Peter Johnson
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Publications by Peter Johnson (bibliography)
» 2009 «
Johnson, Peter, Middup, Christopher Paul, Hourizi, Rachid and Maybury, Mark (2009): IUI'09 workshop summary: human interaction with intelligent & networked systems. In: Proceedings of the 2009 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces 2009. pp. 495-496. Available online
“This workshop brings together a community of researchers and practitioners to identify and develop the research agenda needed to enhance human interaction with increasingly powerful and independent intelligent systems e.g. sensors networks, autonomous systems, agents and robotic systems. These systems have applications in many domains including health, transport, environment, emergency situations and defense. Aspects of these systems give rise to properties found in loose federations, collaborations and dynamic coalitions. The research questions include awareness, joint working, decision-making, intentionality, coordination, task-allocation, and planning. The workshop brings together researchers from different disciplines to discuss and develop research and to provide a focus for interdisciplinary research in this area.”
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» 2008 «
Coughlan, Tim and Johnson, Peter (2008): Idea management in creative lives. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2008 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems April 5-10, 2008. pp. 3081-3086. Available online
“This research explores how ideas occur in creative work and the strategies and tools used to represent and develop them. We describe the analysis of an open questionnaire survey of creative practitioners' use of devices to represent ideas and capture inspirational material. Unconscious processes, novel experiences and time away from practice frequently provoke ideas. Our analysis finds that ubiquitous devices are important to practitioners for making initial representations for personal use. Paper and pen remains by far the most common device employed, however respondents perceived organisational advantages in new technology. Representations are created as initial memory aids, platforms for development, or to share ideas. A single representation is rarely suitable for all these purposes.”
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Coughlan, Tim and Johnson, Peter (2008): An Exploration of Constraints and End User Development in Environments for Creative Tasks. In International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 24 (5) pp. 444-459
“Creative tasks are performed within constraining structures. However, the exploration and development of these structures is central to the creative process. This paper summarizes research on the role of constraint in creative tasks, defines the role of constraint development in a model of the creative process, and classifies types of constraint in order to inform the design of environments for creative tasks. Links between constraint development and end user development in software environments are explored through analysis of the design and use of Music Builder, a prototype for the user development of musical instruments in a collaborative composition environment. Conclusions include the value of scaffolding as a metaphor in design, the utility of collaborative constraint development to negotiation, and coordination and the value of sharing structures in collaborative development.”
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» 2007 «
Coughlan, Tim and Johnson, Peter (2007): Constrain yourselves: exploring end user development in support for musical creativity. In: Proceedings of the 2007 Conference on Creativity and Cognition 2007, Washington DC, USA. pp. 247-248. Available online
“This research explores links between constraint development in creative processes and end user development in environments for creative tasks. A process model describing the development of constraints in creative tasks is presented. To ground the research, support for the user development of musical instruments in a collaborative composition environment is developed, and the use of the system analysed. We find evidence that the development of tangible constraints in the interface has value to users, particularly in focusing collaborative ideation.”
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» 2006 «
Coughlan, Tim and Johnson, Peter (2006): Interaction in creative tasks. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2006 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2006. pp. 531-540. Available online
“The design of tools for creative activities affects the creative processes and output of users. In this paper we consider how an understanding of creative interaction can inform the design of support tools in a creative domain, and where creative needs cross domain boundaries. Using observations of musical composers we analyse the theoretical approaches to understanding creativity and their use to HCI. Cycles of ideation and evaluation are suggested as atomic elements of creative interactions, with the representation of ideas a central activity for individual and collaborating composers. A model of collaborative composition was developed, along with an analysis of the representational types used in the domain. This led to the design and evaluation of a prototype Sonic Sketchpad for musical idea representation.”
