Book Reading #17: HCI Remixed

Chapter 6: A Creative Programming Environment

Henry Lieberman

MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

D.C. Smith, 1977: "Pygmalion: A Creative Programming Environment."

Summary: Lieberman discusses how the discovery of a not highly published thesis opened many doors to important advancements in the fields of computer science and human-computer interaction. Lieberman as a researcher was interesting in finding new creative ways of making computer programming available for younger generations. Smith's thesis provided him with the foundations and ideas he was looking for in order to gear his research towards this creative way of programming.

Discussion: I think it is amazing how such an application like Pygmalion and the ideas behind it, though not successful, they did inspired and provided the basis for such an important aspect of computer science. More than often we find out that what we less think would be meaningful is what gives us the greatest benefits. It is always interesting to learn about the history of computing overall, this is not something we learn in the classroom.

Chapter 7: Fundamentals in HCI: Learning the Value of Consistency and User Models


Sara Bly
Sara Bly Consulting, Oregon, USA

The  Xerox Red Book: Star Functional Specification, Revision 5.3 for Star-1 1981.

Summary: Sara Bly discusses the impact the Xerox Red Book has had on her research, and on the study and design of user interfaces throughout time. The Xerox Red Book is a functional specification about the user interface implemented for the first Xerox Star workstation. Bly discusses three aspects of the Xerox Red Book that have had the most impact on her: UI specification, consistency and the desktop metaphor.

Discussion: One observation that Bly made and that definitively called my attention was the fact that they were giving user-interfaces a high level of priority, even before developing the workstation itself. Also, it was interesting to read about the first computer that was designed with the intent of aiding office workers... I can see the importance of HCI in this chapter, developing a workstation that would be useful and efficient, that would provide a positive change to workers, for example the undo capability, that a read desk/office environment cannot provide.

Chapter 9: The Disappearing Computer

Norbert A. Streitz
Fraunhofer IPSI, Darmstadt, Germany

M. Weiser, 1991: "The Computer for the 21st Century."

Summary: Streitz provides an overview of the movement encouraging the "disappearing" of computers for the 21st century. By 'disappearing,' they mean integrating computing technology to everyday things to the point that the presence of such technology is irrelevant, but the benefits it provides is the important aspect.  The basis for this revolution came along with a prediction given by Weiser in 1991, "the most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it."

Discussion: This is a whole new concept to me. I had never heard of such an effort to 'disappear' computers, but it was really interesting and convincing to read about. Today, there are 'computers' embedded in everyday objects, that we as users, do not really think of as a computer. If I would of read this chapter before readings from the Design of Everyday Things (Norman), maybe the understanding of this chapter would have been l
limited. 

Chapter 10: It Really Is All About Location!

Anind K. Dey
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

R. Want, A. Hopper, V. Falcao, and J. Gibbons, 1992: "The Active Badge Location System"

Summary: Dey discusses the importance and widespread of location-based services and applications. She gives an overview of the research done with the Active Badge location system in the early 1990s at Olivetti Research and how it improved their daily activities at the research center. Dey sees this research as the basis of location-based services and sees it as a predecessor of all the LBS services we have available today.

Discussion: The research done with the Active Badge was definitely impressing. However, when I was reading about it I was wondering in the back of my mind about the privacy issues that this could rise. I was glad they did discuss at least briefly this issue at the end of the chapter. Also, I like to see how all these chapters relate to each other, they mention researches that are discussed previously. I think this is a great way to learn about these people and at least be able to recognize and know a little bit of their contributions to the field of computer science.


Chapter 46: The Essential Role of Mental Models in HCI: Card, Moran and Newell

Kate Ehrlich
IBM Research, Cambriedge, Massachusetts, USA

S.K. Card, T. Moran, and A. Newell, 1983: The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction


Summary: In this chapter, Ehrlich analyzes how different fields of study contribute to HCI, emphasizing in psychology. She discusses the role Mental Models play in HCI, for both design and usability enhancements. She makes reference to the book Card, et al  published in the early 1980's and how it can still be applied today. 

Discussion: I think this chapter really emphasizes the multidisciplinary characteristic of HCI. It is interesting to learn about the controversy that is raised by this combination of fields. From the readings that we have had in this class and the conclusions that I have been able to draw, I can say that the contribution of all these fields is necessary in HCI, and HCI itself is really important for the field of computer science. It is really important to study how well or how bad designs are, the ultimate goal is to provide users with effective, usable and desirable technology, like Norman emphasizes as well in his books.


Chapter 47: A most Fitting Law

Gary M. Olson
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

P.M. Fitts, 1954: "The Information Capacity of the Human Motor System in Controlling the Amplitude of Movement."

Summary: Olson shortly discusses the life and works of Fitts and its impact in the Psychology field as well as HCI.  Olson focuses his discussion  in the movement law that Fitts developed and how it has been applied in HCI in things like the value of the edge of the screen, the pop-up menus, selecting from a pop-up menu, fittsizing a menu, organization of walking menus and expanding items as you move toward them. 

