Alistair Sutcliffe
Has also published under the name of:
"A. G. Sutcliffe", "A. Sutcliffe", and "Alistair G. Sutcliffe"
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Publications by Alistair Sutcliffe (bibliography)
» 2009 «
Binder, Jens, Howes, Andrew and Sutcliffe, Alistair (2009): The problem of conflicting social spheres: effects of network structure on experienced tension in social network sites. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2009 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2009. pp. 965-974. Available online
“We propose that a fundamental property of human psychology, the need to maintain independent social spheres, imposes constraints on the use of social network sites (SNS). We particularly focus on the consequences of visibility of communications across social spheres, and we hypothesize that technological features of SNS may bring social spheres in conflict, thus leading to increased levels of online social tension. A survey study among Facebook users was conducted to test this hypothesis. Results showed that diversity of the Facebook network predicted online tension. Moreover, the number of kin in a Facebook network was a crucial component because it predicted online tension whereas number of work and social contacts did not. Further, evidence was found to support the idea that tension might impose an upper limit on network size. We conclude with a discussion of these findings and describe how they support the thrust of recent modifications to SNS designs.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair, Gonzalez, Victor M. and Kraut, Robert E. (2009): Social mediating technologies: developing the research agenda. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2009 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2009. pp. 4775-4778. Available online
“Social Mediating Technologies (SMTs) range from e-mail to social networking sites and community websites. The popularity of these technologies is increasing rapidly, yet we have little understanding about how and why people find these technologies so appealing. The research challenge is to try to understand the causal drivers for usage of social technologies, and theory-based understanding of how the affordances of such technologies meet with people's cognitive and social needs. This workshop will provide a forum for researchers to synthesise current knowledge on SMTs and map out future research directions.”
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» 2008 «
Hartmann, Jan, Angeli, A. De and Sutcliffe, Alistair (2008): Framing the user experience: information biases on website quality judgement. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2008 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems April 5-10, 2008. pp. 855-864. Available online
“Understanding the complexities of users' judgements and user experience is a prerequisite for informing HCI design. Current user experience (UX) research emphasises that, beyond usability, non-instrumental aspects of system quality contribute to overall judgement and that the user experience is subjective and variable. Based on judgement and decision-making theory, we have previously demonstrated that judgement of websites can be influenced by contextual factors. This paper explores the strength of such contextual influence by investigating framing effects on user judgement of website quality. Two experimental studies investigate how the presentation of information about a website influences the user experience and the relative importance of individual quality attributes for overall judgement. Theoretical implications for the emerging field of UX research and practical implications for design are discussed.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Namoune, Abdallah (2008): Getting the message across: visual attention, aesthetic design and what users remember. In: Proceedings of DIS08 Designing Interactive Systems 2008. pp. 11-20. Available online
“An investigation into user attention and design quality in websites is described. The investigation combined reported attention to areas of interest, with free memory recall and a questionnaire to assess whether areas of interest that users attended to were also remembered and rated well in terms of aesthetic design and usability. Users' memory of areas of interest and design features agreed reasonably well with their reported attention. The sites which were rated more attractive overall had an open layout, extensive use of animations which drew users' attention, and good aesthetic design ratings. Aesthetics was the more important determinant for overall attractiveness; whereas content, brand and usability were more important for overall preference. Based on the analysis, design guidelines for directing user attention are proposed.”
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Hartmann, Jan, Sutcliffe, Alistair and Angeli, Antonella De (2008): Towards a theory of user judgment of aesthetics and user interface quality. In ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 15 (4) p. 15
“The article introduces a framework for users' design quality judgments based on Adaptive Decision Making theory. The framework describes judgment on quality attributes (usability, content/functionality, aesthetics, customisation and engagement) with dependencies on decision making arising from the user's background, task and context. The framework is tested and refined by three experimental studies. The first two assessed judgment of quality attributes of websites with similar content but radically different designs for aesthetics and engagement. Halo effects were demonstrated whereby attribution of good quality on one attribute positively influenced judgment on another, even in the face of objective evidence to the contrary (e.g., usability errors). Users' judgment was also shown to be susceptible to framing effects of the task and their background. These appear to change the importance order of the quality attributes; hence, quality assessment of a design appears to be very context dependent. The third study assessed the influence of customisation by experiments on mobile services applications, and demonstrated that evaluation of customisation depends on the users' needs and motivation. The results are discussed in the context of the literature on aesthetic judgment, user experience and trade-offs between usability and hedonic/ludic design qualities.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Namoune, Abdallah (2008): Investigating User Attention and Interest in Websites. In: INTERACT 2008 2008. .
Kaindl, Hermann, Constantine, Larry L., Pastor, Oscar, Sutcliffe, Alistair and Zowghi, Didar (2008): How to Combine Requirements Engineering and Interaction Design?. In: 16th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference RE 2008 8-12 September, 2008, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain. pp. 299-301. Available online
Thew, Sarah and Sutcliffe, Alistair (2008): Investigating the Role of 'Soft Issues' in the RE Process. In: 16th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference RE 2008 8-12 September, 2008, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain. pp. 63-66. Available online
Thew, Sarah, Sutcliffe, Alistair, Bruijn, Oscar de, McNaught, John, Procter, Rob, Venters, Colin and Buchan, Iain (2008): Experience in e-Science Requirements Engineering. In: 16th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference RE 2008 8-12 September, 2008, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain. pp. 277-282. Available online
Sutcliffe, Alistair (2008): A Design Framework for Mapping Social Relationships. In Psychnology, 6 (3) pp. 225-246
“This paper describes a design framework for representing social-spatial data on maps and diagrams and then illustrates the design approaches for representing social data in two applications. One derives from a project which compared social relationships, organisational structures and social networks of organisational members. The second project produced visualisation tools to support epidemiological investigations of obesity. The mapping approaches for different types of social data are illustrated with case studies.”
