HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: matt@unidata.ucar.edu (Matt Hicks)
Subject: Re: Information Mapping
Organization: Scientific Computing Division/NCAR Boulder, CO
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 21:11:49 GMT

daniels@elroy (Daniel Schunneman) writes:

>Searching for text/book/article introducing basic
>information mapping theory and practice.

>HELP?

I tried sending this via email, but it kept coming back, so I guess I'll have
to post it.

This is actually in response to the response that suggested "Information 
Mapping" by Robert E. Horn. I just finished reading this book within the last
couple of weeks, and my advice would be *don't waste your money or your time!*
The book deals in vague generalizations and it's horrifically redundant. It 
seems to be little more than very extensive advertising copy for Horn's company.
He hints at ways of doing things using information mapping, but there is no
usable concrete information. He would be happy to tell you more at one of his
seminars however :-/ (look out Tom Vu--now you can write documentation with no
money down!:-)

I just finished a much more useful book called "Writing Better Computer User
Documentation" by R. John Brockmann (1990, John Wiley & Sons.) This book actually
elaborates more on Horn's technique than Horn does. He apparently let it slip as research back in 1969, before he realized he might make some money off of it by
being mysterious :-). Anyway, the book covers alot of thinking (with many 
references) on ways of conveying information clearly and effectively. There are
lots of examples of how and how not to write-to-inform. Of the armload of books
and articles I've read lately, this book gave me the most info I could immedi-
ately put to good use.

--
_______________________________________________________________________________
Matthew  B.  Hicks			Unidata Program Center
matt@unidata.ucar.edu				UCAR, PO Box 3000
303/497-8676					Boulder, CO 80307-3000
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: jutta@opal.cs.tu-berlin.de (Jutta Degener)
Subject: Re: process-based user interfaces
Keywords: process,direct manipulation
Organization: Techn. University of Berlin, Germany
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 15:32:47 GMT

dspittm@sdrc.COM (Jon Pittman) writes:
> Most of the direct manipulation user interfaces currently in
> vogue (Mac, Windows, Motif, ...) all work very well for applications
> where you can do things in a "random access" fashion. Does anyone
> have any experience using them effectively for "process" or
> "procedure" oriented applications where someone has to do something
> step-by-step??

Implementing direct manipulation often means turning the latter into
the former.  Step-by-step procedures stem from a programmer's way of
thinking in algorithms; they are not the way most people like to do tasks.

If your application is simply programmed in a way that needs one
stage to be completed before entering the next one, adding windows
and buttons won't buy you a direct manipulation interface.  That's
an illness many retroGUIfied applications suffer from.

--Jutta
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 18:05:17 -0400 
From: Jim Morris <jhm+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: E-mail addresses and HCI


[Caution: radical opinion ahead]

*All* Email addressing is generally ridiculous. Since you generally have
to remember someone's email address precisely, the fact that the name
has letters in it is of dubious value. Except for network nerds, the
email addresses might as well be nonsense syllables. Presumablely, there
have been tests of how well people read, perceive, and generally deal
with strings of nonsense sylaables vs. strings of numbers. Maybe the
phone companies did those tests back when HCI was just Human Factors,
and that's why we use telephone numbers today. Or maybe it's because the
letters make communication among different language speakers more
difficult. 

In any case, one of the reasons fax is displacing email is that it's
addressing mechanism --. phone numbers -- is so much simpler and is
supported by an international collection of phone companies.

Of course, I can't explain why the phone companies, who were so smart
about choosing numbers in the 1900's are perpetrating X.400 now.  :-)
From: timbomb@cs.uq.oz.au (Tim Mansfield)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: References to SERPENT ??
Date: 27 Jul 92 06:32:22 GMT
Reply-To: timbomb@cs.uq.oz.au
Organization: Computer Science Department, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia


I'm looking for any papers on the Serpent UIMS. I have a reference to a CMU 
tech report (*) but I'd like a journal, book or conference reference because 
I don't have time to wait for the tech report to arrive.