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Middup, Christopher Paul and Johnson, Peter (2006): Towards Using Technological Support of Group Memory in Problem-Solving Situations to Improve Self- and Collective Efficacy. In: HICSS 2006 - 39th Hawaii International International Conference on Systems Science 4-7 January, 2006, Kauai, HI, USA. . Available online
» 2004 «
Hourizi, Rachid and Johnson, Peter (2004): Designing to support awareness: a predictive, composite model. In: Dykstra-Erickson, Elizabeth and Tscheligi, Manfred (eds.) Proceedings of ACM CHI 2004 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems April 24-29, 2004, Vienna, Austria. pp. 159-166. Available online
“In this paper we propose an account of human/computer awareness for use in the (re)design of complex human/computer interaction, before empirically testing its utility. Specifically, having situated our work in the wider field of human/computer awareness research, we address the well-reported phenomenon of "situation awareness" breakdowns in the aviation domain. We assert the need for an explanatory and predictive model of the phenomenon if the frequency of such breakdowns is to be reduced and propose such a model. We then go on to investigate the utility of our model as a guide for design through the discussion of a recent experiment involving manipulations of an animated warning signal on a simulated cockpit control panel. Our results show initial support both for the model and for our assertion of its utility. We conclude that our composite view of awareness yields practical benefit in the design of human computer awareness support.”
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» 2003 «
Johnson, Peter, May, Jon and Johnson, Hilary (2003): Introduction to multiple and collaborative tasks. In ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 10 (4) pp. 277-280
O'Neill, Eamonn, Palanque, Philippe A. and Johnson, Peter (eds.) People and Computers XVII – Proceedings of HCI 2003 Designing for Society September 8–12, 2003, Bath, UK.
» 1999 «
Johnson, Peter, O'Neill, Eamonn and Johnson, Hilary (1999): Introduction to This Special Issue on Representations in Interactive Systems Development. In Human-Computer Interaction, 14 (1) pp. 1-7
O'Neill, Eamonn, Johnson, Peter and Johnson, Hilary (1999): Representations and User-Developer Interaction in Cooperative Analysis and Design. In Human-Computer Interaction, 14 (1) pp. 43-91
“Participatory design (PD) and task analysis (TA) have each been widely promoted as amelioratives to the problems of developing systems that meet users' requirements. However, PD methods have tended to focus on design per se, rather than also promoting user-developer cooperation in upstream analysis activities. TA methods have promoted these upstream activities but largely failed to involve users directly in the analysis and modeling work. Hence, there is a need for a broader approach that encourages user-developer cooperation throughout systems analysis and design activities. This article examines the support for user-developer interaction provided by representations of users' tasks and software designs in 2 real-world software development projects that followed a task-based cooperative development approach. In the course of the system development work, the representations were called on to serve a number of different purposes. Task model and paper prototype representations facilitated the development of common ground among the members of the development team through the provision of an external shared model of the object of the development activity and helped to delimit an interaction space in which the cooperative activity was conducted. Weaknesses of the representations as supports for cooperative development included users' reluctance physically to amend the representations and the very strength of common ground developed between the participants that was not explicitly represented in the external models.”
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Johnson, Peter (1999): Tasks and Situations: Considerations for Models and Design Principles in Human Computer Interaction. In: Bullinger, Hans-Jörg (ed.) HCI International 1999 - Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction August 22-26, 1999, Munich, Germany. pp. 1199-1204.
Rowson, Jon, Johnson, Peter and White, Graham (1999): Cross-contextual reference in human-computer interaction. In: Duke, David J. and Puerta, Angel R. (eds.) DSV-IS 1999 - Design, Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems99, Proceedings of the Eurographics Workshop June 2-4, 1999, Braga, Portugal. pp. 254-261.