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» 2007 «
Hartmann, Jan, Sutcliffe, Alistair and Angeli, A. De (2007): Investigating attractiveness in web user interfaces. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2007 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2007. pp. 387-396. Available online
“A theoretical framework for assessing the attractiveness of websites based on Adaptive Decision Making theory is introduced. The framework was developed into a questionnaire and used to evaluate three websites which shared the same brand and topic but differed in aesthetic design. The DSchool site was favoured overall and was best for aesthetics and usability. The subjective ratings of the sites were in conflict with the subject-reported comments on usability problems. Subjects were given two scenarios for their preference. They changed their preference from the DSchool to the HCI Group's site for the more serious (PhD study) scenario; however, design background students remained loyal to the DSchool. The implications of framing and halo effects on users' judgement of aesthetics are discussed.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair (2007): Requirements in the Global Economy-Experience, Problems and Prospects. In: 15th IEEE International Requirements Engineering Conference RE 2007 October 15-19th, 2007, New Delhi, India. pp. 359-360. Available online
» 2006 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair, Karat, John, Bodker, Suzanne and Gaver, Bill (2006): Can we measure quality in design and do we need to?. In: Proceedings of DIS06: Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, & Techniques 2006. pp. 119-121. Available online
“The new usability agenda is driving empirical and experimental studies into a growing range of quality criteria such as engagement, user experience, and aesthetics. Some see this as a positive move to theorise about the nature of good design qualities, and to objectively test such hypotheses on the new usability theme. However, others (e.g. [1], [2]) have argued for interpretation-based inquiry into user engagement and experience on the grounds that such phenomena can only be understood by investigations into contexts of use which defy quantitative approaches. Many in the design community would agree with them and go further to argue that quality in design is a matter of creativity and can not be measured or theorised per se; instead, research should focus on understanding and improving the process of design. This panel will debate the tensions between these positions and explore possible common ground between them as a contribution towards the research agenda that is being debated in the DIS conference series.”
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Angeli, A. De, Sutcliffe, Alistair and Hartmann, Jan (2006): Interaction, usability and aesthetics: what influences users' preferences?. In: Proceedings of DIS06: Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, & Techniques 2006. pp. 271-280. Available online
“In this paper we describe an evaluation of two websites with the same content but different interface styles (traditional menu-based and interactive metaphors). A formative usability evaluation was carried out with heuristic assessment of aesthetics, and questionnaire assessment of aesthetics, content, information quality, usability and post-test memory. The study revealed that perception of information quality is affected by the interaction style implemented in the interface, in a manner resembling the halo effect in person perception. Implications for website design and evaluation are discussed.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair, Kurniawan, Sri and Shin, Jae-Eun (2006): A method and advisor tool for multimedia user interface design. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 64 (4) pp. 375-392
“This paper describes a multimedia user interface design method and a design assistant tool which supports the method. The method covers specification of user requirements and information architecture, selection of appropriate media to represent the information content, design for directing attention to important information and interaction design to enhance user engagement. Guidelines for media selection and design for attractiveness, i.e. usability and user experience, are given. The method was evaluated in a case study design of a crowd control simulation training system, which demonstrated the method was usable and gave good solutions against an expert gold standard design. The tool provides advice on media selection and attention effects that match specification of the information content expressed as information types and communication goals. A usability evaluation was carried out to measure the usefulness and effectiveness of the tool in comparison to the method, and the results showed that the tool has a positive impact on multimedia design.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair, Gault, Brian, Fernando, Terence and Tan, Kevin (2006): Investigating interaction in CAVE virtual environments. In ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 13 (2) pp. 235-267
“An experimental comparison of interaction in the real world and a CAVE virtual environment was carried out, varying interaction with and without virtual hands and comparing two manipulation tasks. The double-handed task was possible in the real world but nearly impossible in the VE, leading to changed behavior. The single-handed task showed more errors in the VE but few behavioral differences. Users encountered more errors in the CAVE condition without the virtual hand than with it, and few errors in the real world. Visual feedback caused many usability problems in both tasks. The implications for VE usability and virtual prototyping are discussed.”
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» 2005 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair, Gault, Brian and Shin, Jae-Eun (2005): Presence, memory and interaction in virtual environments. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 62 (3) pp. 307-327
“An experimental study is described, comparing presence, memory, and interaction in three different virtual environments: CAVE, Interactive WorkBench, and Reality Room. The aim of the experiment was to investigate possible relationships between these three parameters. It was found that the CAVE was remembered better, had better usability, and provided a better sense of presence to its users.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Angeli, A. De (2005): Assessing Interaction Styles in Web User Interfaces. In: Proceedings of IFIP INTERACT05: Human-Computer Interaction 2005. pp. 405-417. Available online
“An evaluation of two websites with the same content but different interface styles (traditional menu-based and interactive metaphors) is described. A formative usability evaluation was carried out with heuristic assessment of aesthetics followed by post-test memory. The subjects had more problems with the metaphor-based site, but rated it more favourably on the aesthetics heuristics. There was no difference in free memory recall between the sites. The implications for website design and evaluation are discussed.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair (2005): Grand Challenges in HCI: the Quest for Theory-led Design. In: Proceedings of the HCI05 Conference on People and Computers XIX 2005. pp. 491-505.
