Last 3 Donors
Support us
Funding progress for 2010:
Training Wheels Interface
Training wheels are originally the kind of wheels you put on a child's bike when he/she is learning to ride a bike. A training wheels interface or application is a program/device/system that disables or hides advanced features so novices can learn the system faster in a protected environment where experimentation is safe and encouraged. The user may then enter the advanced mode when he/she feels ready to be exposed to the full functionality/complexity of the system.
The term most likely derives from Carroll and Carrithers (1984) who designed a training wheels interface for a commercial word processor. Their goal was to save users from the frustration and confusion caused by the errors they make in the early stages of learning. That way the user would have the ideal environment for building a coherent mental model of the system, resulting in better performance and learnability of the advanced functions after the initial 'training wheels phase'.
What do YOU think?
Give us your opinion! Do you have any comments/additions
that you would like other visitors to see?
You say:
Mar 21st, 2010
References (bibliography)
Carroll, John M. and Carrithers, C. (1984): Training Wheels in a User Interface. In Communications of the ACM, 27 (8) pp. 800-806
Carroll, John M. and Carrithers, C. (1984): Blocking learner error states in a training-wheels system. In Human Factors, 26 (4) pp. 377-389
Changes to this page
Get Notified!
Get notified when new entries are added to the encyclopedia! Want to know more?“ Software design is the act of determining the user's experience with a piece of software. It has nothing to do with how the code works inside, or how big or small the code is. The designer's task is to specify completely and unambiguously the user's whole experience. ”
-- David Liddle, From Bringing Design to Software, edited by Terry Winograd, 1996
”
- Share this quote on...
- Get more quotes
Eva Hornecker on Tangible Interaction
Eva Hornecker explains the evolving concept of Tangible Interaction.
Read Eva's insightful entry here..
Open Content