Publication statistics
Pub. period:1985-1990
Pub. count:7
Number of co-authors:7
Co-authors
Number of publications with 3 favourite co-authors:
L. A. Macaulay:5M. A. R. Kirby:2S. Siripoksup:2 Productive colleagues
C. J. H. Fowler's 3 most productive colleagues in number of publications:
Linda MacAulay:12L. A. Macaulay:9M. A. R. Kirby:3
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C. J. H. Fowler
Publications by C. J. H. Fowler (bibliography)
Fowler, C. J. H., Kirby, M. A. R. and Macaulay, L. A. (1990): Historical Analysis: A Method for Evaluating Requirement Capture Methodologies. In Interacting with Computers, 2 (2) pp. 190-204.
“Historical analysis is a new method for evaluating requirement capture methodologies. The method consists of three components. First there is the application of a specification analysis technique. This technique is applied to the requirement specification of an existing software product, and is used to predict performance of a product built to that specification. The second component involves surveying actual use of the product. The third component allows a comparison to be made between the predicted and actual product performance. A valid requirements capture methodology should successfully anticipate a significant number of the actual performance problems. The method was used to evaluate the user skills and task match (USTM) methodology. Two case studies were undertaken. The results from the case-work confirm the value of USTM, and demonstrate the power of the historical analysis method as an evaluation tool.”
© All rights reserved Fowler et al. and/or Elsevier Science
Kirby, M. A. R., Fowler, C. J. H. and Macaulay, L. A. (1988): Overcoming Obstacles to the Validation of User Requirements Specifications. 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. 111-122.
“Poor specification of user requirements is a major reason why computer systems fail or dysfunction. One way of addressing this problem is to validate User Requirements Specifications before proceeding with system development. To date, it has only been possible to validate specifications against checklists of what they should contain. This type of validation indicates gaps but does not check the reliability of a specification; nor does it explain the implications of specification deficiencies for performance of the finished product. This paper identifies obstacles to the development of validation techniques that do check reliability and do explain the implications of specification deficiencies. An approach to overcoming these obstacles is discussed, particularly a method for ensuring that a specification is verified with the right set of users, and a method of manipulating and analysing the information in a specification to predict dysfunction. This approach has been used to develop the Specified User Requirements Validation and Explication (SURVE) technique.”
© All rights reserved Kirby et al. and/or Cambridge University Press
Fowler, C. J. H., MacAulay, Linda and Siripoksup, S. (1987): An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Adaptive Interface Module (AIM) in Matching Dialogues to Users. In: Carroll, John M. and Tanner, Peter P. (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 87 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 5-9, 1987, Toronto, Canada. pp. 345-359.
“The present study represents an evaluation of an Adaptive Interfaces Module, which attempts to offer users an appropriate type of dialogue to meet their particular requirements and preferences. The investigation focuses on two main user characteristics: task/system expertise and cognitive style. Cognitive style was assessed on the field-dependence-independence dimension, and the level of task/system expertise was determined by the amount of exposure to the system. A number of different types of dialogue were generated, which varied in terms of their overall form, structure and content. The analysis of the results suggests that cognitive style and task/system expertise are important variables in determining an effective user-dialogue match. Novice users seem to prefer dialogues which are system-guided and demand a limited and specified sequence of inputs from the user. In contrast, users with increased experience appear to be more able to cope with a wider range of dialogues. The cognitive style findings are discussed in terms of different initial learning strategies adopted by users in the formulation of their task/system models. Finally some of the limitations of the experiment are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.”
© All rights reserved Fowler et al. and/or ACM Press
Fowler, C. J. H. and Murray, D. (1987): Gender and Cognitive Style Differences at the Human-Computer Interface. 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. 709-714.
“Over the past decade the computer user community has become increasingly heterogeneous. Computers are now much more widely available and are to be found in most schools and places of work. In response to the greater variety of user, designers have become more concerned with the issue of usability. This has led to a growing need for a fuller understanding of the significant differences between users and user groups so that attempts can be made to accommodate these differences in the design of future systems. Two possibly important sources of variation between users are sex and cognitive style. This paper aims to explore these two concepts, to discuss some of their implications for system design and to finally highlight those aspects which may require further investigation.”
© All rights reserved Fowler and Murray and/or North-Holland
Fowler, C. J. H., Macaulay, L. A. and Siripoksup, S. (1987): An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Adaptive Interface Module (AIM) in Matching Dialogues to Users. In: Diaper, Dan and Winder, Russel (eds.) Proceedings of the Third Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers III August 7-11, 1987, University of Exeter, UK. pp. 345-359.
“The present study represents an evaluation of an Adaptive Interfaces Module, which attempts to offer users an appropriate type of dialogue to meet their particular requirements and preferences. The investigation focuses on two main user characteristics: task/system expertise and cognitive style. Cognitive style was assessed on the field-dependence-independence dimension, and the level of task/system expertise was determined by the amount of exposure to the system. A number of different types of dialogue were generated, which varied in terms of their overall form, structure and content. The analysis of the results suggests that cognitive style and task/system expertise are important variables in determining an effective user-dialogue match. Novice users seem to prefer dialogues which are system-guided and demand a limited and specified sequence of inputs from the user. In contrast, users with increased experience appear to be more able to cope with a wider range of dialogues. The cognitive style findings are discussed in terms of different initial learning strategies adopted by users in the formulation of their task/system models. Finally some of the limitations of the experiment are discussed and suggestions for future research are made.”
© All rights reserved Fowler et al. and/or Cambridge University Press
Fowler, C. J. H., Macaulay, L. A. and Fowler, J. F. (1985): The Relationship Between Cognitive Style and Dialogue Style: An Explorative Study. 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. 186-198.
“This paper presents and discusses findings from an explorative study which examined the relationship between cognitive style and dialogue style as reflected in various measures of performance. The cognitive style dimension used in this investigation was field-dependence/independence (Witkin and Goodenough, 1981), as measured by the GEFT, the main dialogue style variable was the kind of command structure (linear and substructure), and the main performance variables were time taken to complete a task ('thinking' and 'doing'), the number of 'Help' requests, the number of corrected/uncorrected errors, and the kind of error made (usage or typographical). These variables were examined over two different learning blocks using 48 subjects. The results were analysed by the use of correlational techniques. The results suggested that field-dependent persons tend to prefer a substructured command language and that field-independent individuals show a general preference for linear command structure. These results were interpreted in terms of differences in mode of information processing arising from a greater or lesser reliance on external referents. The authors conclude that cognitive style is an important concept in relation to human-computer interaction, and may be of considerable use in the area of interface design.”
© All rights reserved Fowler et al. and/or Cambridge University Press
Macaulay, L. A., Fowler, C. J. H. and Porteus, R. (1985): What Do Clerical Workers Think About Computers?. 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. 290-298.
“The attitudes towards computers of a sample (N=48) of clerical workers were measured by means of a questionnaire. The individual items used were taken from a questionnaire originally designed and used by Zoltan and Chapanis (1982). The clerical workers' responses were then compared with those of the four professional groups sampled in Zoltan and Chapanis' study -- i.e. accountants, lawyers, pharmacists and physicians. The results suggest that with respect to computers the attitudes of clerical workers closely resemble those of pharmacists, and tend to be more positive than those of lawyers and physicians. The findings are explained in terms of the similarities and differences between the various occupations and the degree to which computers are able to assist in the sort of tasks which characterise each occupation.”
© All rights reserved Macaulay et al. and/or Cambridge University Press
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