Alistair Sutcliffe
Abstract
The article argues that new approaches for delivering HCI knowledge from theory to designers will be necessary in the new millennium. First the role of theory in HCI design to date is reviewed, including the progress made in cognitive theories of interaction and their impact on the design pr ocess. The role of bridging models that build on models of interaction is described, but it is argued that direct application of cognitive theory to design is limited by scalability problems. The alternative of representing HCI knowledge as claims and the role of the task-artefact approach to theory-based design are introduced. Claims are proposed as a possible bridging representation that may enable theories to frame appropriate recommendations for designers and, vice versa, enable designers to ask appropriate questions for theoretical research. However, claims provide design advice grounded in specific scenarios and examples, which limits their generality. The prospects for reuse becoming an important mode of development and the possible directions in generalizing claims for reuse are discussed, including generalizing claims beyond their original context, providing a context for reuse of claims by linking them to generic task and domain models. It is argued that generic models provide a way forward for developing reusable libraries of interactive components. The approach is illustrated from a case study of extracting claims from one information ret rieval application, generalizing claims for future reuse in information-searching tasks, and reapplying claims in the Web-based Multimedia Broker application. The article concludes by proposing that HCI knowledge should be theory-grounded, and development of reusable “designer-digestible” packets will be an important contribution in the future.
Supplemental Material
Available for Download
This Online-only Appendix presents claims associated with OSM and Task Models in figures 8 & 10 of the main article. The dependencies and effects part of the schema has been omitted for brevity.
- AHLBERG, C. AND SHNEIDERMAN, B. 1994. Visual information seeking: Tight coupling of dynamic query filters with starfield displays. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: "Celebrating Interdependence" (CHI '94, Boston, MA, Apr. 24-28), ACM Press, New York, NY, 313-317. Google Scholar
- ANDERSON, J. R. AND LEBmRE, C. 1998. The Atomic Components of Thought. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Mahwah, NJ.Google Scholar
- APPLE. 1987. Human Interface Guidelines: The Apple Desktop Metaphor. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.Google Scholar
- BARNARD, P. 1991. Bridging between basic theories and the artifacts of human-computer interaction. In Designing Interaction: Psychology at the Human-Computer Interface, J. M. Carroll, Ed. Cambridge Series on Human-Computer Interaction. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 103-127. Google Scholar
- BARNARD, P. AND MAY, J. 1999. Representing cognitive activity in complex tasks. Hum. Comput. Interact. 14, 1-2, 93-158. Google Scholar
- BAYLE, E., BELLAMY, R., CASADAY, G., ERICKSON, T., FINCHER, S., GRINTER, B., GROSS, B., LEHDER, D., MARMOLIN, a., MOORE, B., POTTS, C., SKOUSEN, G., AND THOMAS, J. 1998. Putting it all together: Towards a pattern language for interaction design: A CHI 97 workshop. SIGCHI Bull. 30, 1, 17-23. Google Scholar
- BELLOTTI, V. 1988. Implications of current design practice for the use of HCI techniques. In Proceedings of the 4th Conference of the British Computer Society on People and Computers IV (Manchester, UK, Sept. 5-6), D. M. Jones and R. Winder, Eds. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 13-34. Google Scholar
- BELLOTTI, V. 1993. Integrating theoreticians' and practitioners' perspectives with design rationale. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing (INTER- CHI '93, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Apr. 24-29), S. Ashlund, A. Henderson, E. Hollnagel, K. Mullet, and T. White, Eds. ACM Press, New York, NY, 101-106. Google Scholar
- BELLOTTI, V., BLANDFORD, A., DUKE, D., MACLEAN, A., MAY, J., AND NIGAY, L. 1996. Interpersonal access control in computer-mediated communications: A systematic analysis of the design space. Hum. Comput. Interact. 11, 4, 357-432. Google Scholar
- BELLOTTI, V., SHUM, S. B., MACLEAN, A., AND HAMMOND, N. 1995. Multidisciplinary modelling in HCI design., in theory and in practice. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '95, Denver, CO, May 7-11), I. R. Katz, R. Mack, L. Marks, M. B. Rosson, and J. Nielsen, Eds. ACM Press/Addison-Wesley Publ. Co., New York, NY, 146-153. Google Scholar