» 1998 «
Markopoulos, Panos, Johnson, Peter and Rowson, Jon (1998): Formal Architectural Abstractions for Interactive Software. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 49 (5) pp. 675-715
“This paper discusses formal interactor models, a class of abstractions for modelling user interface software that incorporate elements of its structure. The abstraction-display-controller (ADC) interactor model is one such abstraction which draws on research into user interface architectures and on earlier approaches to the formal specification of user interfaces. The ADC interactor model is specified formally using the LOTOS specification language. As a concept and as a representation scheme the ADC interactor model applies both to the user interface as a whole and also to its components. This property is preserved when interactors are combined to describe more complex entities or, conversely, when an interactor is decomposed into smaller-scale interactors. The paper includes a discussion of the ADC model and its use for the verification of user-interface software.”
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Johnson, Peter and Nemetz, Fabio (1998): Towards Principles for the Design and Evaluation of Multimedia Systems. 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. 255-271.
“The rapid growth of multimedia technology has made it possible to deliver high quality audio, graphics, video and animation to the user. However, this growth in technology has not been met by a growth in design knowledge. While it is possible to have multimedia it is not at all obvious that we know how to design high-quality multimedia systems that are fully usable to the degree we should expect. To improve the situation much work is under way to develop guidelines, style guides and principles for multimedia design. This paper illustrates the problem facing designers (and users) of multimedia systems by examining some of the design mistakes that have been made in one public information system (as an example of one class of multimedia systems). We then consider what design features any such principles should address.”
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Johnson, Hilary, Johnson, Peter and O'Neill, Eamonn (1998): Representations in Interactive Software Development: The First International Worlkshop. In ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 30 (4) pp. 85-87
Sutcliffe, Alistair, Johnson, Peter and Ziegler, Jürgen (eds.) (1998): Designing Effective and Usable Multimedia Systems. Kluwer Academic Publishers
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Markopoulos, Panos and Johnson, Peter (eds.) DSV-IS 1998 - Design, Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems98, Proceedings of the Fifth International Eurographics Workshop June 3-5, 1998, Abingdon, United Kingdom.
Markopoulos, Panos and Johnson, Peter (eds.) DSV-IS 1998 - Design, Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems98, Supplementary Proceedings of the Fifth International Eurographics Workshop June 3-5, 1998, Abingdon, United Kingdom.
Markopoulos, Panos and Johnson, Peter (1998): Discussion Topics for the DSV-IS'98 Working Groups. In: Markopoulos, Panos and Johnson, Peter (eds.) DSV-IS 1998 - Design, Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems98, Proceedings of the Fifth International Eurographics Workshop June 3-5, 1998, Abingdon, United Kingdom. pp. 309-311.
Markopoulos, Panos, Papatzanis, Giorgios, Johnson, Peter and Rowson, Jon (1998): Validating Semi-Formal Specifications of Interactors as Design Representations. In: Markopoulos, Panos and Johnson, Peter (eds.) DSV-IS 1998 - Design, Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems98, Proceedings of the Fifth International Eurographics Workshop June 3-5, 1998, Abingdon, United Kingdom. pp. 102-116.
» 1997 «
Terveen, Loren and Johnson, Peter (1997): Conference Preview: IUI '98: 1998 International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces. In Interactions, 4 (6) p. 77
Wilson, Stephanie, Bekker, Mathilde, Johnson, Peter and Johnson, Hilary (1997): Helping and Hindering User Involvement -- A Tale of Everyday Design. In: Pemberton, Steven (ed.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 97 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference March 22-27, 1997, Atlanta, Georgia. pp. 178-185. Available online
“The importance of an early and on-going focus on users in interactive system design is widely accepted. However, in practice, involving users poses many problems and requires designers to balance conflicting demands. Various factors can hinder or ease the involvement of users. This paper reports a case study involving the design of a bespoke application and gives a detailed account of the obstacles and facilitators to user involvement encountered during the design activity. The obstacles and facilitators are presented in terms of issues such as contacting and selecting users, motivating users, facilitating and mediating meetings and offering points of focus for user contributions. We report and contrast the views of various stakeholders in the design process, and supplement these with our own observations as non-participant observers. Finally, we discuss issues raised by the study and draw out a number of lessons for the CHI community.”
