USER-ORIENTED INTERFACES FOR COMPUTER SYSTEMS: A USER-DEFINED ONLINE HELP SYSTEM FOR DESKTOP PUBLISHING

摘要

Existing interfaces are designed with one of two logics. The first is aimed at engineer or programmer utility. A more recent logic attempts to create user friendliness, but is expert- or system-defined. This paper proposes a third logic, drawing from the work of Dervin, Nilan, and their colleagues. The alternative is a user-defined model of the organization of information and logics for accessing it.Past research has shown that people have different information needs at different points in time, and that information needs are most coherently composed of the query (the questions people have) plus what the user is trying to accomplish (how the person sees the information as helping him/her). This study draws from these past research findings in order to implement this understanding in a computer interface. By employing user descriptions of software application processes, the model organizes information according to where the user sees him or herself in the process. Within this context, the information is further organized according to the questions that users have at that point, as well as by what the users are trying to accomplish.Desktop Publishing was the application chosen for this study and Apple HyperCard was the environment in which the help system was implemented. A total of 23 interviews were conducted with users of Aldus' Pagemaker software whose ability levels ranged from naive to very experienced.