Tim

(*) Bass L, Hardy E, Hoyt K, Little R and Seacord R 
    _The_Serpent_Run_Time_Architecture_and_Dialogue_Model_, 
    CMU Technical Report, CMU/SEI-88-TR-6, January 1988
--
Tim Mansfield                                         timbomb@cs.uq.oz.au
Dept of Comp Sci, Uni of Qld, Australia, 4072           +61 (0)7 365 2956
"Nothing is wrong with the idea that there would be a God...  
		who changes the water." mvs@softway.oz (Mark V. Shaney)
From: philip@hfnet.bt.co.uk (Philip Smythe)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: The best way to manage many windows?
Date: 29 Jul 92 17:44:38 GMT
Organization: BT Laboratories, British Telecommunications plc

I posted a longer version for the following a couple of weeks ago.  
Unfortunately our news reader broke down for a few days after it was 
published.  I am sending it again so that I can produce a proper 
summary of your answers.   Sorry for the repetition and thanks for your time.
****************************************************************   
I am trying to get information on the best techniques for managing 
large numbers of windows.   There are several popular window 
management systems available but I am interested in one which is UNIX 
compatible and which _Best_ solves the usability problems listed 
below:
	1.The problem of labelling windows so that it is 
	possible to see ones are nested inside each other.

	2.The problem of trying to get the system to close down 'higher 
	level' windows when lower level ones are closed.

	3. The problem of identifying whether windows are open or not 
	when they are covered by others or displayed on a small screen.

I would be grateful for any references or opinions on software, that 
you can provide.   Also your own opinions on whether these problems 
CAN be solved properly.   Please reply either to me or to the 
net.   I will summarise replies sent to me.  

-- 
|Phone:              |      PHIL SMYTHE       |E-Mail:              |
|+44(0)473 644 758   | Human Factors Division |philip@hfnet.bt.co.uk|
|Fax:                |     BT Laboratories    |Location:            |
|+44(0)473 637 557   |   IPSWICH IP5 7RE,UK   |1'E,53'N (GMT)       |
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: aboltwoo@alfred.carleton.ca (Alana Boltwood)
Subject: Re: Keyboards for one-handed typing
Organization: Carleton University
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 19:37:27 GMT

Has anyone ever noticed that using a mouse efficiently requires three
hands, if one can also touch-type?  Some people might wish to retrain
themselves to type with the left hand and mouse with the right (or
vice versa), so are there keyboards specifically designed for
weak-hand use?  (The Enter,Tab, Shift, Alt and Control keys are often
used in conjunction with mouse actions, so these should be be more
accessible than on the standard PC keyboard.)  Another solution
(cheaper) is to devise a method of touch-typing on standard keyboards,
and produce software to teach this method (a la Typing Tutor.)  If
anyone knows of such products, or wants to develop them, post a response!
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: John Lacey <johnl@spinner.cs.indiana.edu>
Subject: 1990 CHI Proceedings
Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 92 0:33:55 EST
X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]

I am looking for an article in the 1990 CHI proceedings.  I'm not sure
of the title, but the authors are Walker and Smelzer, and I believe
the topic is Fitt's law, or something to do with pointing with a mouse.

I have checked my school and those around my home.  Oddly, they are
all missing the 1990 copy.  (The schools include Indiana and Ohio
State, by the way; maybe not the heavies, but not exactly
gutter-dwellers.)

Is anyone with a copy of the proceedings available willing to send me
a copy of the article?

-- 
John Lacey        ``What's wrong with my style is not a lack of expressiveness
                    or lucidity, but vulgarity.''                --G. H. Hardy
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: wilk@Informatik.TU-Muenchen.DE (Christian Wilk)
Subject: Developing a GUI for other people's programs
Originator: wilk@hphalle1d.informatik.tu-muenchen.de
Organization: Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Germany
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 10:31:27 GMT


Hello,

I've got some question regarding the subject of designing a graphical UI for a
program that you haven't written for yourself.
Due to this I have to learn and discover the whole source-code (approximately 7000
lines of C source code) of a program for visualizing robot motion planning.
Up to now the program has a line-oriented ASCII user interface and my task is to
develop a GUI based on X-Window and OSF/Motif.