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Markopoulos, Panos, Rowson, Jon and Johnson, Peter (1997): Composition and Synthesis with a Formal Interactor Model. In Interacting with Computers, 9 (2) pp. 197-223
“This paper discusses the formal specification of interactors, which are primitive abstractions of user interface software, and focuses on the formal aspects of their composition. The composition of interactors is discussed formally in the framework of the Abstraction-Display-Controller (ADC) interactor model. The ADC model has been defined as a LOTOS specification template tailored for specifying user interface software. LOTOS behaviour expressions combining instances of this template specify the composition of interactors to model complex user interfaces. Synthesis is defined as a transformation of these behaviour expressions which supports the generic structure of the ADC model while preserving the meaning of the specified behaviour. Further, the notion of abstract views of interactors is introduced. It is shown how abstract views are themselves primitives for specifying complex interface architectures.”
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Markopoulos, Panos, Johnson, Peter and Rowson, Jon (1997): Formal aspects of task based design. In: Harrison, Michael D. and Torres, Juan Carlos (eds.) DSV-IS 1997 - Design, Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems97, Proceedings of the Fourth International Eurographics Workshop June 4-6, 1997, Granada, Spain. pp. 209-224.
» 1996 «
Wilson, Stephanie, Bekker, Mathilde, Johnson, Hilary and Johnson, Peter (1996): Costs and Benefits of User Involvement in Design: Practitioners' Views. 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. 221-240.
“Many design approaches recommend some form of user involvement in the design of interactive systems, although there has been little empirical research directed towards assessing the benefits to be gained, and costs to be incurred, from having users involved during the design process. Moreover, the work that does exist has tended to take a narrow view, considering the gains and losses primarily from an organizational perspective. This paper offers richer definitions of the costs and benefits by which user involvement might be assessed, emphasizing the contrasting views of different 'stakeholders' in the design process. It presents and discusses two empirical studies conducted in the light of these definitions to examine the costs and benefits of user involvement as perceived by design practitioners.”
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» 1995 «
Wilson, Stephanie and Johnson, Peter (1995): Empowering Users in a Task-Based Approach to Design. In: Proceedings of DIS95: Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, & Techniques 1995. pp. 25-31.
“This paper presents an approach to interactive system design known as task-based design. The approach advocates a design process that is centred on descriptions of the work tasks which users currently perform and will perform in the future. It encompasses a design method, design representations and design support tools. We discuss the motivations for the work and examine its relation to other design paradigms such as model-based and scenario-based design. The paper concludes with a discussion of current research involving the application of participatory design techniques to the task-based design paradigm. This is seen as a natural extension to the original work in which users will participate in formulating descriptions of their work contexts and in deriving artifact designs that will have consequences for those contexts.”
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» 1994 «
Wan, Dadong and Johnson, Peter (1994): Computer Supported Collaborative Learning Using CLARE: The Approach and Experimental Findings. In: Smith, John B., Smith, F. Don and Malone, Thomas W. (eds.) Proceedings of the 1994 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work October 22 - 26, 1994, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. pp. 187-198. Available online
“Current collaborative learning systems focus on maximizing shared information. However, "meaningful learning" is not simply information sharing but, more importantly, knowledge construction. CLARE is a computer-supported learning environment that facilitates meaningful learning through collaborative knowledge construction. CLARE provides a semi-formal representation language called RESRA and an explicit process model called SECAI. Experimental evaluation through 300 hours of classroom usage indicates that CLARE does support meaningful learning, and that a major bottleneck to computer-mediated knowledge construction is summarization. Lessons learned through the design and evaluation of CLARE provide new insights into both collaborative learning systems and collaborative learning theories.”
