Before interacting with real users, developers must be proficient in human--computer interaction (HCI) so as not to exhaust user patience and availability. For that, substantial training and practice are required, but it is costly to create a variety of high-quality HCI training materials. In this context, chat generative pretrained transformer…

To facilitate everyday activities, context-aware applications use sensors to detect what is happening and use increasingly complex mechanisms ( e.g., by using big rule-sets or machine learning) to infer the user's context and intent. For example, a mobile application can recognize that the user is in a conversation and suppress any incoming…

In this dissertation, I explore the idea of designing "flexible game systems". A flexible game system allows players (not software designers) to decide on what rules to enforce, who enforces them, and when. I explore this in the context of digital card games and introduce two design strategies for promoting flexibility. The first…

Reviews current systems designed to help end-users search online databases without the assistance of an intermediary and describes a prototype system which emulates the Deco (the text storage and retrieval system used by Unilever) interface on Dialog and Data-Star. Initial trials of the prototype system are reported. (15 references) (MES)

Like a table of contents in print material, a computer-presented menu presents information. It informs a user of the topics that are available. Some menus present information by categories and thus communicate the organization as well as the content of the program. In addition to providing information, menus serve as a selection and retrieval…

Describes the development of the Adaptive Network Library Interface (ANLI), an interactive computer program that acts as an interface between the users of an online card catalog and the catalog itself. Highlights include historical background; hypertext and the ANLI; neuronal nets and von Neumann computer architectures; and future possibilities.…

Discusses the use of microcomputer-based workstations that are provided for public access in libraries. Criteria for workstations are discussed, including standard hardware, open-design software, scalable interface, and connectivity options for networking; systems that provide full-text access are described; and the need for standards is…

Describes the Answer Machine, a microcomputer system which uses the EasyNet software to provide a gateway to more than 900 online databanks. Topics covered include: (1) system features; (2) costs; (3) experiences and results of a user questionnaire at a test site at the University of Pennsylvania; and (4) benefits for libraries. (MES)

Defines and delineates hypermedia by examining its relation to the user as a system, an interface, and an environment. Classes of computer systems are described; classes of hypermedia systems are explained; user work components are discussed, including tasks, information, and the environment; and emerging standards and future developments are…

This literature review selectively covers material on end-user searching published between 1971 and 1988. The first section discusses end-user search systems--e.g., multipurpose systems developed for end-users, simplified versions of traditional systems, gateway systems, and CD-ROM versions of databases. This section also discusses the complexity…

Identifies and describes sublevels of novices using a database management package, clustering those whose interaction is effective, partially effective, and totally ineffective. Among assistance documentation, functional tree diagrams (FTDs) were more beneficial to partially effective users than traditional reference material. The results have…

Discussion of communication between designers and users of information systems focuses on a review of seven participatory design techniques in terms of the communication dimensions found in the Lievrouw and Finn communication systems model. Implications for the development of more effective and appropriate design models and methods are suggested.…

Discusses features of online public access catalogs: (1) demonstration of relationships between records; (2) provision of entry vocabularies; (3) arrangement of multiple entries on the screen; (4) provision of access points; (5) display of single records; and (6) division of catalogs into separate files or indexes. User studies and other research…

Provides detailed instructions for setting up general purpose CD-ROM workstations using IBM compatible microcomputers and tells how to make CD-ROM disks available to the general user. Use of standardized hardware and software, utility programs, DOS batch files, a shell program, and a hypertext program at the University of Idaho Library are…

Describes software for displaying documents on computer graphics screens which provide the opportunity for interactive user interfaces. Based on a software system called Guide, this new approach relies on advances in hardware, such as the CD ROM, and can be used in the front end of a document retrieval system. (Author/LRW)