Discussion: Even though the reading about how this formula has impacted HCI and UI is well explained, I still found it a bit confusing to understand. I like how in previous chapter we read about the importance of all these fields that affect the computer science field, and then in this one we see how mathematics, which is something we haven't discussed in this class before, has affected HCI as well.

Book Reading #4: HCI Remixed

Chapter 24: A simulated Listening Typewriter: John Gould Plays Wizard of Oz
Chris Schmandt. MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
J. Gould, J. Conti, and T. Hovanyecz, 1983: "Composing Letters with a Simulated Listening Typewriter"
 
Summary: This essay discusses some of the early history of speech recognition programs, around the late 1970s. This essay demonstrates how a speech recognition program was evaluated even before it existed. This technique became knows as the Wizard of Oz, where a hidden human is manipulating a device, while a a subject spoke in a microphone in front of the monitor, and the typist in the other room listened and typed what the subject was saying. The computer interface was being evaluated.

Discussion:
Clever way to evaluate a device, even before having it fully developed. I find really interesting to read about such technologies, and how they started being developed. It is helping me set a time fame in my mind that is leading to what we have right know and making me think of what is to come in the future.


Chapter 25: Seeing the Hole in Space
Steve Harrison. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A.
K. Galloway and S. Rabinowitz, 1980: Hole in Space (Video)
 
Summary: In this essay, Harrison describes how the work of two artists, Galloway and Rabinowitz, changed the way he thought about video-mediated communication. The Hole in Space was an art project developed in 1980, where a communication was made possible between two cities, utilizing projectors and audio. Harrison realized that they not only worked with communications, but that their medium was human relations.

Discussion: The only interesting part about this essay was the minimal description about the Hole in Space project. Even though that is part of the name of the title of the essay, unfortunately, it does not discuss the project any further. 


Chapter 26: Edward Tufte's 1 + 1 = 3
Scott Jenson. Google, Mountain View, California, U.S.A.
E.R. Tufte, 1990. Envisioning Information.
 
Summary: In this essay, Jenson explains how he utilizes the 1+ 1 = 3 concept in analyzing the design of things, how this clutter makes things difficult to understand. This is, 2 items put together in a space create a third item, clutter. He describes the time of his realization, when he confused the close/open buttons in an elevator.

Discussion: Even when at the beginning this was a little confusing, the concept of 1 + 1 = 3 is interesting to read about. I can personally identify with the example of the elevator buttons, I hate pushing the open button when in reality I want to push the close button. Ironic, it should be the other way around, but like he says, people are always in a hurry, and pressing the open button just makes it worst!


Chapter 27: Typographic Space: A Fusion of Design and Technology
Jodi Forlizzi. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
D. Small, S. I shizaki, and M. Cooper, 1994: "Typographic Space."
 
Summary: Forlizzi discusses a little of the history of typography evolution. She focuses her paper in the contributions made by Muriel Cooper, who was a designer who later started teaching and working with graphic design and how it contributes to technology.

Discussion: I found the concept of kinetic typography to be quite interesting. Reading this article made me realize the importance of typography; it is something that I never really thought about before, but thanks to this field of study, today, we are able to better express our speaking in writing. 


Chapter 28: Making Sense of Sense Making
Steve Whittaker. University of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K.
A. Kidd, 1994: "The Marks Are on the Knowledge Worker."
 
Summary: Whittaker summarizes Kidd's views and claims about how to process new information, and how to manage the old. He claims that mainly used ford for passive storage of information, but that they are not good at the processing of making sense of the information we gather. However, Whittaker proposes that maybe the reason of the problem is task management skills, instead of making sense.

Discussion: I agree with many of points highlighted by this essay, for example that information we have stored, many of the times we still forget that we have it, or even where we have it, so it basically defeats the purpose of storing information. However, I do believe that it depends on the use, and how organized he/she is. I would be awesome if there was such a software that would automatically arrange our file system, but even if there is, the user still needs to contribute to such a task in order to know where their files were stored.

Chapter 34: Revisiting an Ethnocritical Approach to HCI: Verbal Privilege and Translation
Michael J. Muller. IBM Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
A. Krupat, 1992: Ethnocriticism: Ethnography, History, Literature
 
Summary: Muller summarizes three major principles written by Krupat that an ethnohistorian could use in order to better understand a culture that wasn't their own: multiculturalism, poly-vocal polity, heterogeneity as a norm. Then based on these principles, Muller raises some questions that he had faced as an HCI worker: the analyst's location, translation as a core process, and verbal privilege as a core problem in HCI.

Discussion: In my opinion, this essay is missing more analysis on how to relate these topics to the HCI field. For example, if Muller had extended his discussion about those three areas he presented at the end, then maybe it would have been a more interesting reading.
 

Book Reading #3: HCI Remixed

Chapter 1:  My Vision Isn’t My Vision: Making a Career Out of Getting Back to Where I Started

William Buxton, Microsoft Research, Toronto, Canada

J.K. Pulfer, 1971: "Man-Machine Interaction in Creative Applications"

Summary:

This essay relates the story of a musician and how we was first introduced to the world of computers. He states that his life was changed after visiting the lab, and continues on describing the characteristics of the computer that he started working on. He recognizes the work of the designers asserting that the system had being built "with technologically naive users in mind," and how the real objective of these system designers was to study HCI, and not simply develop a music system. 