» 2004 «
Chewar, C. M., McCrickard, D. Scott and Sutcliffe, Alistair (2004): Unpacking critical parameters for interface design: evaluating notification systems with the IRC framework. In: Proceedings of DIS04: Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, & Techniques 2004. pp. 279-288. Available online
“We elaborate a proposal for capturing, extending, and reusing design knowledge gleaned through usability testing. The proposal is specifically targeted to address interface design for notification systems, but its themes can be generalized to any constrained and well-defined genre of interactive system design. We reiterate arguments for and against using critical parameters to characterize user goals and usability artifacts. Responding to residual arguments, we suggest that clear advantages for research cohesion, design knowledge reuse, and HCI education are possible if several challenges are overcome. As a first step, we recommend a slight variation to the concept of a critical parameter, which would allow both abstract and concrete knowledge representation. With this concept, we demonstrate a feasible approach by introducing equations that elaborate and allow evolution of notification system critical parameters, which is made operational with a variety of usability evaluation instruments. A case study illustrates how one general instrument allowed system designs to be meaningfully compared and resulted in valuable inferences for interface reengineering. Broad implications and conclusions about this approach will be of interest to others concerned with using critical parameters in interface design, development of notification systems interfaces, or approaches to design rationale and knowledge reuse.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Gault, Brian (2004): Heuristic evaluation of virtual reality applications. In Interacting with Computers, 16 (4) pp. 831-849
“This paper presents a heuristic method for evaluating virtual environment (VE) user interfaces. The method is based on Nielsen's [Usability Inspection Methods, 1994] usability heuristics, extended by VE-specific principles proposed by Sutcliffe and Kaur [Behaviour and Information Technology 19 (2000) 415-426]. Twelve heuristics are presented which address usability and presence issues. An inspection-based evaluation method is described and illustrated with three usability case study assessments, the last of which rates the applicability and validity of the heuristics by several evaluators. Use of the method uncovered several usability problems and trapped the most serious errors. Finally, VE applications integrating measures of usability and presence are discussed.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair, Bruijn, O. de, Gault, B., Fernando, T. and Tan, K. (2004): Comparing Interaction in the Real World and CAVE Virtual Environments. In: Proceedings of the HCI04 Conference on People and Computers XVIII 2004. pp. 347-362.
» 2003 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair (2003): Symbiosis and synergy? scenarios, task analysis and reuse of HCI knowledge. In Interacting with Computers, 15 (2) pp. 245-263
“This paper follows the scenarios and task models debate by reviewing the contributions of task modelling and scenario based approaches from a cognitive perspective. A framework of cognitive affordances is introduced to discuss the merits and limitations of each approach. An extension of the modelling theme, generic task models, is proposed to augment the contribution of knowledge reuse to the design process. The paper concludes by discussing how scenario based design might complement task analysis and reuse of task based knowledge.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair, Fickas, Steve, Sohlberg, McKay Moore and Ehlhardt, Laurie A. (2003): Investigating the usability of assistive user interfaces. In Interacting with Computers, 15 (4) pp. 577-602
“A prototype e-mail system was developed for cognitively disabled users, with four different interfaces (free format, idea prompt, form fill and menu driven). The interfaces differed in the level of support provided for the user and complexity of facilities for composing e-mail messages. Usability evaluation demonstrated that no one interface was superior because of individual differences in usability problems, although the majority of users preferred interfaces which did not restrict their freedom of expression (free format). In contrast to traditional evaluation studies, no common pattern of usability errors emerged, demonstrating the need for customisation of interfaces for individual cognitively disabled users. A framework for customising user interfaces to individual users is proposed, and usability principles derived from the study are expressed as claims following the task artefact cycle.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair (2003): Scenarios, Models and the Design Process in Software Engineering and Interactive Systems Design. In: Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 2003. pp. 579-583.
Sutcliffe, Alistair, Lee, D. and Mehandjiev, N. (2003): Contributions, Costs and Prospects for End-User Development. In: Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 2003. pp. 622-626.
Kurniawan, H. and Sutcliffe, Alistair (2003): Evaluating the Usability of a Screen Reader with Blind Users. In: Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 2003. pp. 1295-1299.
Kurniawan, Sri, Sutcliffe, Alistair and Blenkhorn, Paul (2003): How Blind Users' Mental Models Affect Their Perceived Usability of an Unfamiliar Screen Reader. In: Proceedings of IFIP INTERACT03: Human-Computer Interaction 2003, Zurich, Switzerland. p. 631.
Sutcliffe, Alistair and Watts, Leon (2003): Multimedia Design for the Web. In: Proceedings of IFIP INTERACT03: Human-Computer Interaction 2003, Zurich, Switzerland. p. 1033.
Paterno, Fabio, Repenning, Alexander and Sutcliffe, Alistair (2003): End-user development. In: Proceedings of IFIP INTERACT03: Human-Computer Interaction 2003, Zurich, Switzerland. p. 1096.
» 2000 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair, Ryan, Michele, Doubleday, Ann and Springett, Mark (2000): Model Mismatch Analysis: Towards a Deeper Explanation of Users' Usability Problems. In Behaviour and Information Technology, 19 (1) pp. 43-55
“An evaluation method is proposed based on walkthrough analysis coupled with a taxonomic analysis of observed problems and causes of usability error. The model mismatch method identifies usability design flaws and missing requirements from user errors. The method is tested with a comparative evaluation of two information retrieval products. Different profiles of usability and requirements problems were found for the two products, even though their overall performance was similar.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Kaur, K. Deol (2000): Evaluating the Usability of Virtual Reality User Interfaces. In Behaviour and Information Technology, 19 (6) pp. 415-426
“A walkthrough method for evaluating virtual reality (VR) user interfaces is described and illustrated with a usability assessment of a virtual business park application. The method is based on a theory of interaction that extends Norman's model of action. A walkthrough analysis method uses three models derived from the theory. The first model describes goal-oriented task action, the second exploration and navigation in virtual worlds, while the third covers interaction in response to system initiative. Each stage of the model is associated with generic design properties that specify the necessary support from the system for successful interaction. The evaluation method consists of a checklist of questions using the properties and following the model cycle. Use of the method uncovered several usability problems. Approaches to evaluation of VR applications and future work are discussed.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair, Ennis, Mark and Hu, J. (2000): Evaluating the Effectiveness of Visual User Interfaces for Information Retrieval. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 53 (5) pp. 741-763
“An integrated visual thesaurus and results browser to support information retrieval was designed using a task model of information searching. The system provided a hierarchical thesaurus with a results cluster display representing similarity between retrieved documents and relevance ranking using a bullseye metaphor. Latent semantic indexing (LSI) was used as the retrieval engine and to calculate the similarity between documents. The design was tested with two information retrieval tasks. User behaviour, performance and attitude were recorded as well as usability problems. The system had few usability problems and users liked the visualizations, but recall performance was poor. The reasons for poor/good performance were investigated by examining user behaviour and search strategies. Better searchers used the visualizations more effectively and spent longer on the task, whereas poorer performances were attributable to poor motivation, difficulty in assessing article relevance and poor use of system visualizations. The bullseye browser display appeared to encourage limited evaluation of article relevance on titles, leading to poor performance. The bullseye display metaphor for article relevance was understood by users; however, they were confused by the concept of similarity searching expressed as visual clusters. The conclusions from the study are that while visual user interfaces for information searching might seem to be usable, they may not actually improve performance. Training and advisor facilities for effective search strategies need to be incorporated to enhance the effectiveness of visual user interfaces for information retrieval.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair (2000): On the Effective Use and Reuse of HCI Knowledge. In ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 7 (2) pp. 197-221
“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 process. 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 retrieval 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.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair (2000): On the effective use and reuse of HCI knowledge. In: ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 2000. p. 24.