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Trumbly, James E., Arnett, Kirk P. and Johnson, Peter (1994): Productivity Gains via an Adaptive User Interface: An Empirical Analysis. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 40 (1) pp. 63-81
“This study examines the impact of a user's level of computer knowledge and an adaptive software interface on performance. Performance is examined with a simulation game decision-making task and with the user's expertise on the type of computer interface used to accomplish the task. MIS literature offers various interface characteristics for novice users that are different from those recommended for experienced users. The premise of this research is that the characteristics of the computer user will change based on exposure to the experience with the application at hand. When such change transpires, the characteristics of the interface can be software-adjusted to maximize the productivity of the user. This empirical study investigates the impact of using an adaptive user interface that evolves to correspond to the skill level of the user. Results indicate that the level of computer knowledge, when using an adaptive interface, is not significant on either task performance or interface learning. More importantly, however, the type of interface coupled to a particular user -- novice, adaptive, or experienced -- produces significant performance differences.”
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» 1993 «
Johnson, Peter, Wilson, Stephanie, Markopoulos, Panos and Pycock, James (1993): ADEPT -- Advanced Environment for Prototyping with Task Models. In: Ashlund, Stacey, Mullet, Kevin, Henderson, Austin, Hollnagel, Erik and White, Ted (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 93 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 24-29, 1993, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. p. 56. Available online
“ADEPI is a novel design environment for prototyping user interfaces which allows the designer to construct an explicit model of the tasks that the user and computer will perform jointly. ADEPI incorporates task and user modelling components with a rapid prototyping user interface design tool to provide a user-task centred design environment.”
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Bloomfield, Henry and Johnson, Peter (1993): Towards Cognitively Salient Relations for Hypertext Navigation. 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. 463-477.
“The difficulties involved in the navigation of computer-based information spaces have been widely documented. This paper discusses the navigation problems and argues that some of these will be alleviated by the use of a set of domain-independent, semantically 'rich' relationships to define links between pieces of information. The background to this area is summarised and an experiment to support the theoretical work in identifying a set of relationships is reported. Finally, the implications, benefits, and possible applications of such a set of relationships are discussed.”
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Johnson, Hilary and Johnson, Peter (1993): Explanation Facilities and Interactive Systems. In: Gray, Wayne D., Hefley, William and Murray, Dianne (eds.) International Workshop on Intelligent User Interfaces 1993 January 4-7, 1993, Orlando, Florida, USA. pp. 159-166. Available online
“Our main research aim is to improve the provision of explanation facilities in information systems generally, and to identify what is meant by "explanation". This paper reports research which identifies both the strengths and weaknesses of current research and shows how to overcome those weaknesses. We are also concerned with both present and future uses of explanation in information systems and the role of explanation in a broad range of interactive applications.”
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» 1992 «
Johnson, Peter (1992): Supporting Exploratory CSCW with the EGRET Framework. In: Mantel, Marilyn and Baecker, Ronald M. (eds.) Proceedings of the 1992 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work November 01 - 04, 1992, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. pp. 298-305. Available online
“Exploratory collaboration occurs in domains where the structure and process of group work evolves as an intrinsic part of the collaborative activity. Traditional database and hypertext structural models do not provide explicit support for collaborative exploration. The EGRET framework defines both a data and a process model along with supporting analysis techniques that provide novel support for exploratory collaboration. To do so, the EGRET framework breaks with traditional notions of the relationship between schema and instance structure. In EGRET, schema structure is viewed as a representation of the current state of consensus among collaborators, from which instance structure is allowed to depart in a controlled fashion. This paper discusses the issues of exploratory collaboration, the EGRET approach to its support, and the current status of this research.”
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England, David, Johnson, Peter, Took, Roger and Draper, Steven (1992): Interface Construction for the Millennium: Beyond Objects and Widget Pushers. 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. 485-487.
Coulouris, George F., Johnson, Peter, Buxton, Hilary and Dollimore, Jean (1992): Teaching Application Design. In: East-West International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Proceedings of the EWHCI92 1992. pp. 67-75.
