasurer              Ulrike Creach       415-423-0843
Past Chair             Kathy Hemenway      hemenway@sun.com
 
BOF Coordinator        David Rowley        rowley@varian.com
South Bay Interface
Designers BOF          Desiree McCrorey    Desiree_McCrorey@smtp.esl.com
OSF/Motif BOF          Lora Shirley        lora@askinc.ask.com
 
Dinner Coordinator     Kate Finn           finn.chi@xerox.com
Publicity/HFS Liason   Susan Wolfe         wolfe_susan@tandem.com
SIGCHI Liason          Don Patterson       patterson.chi@xerox.com
Job Bank               Richard Yamauchi    yamauchi.chi@xerox.com
 
Newsletter             Steve Anderson      SAnderson.chi@xerox.com
Elections/Newsletter   David Simkin        david@makesys.com
Member-at-Large        Ellen Francik       epfrancik@pacbell.com
Member-at-Large        Clark Streeter      streeter@nersc.gov
 
 
            BayCHI -- P.O. Box 25 -- Menlo Park, CA -- 94026
 
 
***************************************************************************

                           Directions to Xerox PARC

>From Highway 280, take the Page Mill Road exit. Go east one mile to Coyote
Hill Road (no light) and turn right. Go 1/2 mile and PARC will be on your
left. Follow the signs to the auditorium.

>From 101, take the Oregon Expressway exit west 2 miles to El Camino Real.
Oregon Expressway becomes Page Mill Road at El Camino Real. Follow Page
Mill Road 1.7 miles to Coyote Hill Road (no light) and turn left. Coyote
Hill Road is just past the intersection with Foothill Expressway. Go 1/2
mile and PARC will be on your left. Follow the signs to the auditorium.
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