My questions, before I decide to do it, are:
	- Has anybody done a same or similar job?
	- How difficult is this work without the help of an interface builder?
	  (I've got 4 months, but yet no expirience in X-Window programming)
	- Is there a PD software that has similar properties ( visualizing the
	  motion planning process of a robot)?

Thanks in advance!

(Please reply directly to me via e-mail, because for the next time I will not have 
the possibility for reading news)

_______________________________________________________________________________

christian wilk			 I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
technical university of munich	 Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
munich, germany			 I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the
				 Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost
wilk@informatik.tu-muenchen.de   in time - like tears in rain. Time to die.
wilk%terranx.uucp@germany.eu.net (NeXT-Mail)	        	-- Roy Batty
_______________________________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: conaway@cis.ohio-state.edu (jason william conaway)
Subject: INFO WANTED: studies involving driving simulators
Originator: conaway@tuna.cis.ohio-state.edu
Organization: Battelle
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 17:43:39 GMT

I am currently involved in a project that will eventually use a driving
simulator to prototype and test intelligent highway safety systems and other
related technologies. I am looking for papers, articles, etc. concerning
human factors studies that use driving simulators. If you have ANY info or if
you know someone who could help, please contact me. Thank you very much.

e-mail: conaway@cis.ohio-state.edu
work phone: (614) 424-7248
or mail info to:

  Jason Conaway
  Battelle
  room 11-10-027
  505 King Avenue
  Columbus, OH 43201-2693

Jason W. Conaway
The Artist at Large
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: hugh@rschp1.anu.edu.au (Hugh Fisher)
Subject: E-mail addresses and HCI
Keywords: DNS, X400, X500
Organization: Research School of Chemistry, ANU
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 00:46:05 GMT


  Has anyone done any studies on how easy it is to use and
  remember different formats of e-mail address? I'd like to
  get some opinions on existing schemes, in particular Internet
  domain names compared to X.400. There is a lot of discussion
  about the future of the Internet going on right now, and one
  of the possible changes is from domain naming to X.400.

  To start a discussion rolling (and reveal my bias), I think that
  the Internet domain naming scheme is really, really good. Take
  my my e-mail address as an example:

	hugh@rschp1.anu.edu.au
       (I also have a registered alias Hugh.Fisher@anu.edu.au)

  This is a unique identifier that works from anywhere in the
  world, yet has only five chunks to remember. My postal address
  has seven, my local phone number seven and there are no easy
  assocations between digits and location, and I don't bother
  trying to remember the international phone code for Australia.

  By contrast, the X.400 distinguished name scheme uses keywords
  rather than positional names. I don't have an X400 address
  myself, but here is one I pulled out of a news item (names
  have been changed but the lengths and keywords are the same)

	E-mail	jsmith@istvax.itsyd.ack.com.au
	X.400	C=AU; ADMD=TELEMEMO; PRMD=ACKSYD01; O=ACK;
		OU1=ITSYD; S=SMITH; G=JOHN; I=MD

  Now, I can't see X.400 e-mail addresses being easily remembered
  (or easily printed on a business card, for that matter) All the
  keywords do is multiply the number of chunks to remember, and
  multiply the chance of making a mistake. (And this all caps
  business - yuk!)

  Anyway, this is just my opinion. What do other people think of
  Internet domain naming vs X.400? What schemes get used on other
  packages? Are unique "handles" what people really want from an
  e-mail address?  
Xref: sparky comp.human-factors:1663 comp.cog-eng:280
From: mathew <mathew@mantis.co.uk>
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors,comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: short/long menus
Keywords: short menus, long menus, user interface
Date: Mon, 13 Jul 92 14:00:08 BST
Distribution: world
Organization: Mantis Consultants, Cambridge. UK.

shf@well.sf.ca.us (Stuart H. Ferguson) writes:
> +-- dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith) writes:
> | Well, I don't think "short/long" menus work.  [ ... ]
> | One problem with short/long menus is that it is a mode, and one that is
> | not very visible.  [ ... ]
> | I think long/short menus is in the same copout category as user customizati
> | "We can't figure out what the right thing is so we'll let the user choose."
> | SOUNDS perfectly OK, but is often wrong because the problems of having
> | every user have a unique user interface often outweigh the benefits.
> 
> There is a problem that needs solving -- the problem of just too damn
> much Interface getting in the way of useful work.  If "short/long" menus
> are not an answer, then what?

