HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: dmark@acsu.buffalo.edu (David Mark)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: Color considered harmful
Date: 12 Apr 92 15:30:55 GMT
Organization: UB

In article <2779@ncrhitc.AtlantaGA.NCR.COM> bethm@ncrhitc.AtlantaGA.NCR.COM (Beth Meyer) writes:
>One point that has been made several times in this discussion of color in the
>interface is that it is very useful to allow the user to customize the palette.
>I fundamentally agree; I have observed that users (myself included) derive a
>large amount of satisfaction out of selecting, creating and using a color
>combination that appeals to them.
>

In fact, I think that for at least some applications, the user should *not*
be given control of the important aspects of color.  Consider a choropleth
map in which zones (such as states) are shaded to show the distribution
of some variable (say, unemployment, or infant mortality).  It is well
established in cartography that quantitative differences for a single 
variable should be shown by varying lightness (value) while keeping
other color dimensions constant.  Either just use a gray scale, or pick a
single hue, and make the map have varing lighness for that hue.

A prototype system developed by Statistics Canada for census data did not
allow the user to change from a gray scale for the data.  They let the
user select the background color, position the title, and vary other 
unimportant aspects of the display, but did not let the user mess with the
essential elements, because few users have the training necessary to do this
properly.  One could relax this a little and allow the user to pick the 
dominant hue for the scale, but not the individual colors.  I think the 
research community knows enough about color scales, sequences, interpolation,
'meaning', etc., for this to be codified and used not just as defaults but
as restrictions on customization.  Users would be allowed to vary the
cosmetic/artistic aspects of the colors, but not the fundamental
representational aspects.

David Mark
dmark@sun.acsu.buffalo.edu
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: ltao@netcom.com (Lilly Tao)
Subject: Re: Hysterisitic Menus
Date: Tue, 07 Apr 92 17:36:05 GMT
Organization: Netcom Online

In article <1992Apr3.163737.15627@ee.rochester.edu> seah@ee.rochester.edu (David Seah) writes:

>Regarding the use of circular menus, I'd be interested in knowing how
>accurately people can perform diagonal movement with a mouse.  I suspect
>that certain angles of movement would be quite bad, depending on the way the
>mouse is held.  With circular menus, the settling time may be larger than
>that for regular old vertically-stacked pulldown menus, but this is mere
>speculation.
>

This is why (well-designed) pie menus are excellent for *pen* user
interfaces.  The user soon develops quick stroking gestures with
their pen.  Picking pie menu items, even several layers deep,
becomes a series of intuitive "gestures" like those used in handwriting 
recognition.  Momenta implemented what they call their "Command Compass"
into their pen pc's user interface.  For example, it allows users to 
quickly choose cut, move, copy or paste in a sketching program.


Lilly Tao
GRiD Systems Corporation			Fremont, CA

ltao@netcom.com
From: ron@isgtec.com (Ron Lipsius)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: Color considered harmful
Date: 8 Apr 92 18:35:10 GMT
Organization: ISG Technologies Inc., Mississauga Ontario


	It strikes me that when people are choosing colour for ordering
	they are making a mistake for all the colour blind people in
	the environment.  The least a person should be able to do is
	select a grey scale alternative to the colour ordering when
	one is presented, just out of consideration for those with
	that minor genetic trait (or those with headaches :)
	
	It also seems that people are trying to talk about the problems
	of describing a colour ordering for two dimensions only.  We do
	have three primary colours to choose from, and so to simplify
	things just throw out one colour.  When people look at a scale
	that goes from blue to red (through purple, with no other colours
	tossed in) they can identify the ordering.

	Personally I am neither for, nor against colour.  Sometimes 
	colour can be soothing, and sometimes a grey scale will be more
	appropriate to the environment.  I just don't ever EVER want to
	see colour used to indicate temperature where blue means HOT and
	red means COLD.  (This has been done in the past for water flow
	valves in nuclear power plants, but I do not have the reference 
	handy.  Anyone remember this?)

		Ron Lipsius	(ron@isgtec.com)
			Project Leader
				The Viewing Wand

	-- I have learned from my mistakes, and can repeat every one! --
From: matjmm@gsusgi1.gsu.edu (John Morgan Morris)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Menu studies
Date: 8 Apr 92 15:14:02 GMT
Organization: Georgia State University

I've recently been looking into some usability
issues involving menus. I've run across Paap and
Roske-Hofstrand's article in the Handbook of Human-
Computer Interaction. They cite several studies
that seem to show little or no performance benefits
for menus for any users.

