Margaret H. Szymanski

My PHD thesis was specifically dedicated to "Man-machine communication" in 1972... At that time I was teaching Software at the Polytechnical Institue in Bucharest (Romania) and was interested to find optimal ways to transmit knowledge. As graphical interfaces were almost inexistent, I concentrated on texts and found some interesting "human parameters" which demonstrated the need to limit the number of consistent new items submitted at the same time to a student to a figure between 3 and 5 in order to optimize the communication. Many Internet pages designers do not seem to respect such limitation, so the displayed pages are often fuzzy and difficult to understand. It is my beleif that teaching basic elements of "human factors" is a necessity for computer and software specialists and should be included in all "computer science basics" curricullums.

I think your list of human factors alludes to but does not name one important factor: that of personality types and their similarities and differences. Knowledge of a Jungian type model can be very helpful in identifying which types respond most positivly to certain features or forms of a message or computer application. Whether one uses bullet points, a narrative, charts and graphs, or whatever display one chooses, knowledge of the intended audiences type can and should influence the final choice of which display to use. Applying this knowledge greatly increases the chance that the message will not only be received but also understood. This, in turn, leads to reducing fear and other perceived negatives that your article points out get in the way of human-computer interaction. My experience is that this applys to email messages and software design, as well as to other, more complicated computer applications. If any given user finds something in the design that "speaks" the language of their particular type, that user feels more relaxed, confident, capable, and is more likely to be successful with their "computer experience". A helpful site to explore for more information is PersonalityResources.com. They have a very successful model for identity mapping using their patented four-ways system. The company is committed to providing quality resources and training in the area of human interaction. And, after all, don't we first have to understand the human part of the human -computer interaction?

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