» 1999 «
Faraday, Pete and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1999): Authoring Animated Web Pages Using 'Contact Points'. In: Altom, Mark W. and Williams, Marian G. (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 99 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference May 15-20, 1999, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. pp. 458-465. Available online
“This paper explores how 'contact points' or co-references between an animation and text should be designed in web pages. Guidelines are derived from an eye tracking study. A dynamic HTML authoring tool is described which supports these requirements. An evaluation study is reported in which four designs of animation in web pages were tested.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Carroll, John M. (1999): Designing Claims for Reuse in Interactive Systems Design. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 50 (3) pp. 213-241
“Claims have been proposed as a means of expressing HCI knowledge that is associated with a specific artifact and usage context. Claims describe design trade-offs and record HCI knowledge related to a specific design, or artifact, as psychological design rationale. Claims are created in the task-artifact cycle of interactive design and evaluation. Usability evaluation establishes a claim for a specific usage context, but this can restrict subsequent reuse of claims-related knowledge. To widen the scope of reuse the knowledge contained within claims and their associated artifacts has to be classified and generalized. To address this problem a schema and method for classifying claims is introduced. The schema elaborates the description of HCI knowledge in claims and enables reuse by describing the assumptions and dependencies upon which a claim rests. Methods for generalising claims and discovering new claims from existing claims and artifacts were investigated. A factoring method for evolving child claims from parent claims and their usage scenarios is described. This employs a walkthrough technique based on Norman's model of action with questions directed at the contributions a claim makes to usability at different stages in interaction. Factoring promotes evolution of child claims that either address different aspects of task support in the same domain as the parent claim, or development of more general child claims for user-interface design. The relationships between claims are represented in maps to illustrate histories of task-artifacts investigation that lead to claims evolution either via the factoring process or by empirical investigation. The schema and method for claims evolution are illustrated by case studies of claims development in tutoring systems and claims for functional requirements for specification reuse support tools. The paper concludes with a discussion of the contribution that reusable claims can make as a repository of HCI knowledge.”
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Kaur, Kulwinder, Maiden, Neil and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1999): Interacting with Virtual Environments: An Evaluation of a Model of Interaction. In Interacting with Computers, 11 (4) pp. 403-426
“There is a need for interface design guidance for virtual environments, in order to avoid common usability problems. To develop such guidance an understanding of user interaction is required. Theoretical models of interaction with virtual environments are proposed, which consist of stages of interaction for task/goal oriented, exploratory and reactive modes of behaviour. The models have been evaluated through user studies and results show the models to be reasonably complete in their predictions about modes and stages of interaction. Particular stages were found to be more predominant than others. The models were shown to be less accurate about the exact flow of interaction between stages. Whilst the general organisation of stages in the models remained the same, stages were often skipped and there was backtracking to previous stages. Results have been used to refine the theoretical models for use in informing interface design guidance for virtual environments.”
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Maiden, Neil, Minocha, Shailey, Sutcliffe, Alistair, Manuel, Darrel and Ryan, Michele (1999): A Co-Operative Scenario Based Approach to Acquisition and Validation of System Requirements: How Exceptions Can Help!. In Interacting with Computers, 11 (6) pp. 645-664
“Scenarios, in most situations, are descriptions of required interactions between a desired system and its environment, which detail normative system behaviour. Our studies of current scenario use in requirements engineering have revealed that there is considerable interest in the use of scenarios for acquisition, elaboration and validation of system requirements. However, scenarios have seldom been used to study inappropriate or exceptional system behaviour. To account for non-normative or undesired system behaviour, it is vital to predict ('what can go wrong') and explore the existence or occurrence of 'exceptions' in a scenario when the system might be prevented from delivering the required service. Identification of exceptions and inclusion of additional requirements to prevent their occurrence or mitigate their effects yield robust and fault-tolerant design solutions. In this article, we present a prototype software tool called CREWS-SAVRE for systematic scenario generation and use. We describe the innovative features of the tool and demonstrate them with an example of tool's use. Further, we have identified three kinds of exceptions: generic, permutation and problem exceptions, and have derived complex taxonomies of problem exceptions. We have populated SAVRE with the taxonomies of generic, permutation and problem exceptions. The exceptions can be chosen by the requirements engineer to include them in the generated scenarios to explore the correctness and completeness of requirements. In addition, the taxonomies of problem exceptions can also serve as checklists and help a requirements engineer to predict non-normative system behaviour in a scenario.”