Discussion:

It is interesting to read about how computers change people's lives. It makes me think about what we have been discussing in class, it is important to develop systems that will be useful and desirable to use; when developing technology we should keep in mind who will be using this product. I also found really interesting the author's opinion about Pulfer's paper, how we thinks the paper does not really describe the impact that this system had. I really liked the fact the author appreciates and recognizes the contribution the system had for the field of HCI.

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Chapter 4:  Drawing on SketchPad: Reflections on Computer Science and HCI 

Joseph A. Konstan. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota

I. Sutherland, 1963: "SketchPad: A Man-Machine Graphical Communication System"

Summary:

Konstan describes characteristics of the SketchPad system such has its capability of pointing with a light pen, rendering of lines, circles and text, constraints and their display, as well as the data structures, algorithms, and programming structures used in the development of the system.  He describes these capabilities in order to demonstrate how HCI and the advancements in the field of Computer Science are closely related. Konstan is trying to refute the idea that HCI should be separated from the computer science departments, according to him, the field of computer science has advanced thanks to the efforts of trying to develop a computer that can better interact with humans.

Discussion:

In this essay, Konstan mentions how there was a lack of work directed at more specialized systems, systems that for example would require a more extensive training. In the previous readings and discussions, we have been talking about how the technology we develop should be 'user friendly,' how there are many people out there currently using only one setting on their everyday products because they are  too complicated to understand. I liked the fact that Konstan reminds of the importance of HCI research on those more specialized areas, of course if I was having a surgery, I would like my doctors to understand thoroughly the technologies they are using, and not just use the one setting they have managed to understand.

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Chapter 5:  The Mouse, the Demo, and the Big Idea

Wendy Ju. Standford University, Standford, California.

D. Englebart, 1968: "The oNLine System (NLS) Demo"

Summary:

The first part of this essay talks about how the creation and demonstration of the mouse in 1968, inspired Wendy Ju, in 2006, to understand what she really wanted to do with her career. The second part illustrates her realization of the importance of demos. In the final part, Big Idea, Ju explains how the demonstration of a Big Idea will not always convey the message that the demonstrator wants to convey, even further, not all people in the audience will take with them the same message at all.

Discussion:

I think the purpose of this essay is to make the reader realize that even when we do not receive the outcome or appreciation we expected from the ideas we present, it does not mean our ideas are not valuable. It just means they are valuable in different ways to different people, and they show their appreciation in different ways.

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Chapter 18: Observing Collaboration: Group-Centered Design

Saul Greenberg. University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
J. Tang, 1989: "Listing, Drawing, and Gesturing in Design: A Study of the Use of Shared Workspaces by Design Teams." 

Summary:
Greenberg talks about observational studies of shared work surfaces carried out during the late 1980s by various individuals. These studies compared and contrasted how small groups of people interact when working together and sharing work surfaces. Greenberg explains how these studies affected the way new systems were being developed at that time, and how this affected future shared workspace research.

Discussion:

Reading about these studies reminds of an ethnography. The researches studied the behavior of groups working together on paper or white-board and how they interacted with each other. Thanks to the results, they built the technology that would allow for the interaction they discovered on their studies.

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Chapter 20:  Taking Articulation Work Seriously

Geraldine Fitzpatrick. University of Sussex, Brighton, U.K.
K. Schmidt, and L. Bannon, 1992: "Taking CSCW Seriously: Supporting Articulation Work."

Summary:

Fitzpatrick describes how Schmidt and Bannon's work has impacted her own studies and the field of CSCW. This essay defines CSCW (computer-supported cooperative work) as "an endeavor to understand the nature and requirements of cooperative work..." Fitzpatrick states that CSCW remarks the idea that "... even social situations involve interaction and coordination 'work'."

Discussion:

This essay was heavily dependent on definitions, which I believe it made it difficult to follow. However, I do see the connection between our course with the essay, which I think is that in order to develop CSCW technology, we have to study how we deal with interaction and cooperative work in our daily lives.

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Chapter 23: Video, Toys, and Beyond Being There

Brian K. Smith. The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania.
J. Hollan and S. Stornetta, 1992: "Beyond Being There."

Summary: 
Smith talks about how his mother was first able to have a "being there" relationship with her granddaughter through video conferencing, while she was in chemotherapy treatments. "Being there" can be defined as a CMC used when a F2F communication is not possible to obtain. Smith talks about the paper "Beyond Being There," and how it challenged researchers to develop communication tools that would add value to F2F communication. As an example of this type of tools, Smith talks about a Lily doll, and how his mom and his daughter were able to use and enjoy together. This doll added value to the time a grandma was spending with her granddaughter ('emotional design', 'experience design').

Discussion:
I want to start by saying that this was a really emotional essay, I really enjoyed reading about Smith's story. Last semester, in my ethics class, we did much work on analyzing the impact that Facebook has over real friendships, whether it was a positive or negative effect. And now with this essay, I realize the importance of expanding  our technologies to enhance human relationships and communication.