“This paper argues that it is possible and desirable to introduce the requirements emerging from interesting and relevant applications at an early stage in the undergraduate computer science curriculum, and to use them as a context for generating awareness of problems and solutions in relevant subdisciplines of computer science. A first year undergraduate course is described that introduces concepts relevant to the design of interactive computer applications from computer graphics, databases for modelling, human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence. The concepts are introduced through case studies based on "Blocks World" and "Tube Route Finder" application scenarios and are integrated and consolidated through a series of practical exercises. The exercises are based on a software framework constructed in HyperCard and students produce working solutions in HyperTalk, the language embedded in HyperCard.”
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» 1991 «
Johnson, Peter (1991): User Interaction -- A Framework to Relate Tasks, Users and Designs. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 1991. pp. 414-418.
“A framework for mapping between user task models and user interface architectures is presented. A particular form of task modelling (Task Knowledge Structures) is outlined and a method of task analysis (Knowledge Analysis of Tasks). Task Knowledge Structure models can be used to represent existing user tasks and in terms of the changes designs bring to user tasks. The paper considers how task models and user interface architectures can be related.”
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Johnson, Hilary and Johnson, Peter (1991): Empirical Investigation of Different Explanatory Dialogue Styles. In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction 1991. pp. 915-919.
“The knowledge that people recruit and acquire during the course of an explanatory dialogue is of significant importance to understanding how these dialogues are successfully carried out and ultimately how explanation and learning occur. In this paper a small-scale study is described which investigated the effects of different explanatory dialogue styles on knowledge acquisition by novices. The two dialogue styles manipulated were "active" giving strong spontaneous guidance and "passive", giving reactive guidance. A trend was found for the students in the active dialogue style to acquire more knowledge than the students in the passive condition. However, the difference between the two groups was small, and providing students with strong guidance was costly in terms of expert resources.”
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» 1990 «
Johnson, Hilary and Johnson, Peter (1990): Designers-Identified Requirements for Tools to Support Task Analyses. 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. 259-264.
“The authors are presently developing tools to enable software designers to carry out task analyses (TA). The tools will support a methodology comprising techniques for carrying out task analyses and will also take account of integrating the resulting TA information into system design. To support integration and to identify the requirements for TA tools, a group of designers were surveyed. The survey identified whether designers believe TA would be of use to them and also how, why and where TA might contribute to design. The designers' views of desired characteristics of TA tools, was also sought. This paper outlines the results of this small, detailed survey of what designers want, need and expect from TA tools.”
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Johnson, Peter and Nicolosi, Emma (1990): Task-Based User Interface Development Tools. 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. 383-387.
“The generation of design ideas can be facilitated by user/task analysis. Task analysis can influence the design of functionality, dialogue and presentation characteristics of user interfaces. A case history of designing a user interface to a CAD system using Knowledge Analysis of Tasks (KAT) is reported. Methods and tools to assist designers in carrying out user/task analysis have been developed and are described. These include a hypercard task simulation tool (DETAIL) and a task based prototyping tool which allows user interfaces to be developed from task analysis data.”
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» 1989 «
Waddington, Ray and Johnson, Peter (1989): A Family of Task Models for Interface Design. 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. 137-148.
“Given the increasing prominence of the role of task analysis and modelling in software design, this paper describes a technique wherein a family of task models is created whose members each complement, and are integrated with, the stages commonly found in decompositional design. An outline of each model in this family is given. The technique may be used by designers to explore the possibility of alternative user interface designs. In order to demonstrate this possibility the paper presents examples of how we have used the models to re-design the user interface of an existing application to produce a version with the same functionality as the first.”
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» 1988 «
Johnson, Peter, Johnson, Hilary, Waddington, Ray and Shouls, Alan (1988): Task-Related Knowledge Structures: Analysis, Modelling and Application. 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. 35-62.