- BREUKER, J. AND VAN DER VELDE, W. 1994. CommonKADS Library for Expertise Modelling. IOS Press, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Google Scholar
- BROWNE, D. P. 1994. STUDIO: Structured User-Interface Design for Interaction Optimisation. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ. Google Scholar
- CARD, S. K., MORAN, T. P., AND NEWELL, A. 1983. The Psychology of Human Computer Interaction. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc., Hillsdale, NJ. Google Scholar
- CARD, S. K., ROBERTSON, G. G., AND MACKINLAY, J. D. 1991. The information visualizer, an information workspace. In Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: Reaching through Technology (CHI '91, New Orleans, LA, Apr. 27-May 2), S. P. Robertson, G. M. Olson, and J. S. Olson, Eds. ACM Press, New York, NY, 181-186. Google Scholar
- CARROLL, J. M., Ed. 1999. Minimalism: Beyond the Nurnberg Funnel. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
- CARROLL, J. M. 2000. Making Use: Scenario-Based Design of Human-Computer Interactions. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Google Scholar
- CARROLL, J. M. AND ROSSON, M. B. 1992. Getting around the task-artifact cycle: How to make claims and design by scenario. ACM Trans. Inf. Syst. 10, 2 (Apr.), 181-212. Google Scholar
- CARROLL, J. M. AND SINGLEY, M. K. 1992. Integrating theory development with design evaluation. Behav. Inf. Tech. 11,247-255.Google Scholar
- CARROLL, J. M., KELLOGG, W. A., AND ROSSON, M. B. 1991. The task-artifact cycle. In Designing Interaction: Psychology at the Human-Computer Interface, J. M. Carroll, Ed. Cambridge Series on Human-Computer Interaction. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 74-102. Google Scholar
- COAD, P. AND YOURDON, E. 1991. Object-Oriented Analysis. 2nd Yourdon Press Computing Series. Yourdon Press, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Google Scholar
- COUTAZ, J. 1994. System architecture modelling for user interfaces. In Encyclopedia of software engineering, J. J. Marciniak, Ed. Wiley-Interscience, New York, NY, 38-49.Google Scholar
- DILLON, A. AND SWEENEY, M. T. 1993. A survey of usability engineering within European IT industry: Current practice and needs. In People and Computers VIII: Proceedings of the HCI'93 Conference (HCI '93, Loughborough, England), A. Alty and S. Guest, Eds. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 81-94.Google Scholar
- DIx, A. AND MANCINI, R. 1997. Specifying history and backtracking mechamisms. In Formal Methods in Human Computer Interaction, F. Palanque and F. Patern , Eds, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1-23.Google Scholar
- DUKE, D. J. AND BARNARD, P.J. 1998. Syndetic modelling. Hum. Comput. Interact. 13, 4, 337-393. Google Scholar
- DUKE, D., FACONTI, G., HARRISON, M., AND PATERN , F. 1994. Unifying views of interactors. In Proceedings of the Workshop on Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI '94, Bari, Italy, June 1-4), M. F. Costabile, T. Catarci, S. Levialdi, and G. Santucci, Eds. ACM Press, New York, NY, 143-152. Google Scholar
- DUKE, D. J. AND HARRISON, M. D. 1995. From formal models to formal methods. In Software Engineering and Human Computer Interaction: Proceedings of the ICSE Workshop on SE-HCI: Joint Research Issues, N. Taylor and J. Coutaz, Eds. Springer-Verlag, Vienna, Austria, 159-173. Google Scholar
- FOWLER, M. 1997. Analysis Patterns: Reusable Objects Models. Addison-Wesley objectoriented software engineering series. Addison-Wesley Longman Publ. Co., Inc., Reading, MA. Google Scholar
- FRAKES, W. B. 1995. Software reuse. In Encyclopedia of Microcomputers, A. Kent and J. G. Williams, Eds. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, NY, 179-184.Google Scholar
- GALLIERS, J., SUTCLIFFE, A. G., AND MINOCHA, S. 1999. Models and a method for safety-critical user interface design. ACM Trans. Comput. Hum. Interact. 6, 4 (Dec.), 341-369. Google Scholar
- GAMMA, E., HELM, R., JOHNSON, R., AND VLISSIDES, J. 1995. Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. Addison-Wesley Professional Computing Series. Addison-Wesley Longman Publ. Co., Inc., Reading, MA. Google Scholar
- GARDINER, M. M. AND CHRISTIE, B. 1987. Applying Cognitive Psychology to User-Interface Design. Wiley series in information processing. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, NY. Google Scholar
- GENTNER, D. 1983. Structure-mapping: A theoretical framework for analogy. Cogn. Sci. 7, 155-1780.Google Scholar
- HARRISON, M. D. AND BARNARD, P. 1993. On defining the requirements for interaction. In Proceedings of the 1st International Symposium on Requirements Engineering (RE '93, San Diego, CA), S. Fickas and A. C. W. Finklestein, Eds. IEEE Computer Society Press, Los Alamitos, CA, 50-55.Google Scholar