I find this hard to believe. Are there any studies
that demonstrate performance benefits for menus?
Particularly for inexperienced users???

Later,
Morgan


-- 
John Morgan Morris
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA. 30303-3083
matjmm@gsusgi1.gsu.edu
(404) 651-2253
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: overmyer@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Scott Overmyer)
Subject: Re: Very poor human interface on Kubota tractor
Organization: George Mason University, Fairfax, Va.
Date: Wed, 15 Apr 1992 14:27:52 GMT

In article <167C8C211.JHARTLEY@cmsa.gmr.com> JHARTLEY@cmsa.gmr.com writes:
>In article <3746@vtserf.cc.vt.edu>
>cohill@vtserf.cc.vt.edu (Andrew M. Cohill) writes:
>>In article <j!sjabh.nagle@netcom.com> nagle@netcom.com (John Nagle) writes:
>>>cautions that failure to lock the pedal latch before operating the tractor
>>>on a road may result in tractor rollover if brakes are applied
>>>asymmetrically.
>>
>>Tractors are dangerous pieces of equipment.  If this worries you, don't
>>use them.
>
>I'd like to nominate this statement for the "Let Them Eat Cake"
>Human Factors award.  Rather than solving the problem, let's
>just tell all users that "tractors are dangerous and all you
>panzies that can't hack that shouldn't be on a tractor!"

I don't totally agree with Andrew, but I don't think your comment is
justified, either.  I believe that people who actually practice human
factors engineering or design (as opposed to those who just talk about
it), would agree that there is only so much that can be done to a design
to completely remove any safety hazards without severely impeding task
performance.

The space shuttle is one example, a tractor is another.  When I am going
down the road on a tractor, I must remember to lock the brake pedals
together; as a safety factor, I ride with my boot in the middle of the
pedal anyway, so that I am applying pressure equally to each pedal,
locked or not.

While there is much to be said for design considerations, there is also
much to be said for training and experience.  I have personally
experienced 11-12 year old kids who operate a tractor safely and with a
great deal of respect for the danger; as well as 35 year old yuppies who
have no appreciation for the function of the features which they
complain about.

scotto...

-- 
Scott P. Overmyer                 |  Phone: 703.683.8430 ext 712
Department of Systems Engineering |  
George Mason University           | 
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444 USA        | 
Xref: sparky comp.human-factors:1171 comp.graphics.visualization:781
From: dpkemp@afterlife.ncsc.mil (David P. Kemp)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors,comp.graphics.visualization
Subject: Re: Beyond bleeps and bloops: sound in the user interface
Date: 16 Apr 92 23:27:00 GMT
Organization: The Great Beyond

In article <LINDAHL.92Apr8032647@arrisun3.uta.edu> lindahl@arrisun3.uta.edu (Charlie Lindahl) writes:
>Basically, they discuss the auditory equivalents of graphical 
>visualization. One thing I remember from the paper, that was kinda
>cute, was the use of the term "earcon" (to replace the graphical
>"icon"). 

Oh great. Now we can have our Suns sound like a roomfull of Macs doing
Curley's "woo woo woo" or "the knights who say 'ni'" every time someone
gets an error.

I already have an officemate who has his cuckoo clock sounding off gunshots
every hour.

No thanks.


-- 
   Dave Kemp   dpkemp@afterlife.ncsc.mil              "Pave the Bay!"
   #include <std/disclaimer>
From: hopkins@coulin.turing.ac.uk (Don Hopkins)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: Color considered harmful
Date: 7 Apr 92 20:41:19 GMT
Reply-To: hopkins@uk.ac.turing
Organization: The Turing Institute, Glasgow, Scotland.

In article <FABBOTT.92Apr4152953@e40-008-8.mit.edu>, fabbott@athena.mit.edu (Freeland K Abbott III) writes:
|> 
|> The game SimCity (on the IBM at least) uses color on a map of the
|> "city" to indicate various things (depending on what the map is
|> set to illustrate--it's modal): population density, pop. growth, crime
|> rate, land value, whatever. 
[...]
|> SimCity also supplies a key to show the ordering of the scale, of
|> course (in general, red is "high" and blue is "low").  Come to think
|> of it, I'm not sure green is used, so it goes from red into yellow and
|> then to blue, with crosshatching inbetween.  

The colored rectangles that overlay the map to show density get in the
way of seeing the map though. Several of the displays (like traffic,
pollution, etc) have zero values in most places, which is no color
at all, so the map shows through, while non-zero values cover up 
those parts of the map. The population density map is pretty opaque,
so it's hard to see the correspondence with the buildings in the
city. The one positive/negative graph (showing rate of growth)
shows through to the map where the value is zero, and has a 
different color scale than the positive valued graphs.  (The positive
scale is gray, yellow, orange, red. The signed scale is light and dark
green for positive and more positive, and orange and yellow for 
negative and more negative. Both are transparent at zero.)

A couple hours ago, Arthur van Hoff suggested that the colored
squares overlayed on the map be stippled instead of solid, and I just
implemented it (I'm porting SimCity to the Sun, and it was a three 
line change to the code). It looks really nice now -- it stipples the
colors over the city map in a 50% checkerboard pattern, so it looks
like colored haze with buildings showing through, instead of opaque
blocks. It looks especially appropriate on the pollution map. (gray
smoke in the slightly polluted areas, with the factories or burning 
fires showing through!), and it makes the maps much useful, since
it's now possible to see the parts of the city whose properties are 
being graphed. 

	-Don
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: jgg@widget!uunet.uu.net (Xmiester)
Subject: Re: Looking for Published Flowcharts
Organization: EVB Software Engineering
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 14:32:26 GMT


>
>On the other hand, ER diagrams are totally incomprehensible
>even when one has a legend showing the local idioms.  Data
>flow diagrams likewise are perfect for cooked examples but
>breakdown immediately in real life.
>

Not that I'm really fond of the Structured Analysis methodology,
but if you follow the 7+/- 2 rule and incorporate a clean
abstraction in your model, then Data flow diagrams don't get as
busy as you claim.  

I've used Data Flow diagrams on LARGE complex aerospace projects 
with a high degree of success.

The key is that you use the concepts of abstraction and
encapsulation to help keep the view "simple" at all layers.

ER diagrams are another beasty, however :-(  If you need abstraction
in an ER diagram, then go Object-Oriented and start using Booch
clouds or some other method of Data abstraction.




-- 
John Goodsen
S/W Development Environmentalist
goodsenj@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: jboritz@alias.com (Jim Boritz)
Subject: Re: Hysterisitic Menus
Organization: Alias Research Inc., Toronto ON Canada
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 18:56:02 GMT

David Seah writes:

>>Regarding the use of circular menus, I'd be interested in knowing how
>>accurately people can perform diagonal movement with a mouse.  I suspect
>>that certain angles of movement would be quite bad, depending on the way the
>>mouse is held.  With circular menus, the settling time may be larger than
>>that for regular old vertically-stacked pulldown menus, but this is mere
>>speculation.

People seem to be about equally proficient in moving the mouse along
various angular trajectories.  There are some minor performance differences
but only a few are actually statistically signicant.   The most surprising
thing is that the slowest selection occurs when the object to be selected
occurs directly below the starting position of the cursor.

--
Jim Boritz					Alias Research Inc.
jboritz@alias.com
- You wouldn't buy your food from your dentist because he knows
  the most about chewing.  -- a recent Borland Ad
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Psychological elements of CTDs
From: eskertz@wsuhub.uc.twsu.edu
Date: 8 Apr 92 15:24:41 CST
Organization: Wichita State University, Wichita, Ks

	I desperately need any information that may be available on 
the psychological effects of cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) 
and hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). I am familiar with the 
physiological aspects and ergonomic considerations of these disorders 
because they have been well researched. However, there is little published 
evidence of the psychological effect. 
	I believe there are two elements to CTDs and HAVS: clinical 
and psychological. Most of the subjective information received from 
people who have experienced these disorders is boredom and 
low motivation. For this reason, I believe there is a psychological element
which needs to be explored. If there is any unpublished or current
research in this area, I would be most appreciative to learn about it. 
I would even accept gut feelings.

Elizabeth Kertz
From: bobd@zaphod.UUCP (Bob Dalgleish)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: cost of poor usability metrics
Keywords: usability use efficiency
Date: 8 Apr 92 22:25:33 GMT
Organization: Develcon Electronics Limited,Saskatoon, SK, Canada

I disagree that a software-based product consists mostly of "features".
All programs consist of a foundation, functions that use that foundation
to manipulate data, and features which are compositions of functions
applied in various ways.

The foundation includes the operating system, the windowing system, the
database management system, the communications system, custom-tailored
versions of each of the above, and other things which usually have
little external "value" what-so-ever.

The functions consist of "displaying whatsits on the screen", "addiing
whatsits", "deleting whatsits", and "sorting whatsits".  (You get the
drift.)  At this point the product still doesn't do anything except some
core functionality that probably is not enough to warrant a significant
dollar figure.

When you get to the features, you start to talk about the benefits to
the person using the product.  Usually these "features" arise from a
combination of core functions, useful default settings, and background
data.

The other F in the Foursome is Fault management, and the rule of thumb
for highly-reliable systems is that one/third of a system will be
responsible for fault recognition, reporting and recovery (the three
R's).

So, in the kinds of dedicated systems that I work with at Develcon,
where we are responsible for the operating system and everything else,
my rule of thumb is one-half is foundation, one-third is function, and
one-fifth is feature.  Of each of those portions, one-third is devoted
to fault management.  (I know that they add up to more than 100%, but I
think this explains why being 90% done does not mean that only 10% is
left :-)

Now, to get back to your model, are you enquiring about the 20% of the
entire system which is "feature" oriented, or about the whole system?
-- 
-- * * * CFV: net.short.signatures * * *--
Bob Dalgleish	 zaphod!bobd@access.usask.ca     CompuServe: 70521,2011
From: rick@cs.hw.ac.uk (Rick Innis)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: HF of Computer conferencing
Date: 12 Apr 92 02:31:16 GMT
Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Heriot-Watt University, Scotland

Anyone know if there's any work been done out there on HF aspects of
representing computer conferencing systems or suchlike beasties?

The reason I ask is because of my Master's thesis - "Visual Representation of
Computer Conferencing Systems".  As you might guess a graphical interface to
USENET news forms a significant part of this project :-) (Although the main
thrust is actually to a case study of how people use certain features of it.)
I'd like to know whether there are any HF findings specific to this area I
can test by incorporating them.

Any info anyone can supply (including whether I'm reinventing the wheel) will
be greatly appreciated; please email and I'll summarise.  Followups will
probably be missed because I won't be reading news regularly over the next
couple of weeks; too much *real* work to do!

	--Rick.
-- 
JANET: 	  rick@uk.ac.hw.cs	| Rick Innis, Computer Science,
Internet: rick@cs.hw.ac.uk	| Heriot-Watt University, 
UUCP: 	..mcsun!ukc!hwcs!rick	| Edinburgh, Scotland.
"Has anyone seen the secret of the universe?" said Zebedee, arriving. "I know I left it around here somewhere."
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: billd@.informix.com (William Daul)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors,comp.cog-eng
Subject: GUI and learning curves
Date: 16 Apr 92 06:44:09 GMT
Organization: Informix Software, Inc.
Originator: billd@cheetah

Can anyone send me in the direction of studies done on learning
curves and the use of GUIs?  ...or send me any information?

Thanks,  --Bill
-- 
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
 William Daul             Advanced Support      INFORMIX SOFTWARE INC.
 4100 Bohannon Dr.        (415) 926-6488 - wk
 Menlo Park, CA. 94025    uunet!infmx!billd  or  billd@informix.com
From: bethm@ncrhitc.AtlantaGA.NCR.COM (Beth Meyer)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: Color considered harmful
Date: 6 Apr 92 16:39:15 GMT
Reply-To: bethm@ncrhitc.AtlantaGA.NCR.COM (Beth Meyer)
Organization: NCR Human Interface Technology Center -- Atlanta, Georgia

One point that has been made several times in this discussion of color in the
interface is that it is very useful to allow the user to customize the palette.
I fundamentally agree; I have observed that users (myself included) derive a
large amount of satisfaction out of selecting, creating and using a color
combination that appeals to them.