Smaller and simpler applications.

Word for Windows is a classic example of the problem.  How many users need
their word processors to have a built-in spreadsheet, graph-plotting package,
typeface manipulation utility, mathematical typesetting tool, BASIC
interpreter, file-finding utility, character set table, file compare tool,
and macro recorder?

I mean, yes, those things are useful to some people.  But I've read magazine
articles about surveys which suggest that most users of applications like
Word only use about 10% of the features available.

To be fair, Microsoft has made a few token moves in the right direction;
things like the graph plotting program are now separate executables called by
OLE, rather than being built in to Word.  But they still clutter the Word
menus.  Some of the things built into Word are completely unnecessary -- the
character map dialogue, for example, is built in to Windows 3.1 anyway.

I think a lot of the problem is that users don't know what they want -- or
that they want things which are detrimental to their own ability to work with
their computers.  People continue to buy products which are overloaded with
unnecessary features, plastered with stupid 3D-effect bevelled edges and
confusing cutesy coloured buttons, and festooned with gratuitous collections
of tiny icons which perform functions you use perhaps once every hour or so.

Still, there's hope.  This month one of the Windows magazines has finally
printed an article saying "Hey, hang on a minute, all these grey 3D-effect
buttons are very pretty, but they're all confusingly different and don't
really gain me anything useful anyway."


mathew
-- 
Buddy, can you spare a paradigm?

Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: u8023544@cc.nctu.edu.tw ()
Subject: A UI designed for disabled people
Organization: National Chiao Tung University
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 08:49:25 GMT
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: ematias@dgp.toronto.edu (Edgar Matias)
Subject: Half-QWERTY one-handed keyboard -- sorry I goofed
Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto
Date: 23 Jul 92 00:50:45 GMT


My previous message described how a Half-QWERTY keyboard worked.  However,
I made an error in the example I gave.

The correct example is:

To type the letter K (MIDDLE FINGER of the RIGHT HAND) with your left hand,
hold down the spacebar and hit the __D__ key (MIDDLE FINGER of the LEFT HAND).

Sorry for any confusion I've caused.  It's too late in the day for me
to be here "working".

Thanks,
Edgar
From: furlong@selaix.iit.nrc.ca (Andrew Furlong)
Subject: software internationalization
Followup-To: narasimhan@iit.nrc.ca
Keywords: software, international, legal, cultural, ethnic, religion, problems
Organization: National Research Council of Canada
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 17:55:06 GMT



    I am posting this verbatim for a friend who DOES NOT have access to net news.  Please respond via email only to narasimhan@iit.nrc.ca

     Message is as follows:


    At the Software Engineering Laboratory at the Institute for Information Technology, National Research Council of Canada, we are preparing a document on the subject of internationalization of software.

    Problems such as those described in internationalization manuals written by companies such as the Digital Equipment Corporation, Apple Incorporated and Microsoft (MS DOS) have already been incorporated into the document.

    Here is an overall summary of what the document currently covers:

    1) Traditional Character Set Difficulties (i.e. right/left entry, multi-byte        character sets, code page problems, etc.)

    2) Local Data Formats (i.e. different number separators, grouping formats,          calendars,currency formats, time conventions, telephone numbers, address         formats, personal names and titles, etc.)

    3) Religious and Cultural Issues (i.e. offensive graphics, voice packages,          culturally different approaches to various types of software).

    4) Business and Legal Issues (i.e. different copyright laws, different
       cultural conventions that effect basic business packages such as data 
       bases, word processors, billing systems, personnel management programs,
       etc.)

    5) Presentation issues (i.e. how packaging and marketing of the program can         effect the way that the package is received).

    Portability issues will not be included in the document.

    We are currently searching for information above and beyond what we already
have, hence, further ideas along the lines of what should be included in this document, or names of other publications that discuss these types of problems would be greatly appreciated.



    Verbatim quote of message ends.