- IBM. 1991. Systems Applications Architecture: Common User Access Guide to User Interface Design. IBM Corp., Riverton, NJ.Google Scholar
- ISO. 1997. Ergonomics requirements for office systems visual display terminals. Parts 10-16. ISO 9241. International Standards Organization.Google Scholar
- JOHN, B. E. AND KmRAS, D. E. 1996. The GOMS family of user interface analysis techniques: comparison and contrast. ACM Trans. Comput. Hum. Interact. 3, 4, 320-351. Google Scholar
- JOHNSON, C.W. 1996. Documenting the design of safety critical user interfaces. Interact. Comput. 8, 3, 221-239.Google Scholar
- JOHNSON, P. 1992. Human Computer Interaction. McGraw-Hill, London, UK.Google Scholar
- KAUR, K. AND MAIDEN, N. A. M. 1999. Interacting with virtual environments: An evaluation of a model of interaction. Interact. Comput. 11, 4, 403-426.Google Scholar
- KELLER, G. AND TEUFEL, T. 1998. SAP/R3 Process Oriented Implementation. Addison-Wesley Longman Publ. Co., Inc., Reading, MA. Google Scholar
- KIERAS, D. E. AND MEYER, D. E. 1997. An overview of the EPIC architecture for cognition and performance with application to human-computer interaction. Human-Comput. Interact. 12, 391-438. Google Scholar
- KITAJmA, M. ANn POLSON, P. G. 1997. A comprehension based model of exploration. Hum. Comput. Interact. 12, 4, 345-390. Google Scholar
- LANDAUER, T. K. 1995. The Trouble with Computers. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. Google Scholar
- LANDAUER, T. K. AND DUMAIS, S. T. 1997. A solution to Plato's problem: The latent semantic analysis theory of acquisition, induction and representation of knowledge. Psychol. Rev. 104, 211-240.Google Scholar
- LIM, K. Y. ANn LONG, J. 1994. The Muse Method for Usability Engineering. Cambridge Series on Human-Computer Interaction. Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. Google Scholar
- LONG, J. ANn DOWELL, J. 1989. Conceptions of the discipline of HCI: craft, applied science, and engineering. In Proceedings of the 5th Conference of the British Computer Society, Human-Computer Interaction Specialist Group on People and Computers V (Sept. 5-8), A. Sutcliffe and L. Macaulay, Eds. British Computer Society Workshop Series Cambridge University Press, New York, NY, 9-32. Google Scholar
- MACLEAN, A. AND MCKERLIE, D. 1995. Design space analysis and user-representations. Tech. Rep. EPC-1995-102.Google Scholar
- MORAN, T. P. 1981. The Command Language Grammar: A representation for the user interface of interactive systems. Int. J. Man-Mach. Stud. 15, 1, 3-50.Google Scholar
- MULLER, M. J. AND CZERWINSKI, M. 1999. Organizing usability work to fit the full product range. Commun. ACM 42, 5 (May), 87-90. Google Scholar
- NEWELL, A. 1990. Unified Theories of Cognition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Google Scholar
- NIGAY, L. ANn COUTAZ, J. 1995. A generic platform for addressing the multimodal challenge. In Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '95, Denver, CO, May 7-11), I. R. Katz, R. Mack, L. Marks, M. B. Rosson, and J. Nielsen, Eds. ACM Press/Addison-Wesley Publ. Co., New York, NY, 98-105. Google Scholar
- NORMAN, D.A. 1986. Cognitive engineering. In User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human Computer Interaction, D. Norman and S. Draper, Eds. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc., Hillsdale, NJ, 31-62.Google Scholar
- PRIETO-D AZ, R. 1991. Implementing faceted classification for software reuse. Commun. ACM 34, 5 (May), 88-97. Google Scholar
- REDMOND-PYLE, D. ANn MOORE, A. 1995. Graphical User Interface Design and Evaluation. Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd., Hertfordshire, UK. Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. 1998. Scenario-based requirements analysis. Requir. Eng. 3, 1, 48-65. Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. G. AND BENNETT, I. 1995. Designing query support for multiple databases. In Proceedings of the 3rd IFIP Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (INTERACT '95, Lillehammer, Norway, June 27-29), K. Nordby, P. H. Helmersen, D. J. Gilmore, and S. A. Arnesen, Eds. Chapman and Hall, Ltd., London, UK, 207-212.Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. G. AND CARROLL, J. M. 1998. Generalizing claims and resue of HCI knowledge. In People and Computers XIII: Proceedings of the BCS-HCI Conference (Sheffield, Sept. 1-4), H. Johnson, L. Nigay, and C. Roast, Eds. Springer-Verlag, Vienna, Austria, 159-176. Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. G. AND CARROLL, J. M. 1999. Designing claims for resue in interactive systems design. Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud. 50, 3, 213-241. Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. G. ANn DmITROVA, M. T. 1999. Claims, patterns and multimedia. In Proceedings of the 7th IFIP Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (INTERACT '99, Edinburgh, Scotland), C. Sasse and C. Johnson, Eds. IFIP, Laxenburg, Austria, 329-355.Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. G. AND ENNIS, M. 1998. Towards a cognitive theory of information retrieval, IWC special issue: Information retrieval and human computer interaction. Res. Rep. HCID 98/2. Centre for HCI Design, City University, London, UK.Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. G. AND KAUR, K. 2000. Evaluating the usability of virtual reality user interfaces. Behav. Inf. Tech. 19. In press.Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. AND MAIDEN, N. 1998. The domain theory for requirements engineering. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 24, 3, 174-196. Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. G. AND PATEL, U. 1996. 3D or not 3D: Is it nobler in the mind? In People and Computers XI (HCI '96, London, UK), R. J. Sasse, A. Cunningham, and R. Winder, Eds. British Computer Society, Swinton, UK, 79-94. Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. G. AND RYAN, M. 1997. Assessing the usability and efficiency of design rationale. In Proceedings of the 6th IFIP Conference on Human Computer Interaction (INTERACT '97, Sydney, Australia, July 14-18), S. Howard, J. Hammond, and G. Lindegaard, Eds. IFIP, Laxenburg, Austria, 148-155. Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. G. AND RYAN, M. 2000. Model mismatch analysis: Towards a deeper explanation of users' usability problems. Behav. Inf. Tech. 19, 1, 43-55.Google Scholar
- SUTCLIFFE, A. G., MAIDEN, N. A. M., MINOCHA, S., AND MANUEL, D. 1998. Supporting scenario-based requirements engineering. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. 24, 12 (Dec.), 1072- 1088. Google Scholar
- WHARTON, C., RIEMAN, J., LEWIS, C., AND POLSON, P. 1994. The cognitive walkthrough method: A practitioner's guide. In Usability Inspection Methods, J. Nielsen and R. L. Mack, Eds. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, NY, 105-140. Google Scholar
Index Terms
- On the effective use and reuse of HCI knowledge
Recommendations
Affordances in HCI: toward a mediated action perspective
CHI '12: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsInterpretations of the concept of "affordances" in HCI are becoming increasingly diverse, extending well beyond the original Gibsonian meaning. We discuss some of the key analyses of affordances in HCI research and make three related claims. First, we ...
Reflective HCI: articulating an agenda for critical practice
CHI EA '06: CHI '06 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing SystemsReflective HCI is a style of HCI research that integrates technical practice with ongoing critical reflection. In the last thirty years, HCI researchers and practitioners have expanded their interests from aspects of cognitive ergonomics concerned with ...
The turn to practice in HCI: towards a research agenda
CHI '14: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsThis paper argues that a new paradigm for HCI research, which we label the 'practice' perspective, has been emerging in recent years. This stands in contrast to the prevailing mainstream HCI paradigm, which we term the 'interaction' perspective. The '...
Reviews
Jose Lloret
The author would like to begin by pointing out there is presently no use for knowledge of HCI in Software Engineering. Software designers should have this knowledge made available to them in such a way that it could be directly applicable to their designs. The author suggest that the main theoretical basis of HCI is the cognitive sciences, which are, on the one hand, highly complex and, on the other hand, limited in their application in HCI to simple cases: character displays, etc. A. Sutcliffe proposes "handing over" HCI knowledge to designers by means of practical examples ("examples of good practice and/or reusable artefacts"): claims. A claim would made up of a written description accompanied by a diagram for each of its parts: Claim ID; Author; Artefact; Description; Upside; Downside; Scenario; Effect; Dependencies; Theory. The author presents several excellent examples of claims, while warning that its weak point is the fact that they are linked to a specific context of application. The next step would be to classify and organise the claims in libraries according to the purpose they serve as well to establish a system whereby designers can access and recover these claims. In short, this deals with a first clear, well-explained theoretical step for transferrimng HCI theory to software design.
Access critical reviews of Computing literature here
Become a reviewer for Computing Reviews.
Comments