However, I would warn against using this approach as a panacea.  You cannot
assume that giving the user control over color choices means that you need
not give any thought to the default palette(s).  For one thing, a user may
not have time to fiddle with the color scheme when they first install the
product; they may need to get right to work.  Furthermore, if a color-
deficient user cannot read the display to begin with, he or she can hardly
change it so that it is readable.

Just thought I'd point that out.

----
Beth Meyer
NCR Human Interface Technology Center
            
-- 
Beth Meyer
NCR Human Interface Technology Center     beth.meyer@atlantaga.ncr.com
         -or-
School of Psychology, Georgia Tech        gt9020a@prism.gatech.edu
From: mathew@mantis.co.uk (From A to B)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: pie menus
Date: 7 Apr 92 13:46:16 GMT
Distribution: world,public
Organization: Mantis Consultants, Cambridge. UK.

hopkins@morvern.turing.ac.uk (Don Hopkins) writes:
> Because pie menus are based on direction, you don't need to look at
> the items once you know where they are. This is not the case with a
> linear menu, which forces you to look at the screen even if you know
> the item you want is Nth on the list.

I don't think this is true.  I've a Macintosh INIT which removes all the text
from the menus; surprisingly enough, it's still possible to use programs
one is familiar with the INIT resident.

Not that I don't think pie menus are a good idea.


mathew

-- 
Hail Eris! / "Our whole economy's based on fear and death; how long can we get
away with this?" --- Jello Biafra / Message for Kodak: Bring back Dan Bredy! /
PGP RSA public key available on request / Desperately seeking Negativland's U2
CD / Just another would-be Mac owner put off by Apple's monopolistic practices
From: mcgregor@atherton.com (Scott L. McGregor)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: Color considered harmful
Date: 10 Apr 92 17:21:35 GMT
Reply-To: mcgregor@atherton.com

In article <tjt.702397333@blink> tjt@blink.att.com (Tim Thompson) writes:
> mike@isgtec.com (Mike Sellers) writes:

> Assuming that this is the case, and that the "origin" of the order
> (i.e. the "lowest" color and "highest" color) is person-dependent, as you
> suggest, what would be an application where you would make use of
> this ordering?  (This is an honest question - I'm sure there are such
> applications, I'm interested in knowing what they are.)

Seems to me that it is common to use color to represent temperature, altitude  
on maps, rainfall, etc.  Even without a scale, you can get an idea of relative  
levels.  Often the reader can figure out the proper color origin without a  
legend precisely because they are already knowledgable about the context in  
which the color scale was used.   Another useful example of this form that I am  
aware of is relative concentration of two liquids.  In this case there is no  
obvious origin either: is the origin 100% of one, or 100% of the other? When  
you choose grey scale people PERCEIVE that the all black= 100% one is more  
important. But if you scale between say green and blue there is no clearly more  
important liquid, only the different ratios. 

I don't mean by this that color is always well used.  But as a graphic  
designer, I think it has a useful place where it can be used cleverly by a  
talented designer--just as it can be abused by a poor one.  I think we also  
overlook that all graphic representations have their subjective effects upon  
us. So we should be thinking about how those effect viewers, in addition to the  
more objective effects.

--
Scott L. McGregor                               mcgregor@atherton.com
Atherton Technology                             fax: 408-734-1333
1333 Bordeaux Drive
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
From: melby@dove.yk.Fujitsu.CO.JP (John B. Melby)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: On-screen fonts...
Date: 7 Apr 92 16:35:27 GMT
Organization: Open Systems Dept. Div. 2 Sect. 1, FUJITSU LTD.
In-reply-to: marty@beta.lanl.gov's message of 7 Apr 92 06:52:49 JST

>The aspect in question is size.  It seems to me that most fonts are
>designed so that as many characters as possible can be present on the
>screen at the same time.
>But just wait; some time in the future you to will find your arms
>getting shorter as the ravages of presbyopia take it's toll.

Whatever the case, since CRT's and fluorescent back-lighted screens emit
ultraviolet spikes, it is advisable to use appropriate correctional devices
whenever attempting to view small fonts.

-----
John B. Melby
Fujitsu Limited, Machida, Japan
melby%yk.fujitsu.co.jp@fai.com