摘要:

This paper aims at the principled design of a computational environment; it aims at being as explicit as possible about the space of possibilities and about the assumptions made in choosing from among them in the design process. The point is to develop a more systematic, if not yet scientific, basis for the design of complex but understandable artifacts. The particular object of design here is a simple but multifunctional system for naive and inexperienced users. We begin theoretically by elaborating the notion of understandability, the key characteristic for which we must design. We present various models people can make of computational systems, each with its own learning curve, advantages, and disadvantages. Then we propose a pragmatic framework for a particular system. The framework includes the principle of naive realism: that users should be able to pretend that they see the system itself in the display. It also includes the pervasive use of a spatial metaphor whereby users' commonsense spatial knowledge is used to make the system easy to understand. The theoretical and pragmatic levels are linked, in that a number of important decisions about issues (such as reference, scoping and the meaning of evaluation) are based on the theoretical modeling considerations.

ISSN:0737-0024    

DOI:10.1207/s15327051hci0101_1

出版商:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.    

年代:1985

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

Automated factories, the flightdecks of commercial aircraft, and the control rooms of power plants are examples of decision-making environments in which a human operator performs an alerted-monitor role. These human-machine systems include automated monitor or alerting subsystems operating in support of a human monitor. The automated monitor subsystem makes preprogrammed decisions about the state of the underlying process based on current inputs and expectations about normal/abnormal operating conditions. When alerted by the automated monitor subsystem, the human monitor may analyze input data, confirm or disconfirm the decision made by the automated monitor, and take appropriate further action. In this paper, the combined automated monitor-human monitor system is modeled as a signal detection system in which the human operator and the automated component monitor partially correlated noisy channels. The signal detection analysis shows that overall system performance is highly sensitive to the interaction between the human's monitoring strategy and the decision parameter, Ca, of the automated monitor subsystem. Usual design practice is to set Ca to a value that optimizes the automated monitor's detection and false alarm rates. Our analysis shows that this setting will not yield optimal performance for the overall human-machine system. Furthermore, overall system performance may be limited to a narrow range of realizable detection and error rates. As a result, large gains in system performance can be achieved by manipulating the parameters of the automated monitor subsystem in light of the workload characteristics of the human operator.

ISSN:0737-0024    

DOI:10.1207/s15327051hci0101_2

出版商:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.    

年代:1985

数据来源: Taylor

摘要:

With the spread of computer networks, communication via computer conferences, electronic mail, and computer bulletin boards will become more common in society, but little is known about the social psychological implications of these technologies. One possibility is a change in physiological arousal, feelings, and expressive behavior-that is, affect. These computer-mediated communication technologies focus attention on the message, transmit social information poorly, and do not have a well-developed social etiquette. Therefore, these technologies might be associated with less attention to others, less social feedback, and depersonalization of the communication setting. In the present study we examined what would happen to feelings and interpersonal behavior in an experiment in which two people met for the first time and discussed a series of questions in order to get to know one another. We measured physiological arousal (pulse and palmar sweat), subjective affect (emotional state and evaluations), and expressive behavior (self-disclosure and uninhibited behavior) in both synchronous computer-mediated and face-to-face discussions. (For comparison purposes, we also examined these effects under high- and low-evaluation anxiety). Communicating by computer did not influence physiological arousal, and it did not change emotions or self-evaluations. However, people who communicated by computer evaluated each other less favorably than did people who communicated face-to-face, they felt and acted as though the setting was more impersonal, and their behavior was more uninhibited. These findings suggest that computer-mediated communication, rather than provoking emotionality per se, elicits asocial or unregulated behavior. Of course, our data are based on a laboratory experiment using just one type of computer-mediated communication, but the results are generally consistent with anecdotal evidence and new field research on how people use computers to communicate in organizations.

ISSN:0737-0024    

DOI:10.1207/s15327051hci0101_3

出版商:Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.    

年代:1985

数据来源: Taylor