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Galliers, Julia, Sutcliffe, Alistair and Minocha, Shailey (1999): An Impact Analysis Method for Safety-Critical User Interface Design. In ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR), 6 (4) pp. 341-369
“We describe a method of assessing the implications for human error on user interface design of safety-critical systems. In previous work we have proposed a taxonomy of influencing factors that contribute to error. In this article, components of the taxonomy are combined into a mathematical and causal model for error, represented as a Bayesian Belief Net (BBN). The BBN quantifies error influences arising from user knowledge, ability, and the task environment, combined with factors describing the complexity of user action and user interface quality. The BBN model predicts probabilities of different types of error -- slips and mistakes -- for each component action of a task involving user-system interaction. We propose an Impact Analysis Method that involves running test scenarios against this causal model of error in order to determine user interactions that are prone to different types of error. Applying the proposed method will enable the designer to determine the combinations of influencing factors and their interactions that are most likely to influence human error. Finally we show how such scenario-based causal analysis can be useful as a means of focusing on relevant guidelines for safe user interface design. The proposed method is demonstrated through a case study of an operator performing a task using the control system for a laser spectrophotometer.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair (1999): A design method for effective information delivery in multimedia. In New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia, 5 pp. 29-58
“A method for multimedia presentation design is described. The method consists of design principles based on cognitive psychology, media selection guidelines that utilise definition of information and media types, validation guidelines for media combination and techniques for directing the user's attention in multimedia sequences. Contact points are proposed for design effects to link content themes across different media. The method is illustrated with a theatre booking application, and the techniques for attention design are described by experimental studies on a presentation before and after the application of the attention directing guidelines. Method validation studies are described briefly followed by a discussion of future work.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair (1999): Developing HCI design principles for information retrieval applications. In: 1999. pp. 90-96.
» 1998 «
Faraday, Pete and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1998): Providing Advice for Multimedia Designers. In: Karat, Clare-Marie, Lund, Arnold, Coutaz, Joëlle and Karat, John (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 98 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 18-23, 1998, Los Angeles, California. pp. 124-131. Available online
“The paper summarises empirical research that led to guidelines for directing the viewing/reading sequence in multimedia presentations. A method for scripting or evaluating multimedia presentations is described and illustrated with a case study. A design advisor tool based on this work is used to critique a sample MM presentation. A tool validation study with novice designers is reported.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Rugg, Gordon (1998): A Taxonomy of Error Types for Failure Analysis and Risk Assessment. In International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 10 (4) pp. 381-405
“We describe a taxonomy of error types that builds on work by Reason (1990) and Hollnagel (1993). The taxonomy uses a faceted schema subdivided into layers. Each layer targets a particular analysis task, and a method is proposed leading the assessor through sets of error types at different levels (e.g., cognitive, social, organizational). This allows the causes of failure to be attributed to one or more error types. The method is illustrated with two case studies of diverse failures. The utility of taxonomy analysis in understanding the reasons for failure and risk assessment is discussed.”
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Ryan, Michele and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1998): Analysing Requirements to Inform Design. In: Johnson, Hilary, Nigay, Laurence and Roast, C. R. (eds.) Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers XIII August 1-4, 1998, Sheffield, UK. pp. 139-157.
“Publications, guidelines and methodologies have proliferated on usability engineering in the HCI literature while an extensive literature exists on methods in requirements engineering. Requirements analysis and usability are inextricably linked yet few methods exist to integrate the two approaches. In this paper we propose a framework for analysing requirements of systems and user interfaces, and report its use in requirements capture. Inadequacies resulting from the application of the framework are described leading to development of a method for requirements elaboration. Use of the method is illustrated by applying it retrospectively to the requirements capture exercise.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Carroll, John M. (1998): Generalizing Claims and Reuse of HCI Knowledge. In: Johnson, Hilary, Nigay, Laurence and Roast, C. R. (eds.) Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers XIII August 1-4, 1998, Sheffield, UK. pp. 159-176.
“A framework for classifying claims and indexing them for reuse with generic models is proposed. Claims are classified by a schema that includes design issues, dependencies, usability effects, with links to scenarios and the artefact associated with the claim. Generic models describe classes of application and tasks. Claims are associated with appropriate model components. Models which match a new application are retrieved from a library by using keyword searches or browsing the model hierarchy. Claims are reused on applications sharing the same generic application. Artefacts associated with claims may also be reused although user interfaces need customizing because of domain specific features. Claims evolution and reuse are illustrated with an information retrieval case study.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Ennis, Mark (1998): Towards a Cognitive Theory of Information Retrieval. In Interacting with Computers, 10 (3) pp. 321-351
“A framework for constructing a cognitive model of users' information searching behaviour is described. The motivation for the framework is to create explanatory and predictive theories of information searching to improve the design of information retrieval (IR) systems. The framework proposes a taxonomy of components for process models of the information seeking task, information need types and knowledge sources necessary to support the task. The framework is developed into a preliminary version of a cognitive theory of information searching by the addition of strategies and correspondence rules which predict user behaviour in different task stages according to information need types, facilities provided by the IR system and knowledge held by the user. The theory is evaluated by using claims analysis based on empirical observations of users information retrieval and by a walkthrough of an IR session to investigate how well the theory can account for empirical evidence. Results show that the theory can indicate the expert strategies which should be followed in different task contexts but predictions of actual user behaviour are less accurate. The future possibilities for employing the theoretical model as a tutorial advisor for information retrieval and as an evaluation method for IR systems are reviewed. The role and potential of cognitive theories of user task-action in Information Retrieval and Human Computer Interaction are discussed.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair, Johnson, Peter and Ziegler, Jürgen (eds.) (1998): Designing Effective and Usable Multimedia Systems. Kluwer Academic Publishers
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» 1997 «
Faraday, Pete and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1997): Designing Effective Multimedia Presentations. In: Pemberton, Steven (ed.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 97 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference March 22-27, 1997, Atlanta, Georgia. pp. 272-278. Available online
“The paper reports four studies concerning attention to and comprehension of Multimedia presentations. The Multimedia sequence used was taken from a commercially produced CD-ROM, 'The Etiology of Cancer'. First, an eye tracking study of the presentation is reported. A second study was then conducted on the recall of the materials used in the eye tracking study. The results of these studies were used to propose design guidelines for Multimedia presentations. The guidelines were applied to produce a re-authored version of the original presentation. A further two studies were then conducted on the re-authored version to assess the impact of the design guidelines.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair (1997): Task-Related Information Analysis. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 47 (2) pp. 223-257
“Task analysis methods have paid little attention to specification of information displays. A method is described for analysing task-related information needs linked to design of information displays. The method starts by defining users' requirements with information types. These are added to the task model to specify what type of information is required during the task. The next step selects appropriate means of information delivery according to the users' needs. Different information access and display paradigms, e.g. hypertext, data retrieval and display media are considered. The method is illustrated with a case study of a shipboard information system.”