    Again, please respond via email only to narasimhan@iit.nrc.ca
    Please do not send mail to me, as I am not connected with this project.


     Thanks,
             Andrew

-- 
Andrew Furlong                   | The views expressed herein are mine alone,
Summer Research Assistant        | and may not reflect those of the National
furlong@selaix.iit.nrc.ca        | Research Council of Canada or the Government
National Research Council (NRCC) | of Canada.
Organization: The American University - University Computing Center
Date: Friday, 24 Jul 1992 17:33:54 EDT
From: Kelly Mailegiorghis <KMAILEG@auvm.american.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject:    edi

i am a graduate student at ame.university and currently i am taking human
factor in information sysetm. we have to do fiteen to twenty pages research
paper. which is due to august the 10th, so i am thinking doing my research on
edi (electronic date interface).  if any one out there know any information
or text book about this topic please let me know.
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
From: andreag@cco.caltech.edu (Andrea Lynne Gallagher)
Subject: Re: How do you handle navigation?
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 16:54:23 GMT

glw@io.uswest.com (Glenn Williams) writes:

>We are developing an application that allows a user to select products for a
>customer. There are many products and the selection of particular product
>may involve making a series of choices. It is a very hierarchical path
>to select a particular product. 
...
>We have experimented with cascading menus and nested dialog boxes, but they 
>both seem very weak graphically, and behaviorally. I am considering a tool
>that emulates the file browsing capabilities of the Mac or
>Microsoft Windows. Selection of a product would bring up the next
>set of choices, and so on. That scenerio seems to fit, can be strong
>graphically and behaviorally, and will consume less real estate.

I can't give you a "standard" way of dealing with this situation,
but I do have some suggestions.

I've been doing some empirical studies of a library catalog for
9 to 10 year olds called the Science Library Catalog.  We took
the Dewey Decimal System for the science and technology areas
and treated them as a hierarchy of subject headings.  Since we
wanted this to be very graphical and not dependent on typing
skills, we represented each layer of the hierarchy as a bookshelf,
and you click on a shelf to see that next layer.

In the iterative design, one of the things we found is that it
helps to keep the user oriented within the hierarchy.  Our
bookshelves were offset in front of the last one, so you could
see part of the shelf you had just come from, as well as all
the way up to the first bookshelf.  This creates a fisheye view
where you can see close things in detail and further-away things
in less detail.  

Anyhow, our papers on this can be found in various Proceedings
of the American Society of Information Science (ASIS) under
Borgman et al, and George Formus has a number of papers on 
fisheye views in various publications of the ACM SIGCHI.

Hope this helps,

Andrea Gallagher


-- 
Andrea L. Gallagher  andreag@tybalt.caltech.edu	  (818)797-8370
_______________________________________________________________
   	 Oh! Empiricism! Is THAT all you have to offer?!
        	    -Rosencrantz (or Gildenstern)
Organization: The American University - University Computing Center
Date: Sunday, 26 Jul 1992 19:46:33 EDT
From: <VJENKIN@auvm.american.edu>
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject:    MBTI- (Developing Careers)

Managers in large organizations increasingly require complex cognitive and
social skills to deal with rapidly changing situations, and there is cor-






respondingly increasing interest in career development programs that teach the

relevant skills.  Central to many training programs is the assuption that
self-insight is a necessary first step to career planning.  It is assumed
that a person's motives, strengths, and weakness, and that this process can
be aided by structured self-assessment techniques.  The interest in these
orginizations and individuals interested in leadership training, developing
interpersonal  influence skills, team building, improving communications,
time management, or decision making and creative problem solving.  Many of
the techniques are in widespread use in public and private organizations.
At this time there is not sufficient, well-designed research to justify the use
 of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in career counseling programs. Much of
the current eveidence is based on inadequate methodologies.  Better evaluation
studies, conducted according to rigorous methodological standards, are rec-
commended.  One type of evaluation would compare "successful" and "unsuccessful
" careers over the long term. Research on the effects of guided discussion,
such as the the ducussions held on the feedback from the MBTI or other
self-assessment instruments, is recommended.
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors