ODE: A SELF-GUIDED, SCENARIO-BASED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR OBJECT-ORIENTED DESIGN PRINCIPLES Scott P. Robertson,* John M. Carroll,* Robert L. Mack, Mary Beth Rosson,* Sherman R. Alpert, Jurgen Koenemann-Belliveau” IBM Research T. J. Watson Research Center 30 Saw Mill River Road Hawthorne, NY 10532 Internet:

In a field study of use of integrated business software by business professionals, we found several characteristics of the real-world situation leading to the under-utilization of integrated software and being of importance for its human factors. Professionals work in a heterogeneous software environment filled with practical problems, they follow “satisficing” strategies of sub-optimal usage, and they have problems migrating to more advanced uses. Current levels of software integration do not always adequately or easily support the “task integration” requirements of real tasks such as handling many small things.

article Free Access Share on Identifying and designing toward new user expectations in a prototype text-editor (panel session) Author: Robert Mack User Interface Institute, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New York User Interface Institute, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, P.O. Box 218, Yorktown Heights, New YorkView Profile Authors Info & Claims ACM SIGCHI BulletinVolume 16Issue 4April 1985 pp 139–141https://doi.org/10.1145/1165385.317482Online:01 April 1985Publication History 0citation197DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations0Total Downloads197Last 12 Months14Last 6 weeks4 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my Alerts New Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteeReaderPDF

Human factors psychologists contribute in many ways to improving human-computer interaction. One contribution involves evaluating existing or prototype systems, in order to assess usability and identify problems. Another involves contributing more directly to the design of systems in the first place: that is, not only evaluating systems but bringing to bear empirical methods and theoretical considerations that help specify what are plausible designs in the first place. The goal of this panel is to discuss four case studies emphasizing this role of cognitive human factors, and identify relevant methods and theoretical considerations.

Studies of people learning to use contemporary word-processing equipment suggest that effective learning is often "active," proceeding by self-initiated problem solving. The instructional manuals that accompany current word-processing systems often penalize and impede active learning. A set of instructional materials was constructed for a commercial word processor, specifically designed to support and encourage an active learning orientation. These "guided exploration (GE) materials are modular, task oriented, procedurally incomplete, and address error recognition and recovery. Learners using the GE materials spent substantially less time yet still performed better on a transfer of learning posttest than learners using commercially developed self-study materials. Qualitative analysis of aspects of the learning protocols of participants suggested that active learning mechanisms may underlie this advantage.

Computer text editors are powerful, but complex, tools.Particularly in the early stages of learning, the complexity of these tools can cause serious problems for users who are not experienced with computers.The problems of new users were studied by asking the users to think out loud while learning to use word-processing systems.In this paper several of the most typical and debilitating problems these users had understanding and following directions in using training manuals, as well as problems understanding and using interface functions to accomplish word processing tasks, are taxonomized and analyzed.Approaches for improving design features of the interface functions and the training methods used for learning are discussed.

There is growing interest in cognitive science in the the mental processes that underly learning and using computer systems (e. g., Bott {1}; Mayer, {2}; Card, Moran & Newell {3}). In this paper we report generalizations about the problems people who are not experienced with computers have learning to use a text-processing system. We are especially interested in unaided self-instruction, because of the practical interest in reducing the role of experienced personel in the training process. We analyze these difficulties in terms of the interaction between the cognitive characteristics of the learner, and the design of self-instruction, and the interface. Finally, we are also interested in implications of these problems for designing better training methods and computer interfaces that are easier to learn.