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Doubleday, Ann, Ryan, Michele, Springett, Mark and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1997): A Comparison of Usability Techniques for Evaluating Design. In: Proceedings of DIS97: Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, & Techniques 1997. pp. 101-110. Available online
“We report on a series of experiments designed to compare usability testing methods in a novel information retrieval interface. The purpose of this ongoing work is to investigate the problems people encounter while performing information retrieval tasks, and to assess evaluation methods by looking at the problem focus, the quality of the results and the cost effectiveness of each method. This first communication compares expert evaluation using heuristics [15] with end user testing [24].”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair (1997): A Designer's Nightmare: Designing a Reusable Information Retrieval Class Library in a Multinational Consortium. In: Proceedings of DIS97: Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, & Techniques 1997. pp. 381-383. Available online
“In this design case we describe the experience of designing a resuable class library for information retrieval user interfaces. The design process is described with reflections on how the process was organised and the impact of the design problem on the process.”
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Faraday, Pete and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1997): Evaluating multimedia presentations. In New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia, 3 pp. 7-37
“The paper reports the basis for a cognitive walkthrough method to support the evaluation of multimedia (MM) expository presentations (e.g. 'how to do it' type tasks). The walkthrough is founded upon an analysis of the cognitive processes and representations formed by the comprehension of an MM presentation. Issues include evaluation of attention, topic focus and information types. The walkthrough provides a series of guidelines for evaluation based on these cognitive models, such as the use of media, scripting and presentation techniques. The value of the guidelines is validated by several empirical studies. An eye tracking study is reported, providing evidence as to how visual attention responds to MM materials. A series of comprehension studies then investigate the effectiveness of a presentation before and after our guidelines were applied. The paper is illustrated with an example evaluation and studies of a commercially produced CD-ROM MM presentation 'The Etiology of Cancer'.”
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» 1996 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair and Patel, Uma (1996): 3D or not 3D: Is it Nobler in the Mind?. In: Sasse, Martina Angela, Cunningham, R. J. and Winder, R. L. (eds.) Proceedings of the Eleventh Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers XI August, 1996, London, UK. pp. 79-94.
“A design method for complex visual interfaces in information systems applications is proposed and tested by developing prototype applications using Text, 2D and 3D representations. The 3 prototypes are evaluated in empirical studies to investigate performance differences and patterns of user-system interaction. 3D designs and graphics show some performance advantages but individual differences are important. Systematic design seems to improve the effect of all representational modalities.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair, Assche, Frans van and Benyon, David (eds.) (1996): Domain Knowledge for Interactive System Design. Kluwer Academic Publishers
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» 1995 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair (1995): Requirements Rationales: Integrating Approaches to Requirement Analysis. In: Proceedings of DIS95: Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, & Techniques 1995. pp. 33-42.
“An empirical study of requirements analysis techniques is reported. The study used a ship board emergency application. Requirements were elicited by presenting users with a prototype-simulation of a prospective design based on preliminary analysis. This was combined with rationale based techniques for structuring probe questions and a questionnaire to elicit user preferences. Transcripts of the sessions were analysed for the type of questions asked, answers received and the type of requirement captures. The scenario and rationale techniques proved very effective in eliciting requirements, but style of questioning may be an important effect. Recommendations are made for requirements capture session using scenario based approaches.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair, Bass, Len, Cockton, Gilbert, Monk, Andrew and Newman, Ian (1995): Methods, Models and Architectures for Graphical User Interface Design. In ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 27 (4) pp. 46-49
» 1994 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair (1994): Defining the Requirements for HCI Design Methods. In ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 26 (2) pp. 21-23
» 1993 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair (1993): "Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring Usability Through Product and Process," by D. Hix and H. R. Hartson. In International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 39 (6) pp. 1051-1057
Faraday, Pete and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1993): A Method for Multimedia Interface Design. In: Alty, James L., Diaper, Dan and Guest, D. (eds.) Proceedings of the Eighth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers VIII August 7-10, 1993, Loughborough University, UK. pp. 173-190.
“Multimedia (MM) interfaces are currently created by intuition. Development of a method for analysis and design of MM presentation interfaces is described. The study investigates task based information analysis, persistence of information, attention and concurrency in presentation. The method gives an agenda of issues and techniques for specification, and guidelines for media selection and presentation scripting. Use of the method is illustrated with a case study of shipboard emergency management.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Patel, U. K. (1993): The Three-Dimensional Graphical User Interface: Evaluation for Design Evolution. In: Alty, James L., Diaper, Dan and Guest, D. (eds.) Proceedings of the Eighth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers VIII August 7-10, 1993, Loughborough University, UK. pp. 311-331.
“The design of a three-dimensional interactive graphical user interface for a medical knowledge based system is described. A prototype of the design has been developed and evaluated. The evaluation study investigated usability, and individual differences in patterns of interaction. We found that there are individual differences in the way users explore three dimensional visualisations, and that usability is dependent on both the morphology (visualisation) and manipulations (interface functionality). While three-dimensional graphics can help reduce representational complexity, other forms complexity are intrinsic to the medium and require design solutions. Implications of these findings for design evolution are discussed.”