“A theoretical and methodological approach to task modelling is described, with a worked example of the resultant model. The theory holds that task knowledge is represented in a person's memory and that this knowledge can be described by a Task Knowledge Structure (TKS). The method of analysis has been developed for carrying out analyses of real world tasks. The method uses a variety of techniques for collecting information about task knowledge. A second perspective of the paper shows how a developed TKS model can be decomposed into a design for a software system to support the identified tasks within the domain of the analysis. This decompositional method uses the structure of frames to provide consistency between different levels of design decomposition.”
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» 1987 «
Buckley, Paul and Johnson, Peter (1987): Analysis of Communication Tasks for the Design of a Structured Messaging System. 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. 29-40.
“Task analysis is often seen as an important initial phase of computer systems design, and appears in the guise of 'needs analysis' and 'requirements analysis'. Task analysis of this sort attempts to describe current tasks (the 'source tasks') in a way that is useful for the design of tasks that exploit a substitute and perhaps more powerful technology (the 'target tasks'). Often the use of the description is found in its specification of knowledge that could be assumed to be possessed or easily acquired by potential users of the new technology. This knowledge should be generalisable from the source to the target tasks. For the purposes of developing a prototype messaging system as part of the Alvey-funded COSMOS project, a specific work-package was devoted to the 'analysis of communications tasks'. Particular emphasis is made in the COSMOS project on 'group communication' and the structures that support this. This paper introduces an approach to task analysis which attempts to extend its scope in HCI from abstract operational tasks to include the more social aspects of participating in a group. The source tasks of 'group communication', which included face to face groups, were categorised to reflect a contrast of features common to the source and target tasks (such as the group aim or 'activity') with features specific to the source tasks (such as the synchronous acoustic and visual channel afforded by face to face meetings). Various aspects of participant's knowledge that enabled them to successfully take part in structured communication were outlined. These aspects included goals, rules, skills and concepts. The knowledge was also categorised in an attempt to separate that specific to the source tasks from the general knowledge that could be exploited in the target tasks; so for instance, 'social skills' are distinguished from 'channel skills'. The paper concludes with suggestions of how such a structured knowledge description could aid the design of the COSMOS target tasks.”
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Keane, Mark T. and Johnson, Peter (1987): Preliminary Analysis for Design. 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. 133-146.
“While previous research into task analysis techniques has gone some way towards characterising techniques which allow one to move from a set of tasks in the world to some generalised model of these tasks, much more work needs to be done on this topic. The present paper puts forward a technique which attempts to deal with a number of issues which arise at this early stage of the design process. The proposed technique, called Preliminary Analysis for Design (PAD), characterises the process of forming a special type of generalised task model (GTM) in terms of three stages: (i) classifying the task world, (ii) generalising and organizing tasks and their elements to form a GTM and (iii) designing the GTM for representation in a subsequent system. It is also argued that this technique should be of some help in evaluating systems at an early stage in the design process.”
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Buckley, Paul and Johnson, Peter (1987): Analysis of Communication Tasks for the Design of a Structured Messaging System. 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. 29-40.
“Task analysis is often seen as an important initial phase of computer systems design, and appears in the guise of 'needs analysis' and 'requirements analysis'. Task analysis of this sort attempts to describe current tasks (the 'source tasks') in a way that is useful for the design of tasks that exploit a substitute and perhaps more powerful technology (the 'target tasks'). Often the use of the description is found in its specification of knowledge that could be assumed to be possessed or easily acquired by potential users of the new technology. This knowledge should be generalisable from the source to the target tasks. For the purposes of developing a prototype messaging system as part of the Alvey-funded COSMOS project, a specific work-package was devoted to the 'analysis of communications tasks'. Particular emphasis is made in the COSMOS project on 'group communication' and the structures that support this. This paper introduces an approach to task analysis which attempts to extend its scope in HCI from abstract operational tasks to include the more social aspects of participating in a group. The source tasks of 'group communication', which included face to face groups, were categorised to reflect a contrast of features common to the source and target tasks (such as the group aim or 'activity') with features specific to the source tasks (such as the synchronous acoustic and visual channel afforded by face to face meetings). Various aspects of participant's knowledge that enabled them to successfully take part in structured communication were outlined. These aspects included goals, rules, skills and concepts. The knowledge was also categorised in an attempt to separate that specific to the source tasks from the general knowledge that could be exploited in the target tasks; so for instance, 'social skills' are distinguished from 'channel skills'. The paper concludes with suggestions of how such a structured knowledge description could aid the design of the COSMOS target tasks.”
