This paper describes the development of a software program which incorporates interactive graphics techniques into a teaching and research environment at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion, Israel, and the experience of transferring the software from mainframe to personal computer (PC) operating systems at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Interactive graphics and interactive optimization are discussed as the two broad process design and analysis applications that require the incorporation of interactive procedures, and the development of a process control synthesis program (ProCoSP) is described. This program features two design domains and a performance domain to meet specific research and educational requirements. A comparison of the use of the program on mainframe and PC systems indicates that the added portability and convenience achieved by opting for a PC operating environment far outweigh the potential disadvantage of reduced computational power compared to mainframe systems. Finally, guidelines are presented for other educators proposing to develop scientific programming meant for users inexperienced in operating computers, and it is concluded that ProCoSP represents progress towards the development of software that will allow the novice user to manipulate all the relevant components of a program with the greatest convenience possible. Two tables and five figures supplement the text. (KM)