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Faraday, Pete and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1993): Toward a Walkthrough Method for Multimedia Design. In: Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 1993. pp. 452-457.
“A basic model of Multimedia comprehension is proposed. The model is used to demonstrate how a Walkthrough critiquing method may be developed for MM presentations. An expository presentation (changing a Laser Writer toner cartridge) is used to illustrate the methodology.”
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Springett, M. V., Grant, A. S. and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1993): Interface Semantics and Procedural Knowledge: A Study of Novice Understanding of MacDraw. In: East-West International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Proceedings of the EWHCI93 1993. pp. 241-256.
“This paper presents an analysis of issues affecting the choice of usability evaluation strategies for highly interactive Direct Manipulation interfaces. It reports memory tests on novice users of MacDraw I which investigate the degree of reliance on the interface for cueing, and the sources of information, both within the interface and outside, that may be utilized. A study of the novice subjects' (verbalised) reasoning during experimental task-performance on MacDraw is then reported. Examples of subjects reasoning are used to illustrate the nature of Direct Manipulation evaluation. Issues affecting the selection and development of evaluation methods are then discussed.”
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Patel, U. K. and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1993): Three-Dimensional Visualisation of Knowledge Structures: Prototyping for Design Evaluation. In: East-West International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Proceedings of the EWHCI93 1993. pp. 50-70.
“A conceptual framework for specification of 3D visualisations is introduced, and a task knowledge modelling approach to designing 3D visualisations of knowledge structures is described. Using this approach, a three-dimensional interactive graphical user interface to a medical diagnosis knowledge based system has been designed and specified. The design has been implemented as a prototype and evaluated. We found that there are individual differences in the way users explore three dimensional visualisations, and that usability is dependent on both the morphology (visualisation) and manipulations (interface functionality). Implications of these findings for the design of 3D visualisations are discussed.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Faraday, Pete (1993): Designing Multimedia Interfaces. In: East-West International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Proceedings of the EWHCI93 1993. pp. 123-133.
“Multimedia interfaces are currently created by intuition. Development of a method for analysis and design of multimedia presentation interfaces is described. The study investigates task based information analysis, persistence of information, selection attention and concurrency in presentation. The method gives an agenda of issues, diagrams and techniques for specification, and guidelines for media selection and presentation scripting. Use of the method is illustrated with a case study of shipboard emergency management.”
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» 1992 «
Maiden, Neil and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1992): Analogously Based Reusability. In Behaviour and Information Technology, 11 (2) pp. 79-98
“A study is reported in which 10 expert analysts were requested to reuse a specification to develop a solution for an analogous problem. The study examined analytic and problem-solving strategies used by analysts to understand and reuse the analogous specification. Results revealed that painstaking and careful reuse of the specification was a critical determinant of analytic success, although results varied by individual. However, the reusable specification proved less effective for evaluation of the analyst's solution. Analysts preferred to assimilate and understand the analogy from a narrative describing the underlying reusable domain rather than from the reusable specification, hence knowledge about the problem domain appeared to be more important than solution knowledge in determining the analogy. Strategies employed by expert analysts have implications for didactic and reuse strategies incorporated in an intelligent advisor to assist inexperienced analysts to reuse analogous specifications.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Maiden, N. A. M. (1992): Analysing the Novice Analyst: Cognitive Models in Software Engineering. In International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 36 (5) pp. 719-740
“Cognitive problem-solving by novice systems analysts during requirements analysis task was investigated by protocol analysis. Protocols were collected from 13 subjects who analysed a scheduling problem. Reasoning, planning, conceptual modelling and information gathering behaviours were recorded and subjects' solution were evaluated for completeness and accuracy. The protocols showed an initial problem scoping phase followed by more detailed reasoning. Performance in analysis was not linked to any one factor although reasoning was correlated with success. Poor performance could be ascribed to failure to scope the problem, poor formation of a conceptual model of the problem domain, or insufficient testing of hypotheses. Good performance concorded with well-formed conceptual models and good reasoning/testing abilities. The implication of these results for structured systems development methods and Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tools are discussed.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and Springett, M. V. (1992): From User's Problems to Design Errors: Linking Evaluation to Improving Design Practice. In: Monk, Andrew, Diaper, Dan and Harrison, Michael D. (eds.) Proceedings of the Seventh Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers VII August 15-18, 1992, University of York, UK. pp. 117-134.
“An evaluation study of Claris MacDraw is reported. The method used combines error classification with analysis of users' problems by comparison of user and system models. Usability problems were attributed to poor feedback, cueing or inappropriate functionality. However, more detailed model-based analysis demonstrated many errors had several causes and the design features responsible are investigated. The results are discussed in light of design problems inherent in direct manipulation interfaces and the need for economic evaluation methods to discover and understand design problems.”
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Earthy, Jonathan, Pullinger, David, Fowler, Chris, Page, Stephen and Sutcliffe, Alistair (1992): HCI, Where's the Practice?. In: Monk, Andrew, Diaper, Dan and Harrison, Michael D. (eds.) Proceedings of the Seventh Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers VII August 15-18, 1992, University of York, UK. pp. 477-479.
» 1991 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair, Carroll, John M., Young, Richard M. and Long, John (1991): HCI Theory on Trial. In: Robertson, Scott P., Olson, Gary M. and Olson, Judith S. (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 91 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 28 - June 5, 1991, New Orleans, Louisiana. pp. 399-401. Available online
“This panel will examine the potential of artifact theory to deliver usable designs in contention with two rival theories, the HCI conception of engineering, and cognitive modelling. The aim will be to explore how well artifact theory and alternative approaches can deliver good design and the contribution the theory makes to the process and product of design.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair and McDermott, M. (1991): Integrating Methods of Human-Computer Interface Design with Structured Systems Development. In International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 34 (5) pp. 631-655
“Various methods for specification and design of the human-computer interface have been proposed but practice of such methods is not widespread. Possible reasons for this may be the lack of integration of human-computer interface design with software engineering and the specialized nature of HCI methods. A method of interface design is proposed which integrates the development of the human-computer interface with structured systems analysis and design. The method covers task and user analysis, interface specification and dialogue design. A case study of a library system is used to illustrate the method which is discussed in relation to different approaches that have been adopted for interface specification and design. It is argued that software design methods should cover all aspects of process design and the human-computer interface.”