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Keane, Mark T. and Johnson, Peter (1987): Preliminary Analysis for Design. 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. 133-146.
“While previous research into task analysis techniques has gone some way towards characterising techniques which allow one to move from a set of tasks in the world to some generalised model of these tasks, much more work needs to be done on this topic. The present paper puts forward a technique which attempts to deal with a number of issues which arise at this early stage of the design process. The proposed technique, called Preliminary Analysis for Design (PAD), characterises the process of forming a special type of generalised task model (GTM) in terms of three stages: (i) classifying the task world, (ii) generalising and organizing tasks and their elements to form a GTM and (iii) designing the GTM for representation in a subsequent system. It is also argued that this technique should be of some help in evaluating systems at an early stage in the design process.”
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» 1986 «
Johnson, Peter, Long, John and Visick, David (1986): Voice versus Keyboard: Use of a Comparative Analysis of Learning to Identify Skill Requirements of Input Devices. 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. 546-562.
“This paper is concerned with the evaluation of alternative forms of input device, specifically voice recognition and keyboards. Four devices were tested experimentally in a data entry task. The aim of the assessment was to provide, on the basis of a comparative analysis of learning, information concerning the skill requirements of operators, which would allow the selection of a suitable device for parcel sorting. Learning was analysed in terms of two performance indices: percentage errors and time to complete the task or task component. An analysis of learning on each device was carried out. The analysis was used to identify the skill requirements of operation, and to make recommendations concerning the application of the devices.”
Copyrights may apply
» 1985 «
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.
» 1984 «
Visick, David, Johnson, Peter and Long, John (1984): The Use of Simple Speech Recognisers in Industrial Applications. In: Shackel, Brian (ed.) INTERACT 84 - 1st IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction September 4-7, 1984, London, UK. pp. 209-213.
“This paper points out, and attempts to deal with, some of the problems that may be encountered when using simple speech recognition systems in industrial applications. An experiment compared a voice recogniser with a keyboard, as the destination input device in a parcel sorting task. The task was represented first by a simple laboratory simulation of the coding sub-task, and then by an authentic simulation using real parcels on a sorting rig. Results showed that voice input may be quite unsuitable for tasks having little or no manual content. Also, for tasks requiring precise sequencing of operations, voice may offer inadequate intrinsic timing feedback. Finally, a practical means of empirical vocabulary optimisation is described.”
Copyrights may apply
Johnson, Peter, Diaper, Dan and Long, John (1984): Tasks, Skills and Knowledge: Task Analysis for Knowledge Based Descriptions. In: Shackel, Brian (ed.) INTERACT 84 - 1st IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction September 4-7, 1984, London, UK. pp. 499-503.
“A method for deriving descriptions of knowledge from tasks is described. Knowledge descriptions constitute the basis of a syllabus specifying the training requirements of Information Technology (IT). Task analysis for Knowledge Descriptions (TAKD) is a method which is first used to generate descriptions of tasks, and then to reexpress the descriptions in terms of knowledge. The resulting knowledge descriptions consist of action/object pairs that when combined represent the knowledge content of tasks. The potential application of TAKD to other design problems is discussed and in particular to the design of the Human-Computer Interface and Intelligent Knowledge Based Systems.”
Copyrights may apply
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Mar 21st, 2010
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