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» 1990 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair and Maiden, Neil (1990): Software Reusability: Delivering Productivity Gains or Short Cuts. In: Diaper, Dan, Gilmore, David J., Cockton, Gilbert and Shackel, Brian (eds.) INTERACT 90 - 3rd IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction August 27-31, 1990, Cambridge, UK. pp. 895-901.
“It has been claimed that software reuse can produce considerable productivity gains in system development. Although much software engineering research has been undertaken to deliver reusability in CASE tools there is little knowledge about how system developers actual reuse specifications. This paper reports practical research into reuse scenarios based on providing analogous specifications for systems analysts. The results are encouraging for reuse but caution that reuse may also create mistakes in specifications by erroneous transfer of knowledge.”
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» 1989 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair and Macauley, Linda (eds.) Proceedings of the Fifth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers V August 5-8, 1989, University of Nottingham, UK.
Sutcliffe, Alistair and MacAulay, Linda (1989): Editorial. In: Sutcliffe, Alistair and Macauley, Linda (eds.) Proceedings of the Fifth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers V August 5-8, 1989, University of Nottingham, UK. pp. 3-5.
Sutcliffe, Alistair (1989): Task Analysis, Systems Analysis and Design: Symbiosis or Synthesis?. In Interacting with Computers, 1 (1) pp. 6-12
“The relationship between methods for systems development that have originated from work in human-computer interaction (HCI) and in software engineering are examined using a classificatory framework of the system life cycle and the development issues are addressed. Software engineering methods tackle few HCI issues and would benefit from the addition of HCI principles and techniques. It is contended that two groups of HCI methods can be identified, task/organisation and cognitive task analysis; both of which should be integrated with structured system development methods to improve system usability. To encourage their practice, HCI methods need to be integrated with software engineering and to offer more prescriptive design advice.”
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Sutcliffe, Alistair (1989): Human-Computer Interface Design. New York, Springer-Verlag
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» 1988 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair (1988): Some Experiences in Integrating Specification of Human Computer Interaction within a Structured System Development Method. In: Jones, Dylan M. and Winder, R. (eds.) Proceedings of the Fourth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers IV August 5-9, 1988, University of Manchester, UK. pp. 145-160.
“Procedures for integrating task analysis and design of human computer interfaces into a structured system design method, Jackson system development (JSD) are described. JSD process structure diagrams are used to describe tasks which are then evaluated for cognitive complexity. Task allocation and complexity analysis produced specification of human tasks, highlighted the need for task support actions, especially information display support for working memory, and produced computer process specifications for human task support. Dialogue specification for a direct manipulation interface design was taken from the JSD object/event model from which permissible manipulations were derived. Further PSD diagrams were constructed to specify interface object management processes. Preliminary evaluation of the method showed that the method was easy to learn even for non HCI specialists.”
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» 1987 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair and Old, A. C. (1987): Do Users Know They Have User Models? Some Experiences in the Practice of User Modelling. In: Bullinger, Hans-Jorg and Shackel, Brian (eds.) INTERACT 87 - 2nd IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction September 1-4, 1987, Stuttgart, Germany. pp. 35-41.
“This paper describes practical experiences of user modelling UNIX to specify a direct manipulation interface. Data capture employed questionnaire, system logs and interviews. Results are discussed in light of the utility of various user modelling concepts.”
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» 1986 «
Hitch, G. J., Sutcliffe, Alistair, Bowers, John and Eccles, Lucy M. (1986): Empirical Evaluation of Map Interfaces: A Preliminary Study. In: Harrison, Michael D. and Monk, Andrew (eds.) Proceedings of the Second Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers II August 23-26, 1986, University of York, UK. pp. 565-585.
“The use of spatial maps as human computer interfaces has been described by Sutcliffe (1985) who demonstrated, using the keystroke model of human performance (Card, Moran and Newell, 1980), that maps should have an operational advantage over menus. This paper reports an empirical evaluation of the use of menu and map interfaces to retrieve information from a hierarchically organized geographical database. Two task variables were manipulated; amount of practice and the provision of retrieval cues in the search query. The importance of the compatibility between the physical layout of the map and the organization of the user's knowledge was investigated by comparing performance with a "geographical" and a "random" map Search was slower and more error prone with a menu interface at all stages of practice, the advantage to map interfaces being greatest when there were no retrieval cues to assist search. The geographical map was no more efficient than the random one when users were totally naive; however, it became the more efficient of the two as a result of practice. These findings are discussed in relation to limitations on the practical utility of the keystroke model in predictive evaluation, and in terms of the ease and flexibility of user search processes guided by map interfaces.”
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» 1985 «
Sutcliffe, Alistair (1985): Use of Conceptual Maps as Human-Computer Interfaces. In: Johnson, Peter and Cook, Stephen (eds.) Proceedings of the Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers I August 17-20, 1985, University of East Anglia. pp. 117-127.
“A human computer interface is described which represents a hierarchically organised system as map in the form of a tree diagram. It is argued that this interface could be more efficient than standard techniques because it is more space efficient in representing entities within a system than menus and imposes less memory load on users than command languages. Operation of the interface is compared with menus and a command language using a method of predicting interface operation based on the work of Card et al (1980). For novice users the map interface is predicted to be much slower than other techniques but for expert users the reverse is true. It is proposed that map interfaces which exploit human abilities of pattern recognition should combine characteristics of being easy to learn with operational efficiency, and provide a more adaptable interface than other techniques.”
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