Title: HCI Remixed
Editors: Thomas Erickson, David McDonald
Publisher: MIT Press, December 2007
Chapter 6: A Creative Programming Environment
Author: Henry Lieberman, MIT Media Lab
Summary
In this chapter, the author discussed the works of D. C. Smith on Pygmalion, a Creative Programming Environment that allows beginners to easily use computers for creative means. The author discussed the highlights of Pygmalion, including its desire to support creativity by visual programming, programming by example, and interactive techniques. He then described the lessons taught by this program, including addressing the problem of creativity, thinking globally but acting locally, searching for meaningful things, and teaching by example.
Discussion
I like how this author directly outlined the benefits of the idea that he was describing, then listed the lessons that he believed it taught. This allowed for me to easily see what the author's point was, instead of having to search through definitions and anecdotes for it.
Chapter 7: Fundamentals in HCI: Learning the Value of Consistency and User Models
Author: Sara Bly, Sara Bly Consulting
Summary
This chapter discussed the Xerox Red Book, a user interface design specification for the Xerox Star workstation. The author described the main points of this book, including its emphasis on consistency, the desktop, and UI specification. Then, the main points of the book that still apply today were discussed, such as being a set of overall principles on which the UI was built, and encouraging similar ideas for current systems.
Discussion
This was a fairly short article, just detailing a design specification book for a particular system. While the system does seem to be very important to the interface design field, it doesn't seem like a specification book for it could be too useful any more. If the author had discussed more of the basic ideas that pertain to systems now, instead of just listing the things the Red Book contributed to the Star system, it would have been more helpful.
Chapter 9: The Disappearing Computer
Author: Norbert Streitz, Fraunhofer IPSI
Summary
This chapter discussed the "disappearing computer" and its implications. Disappearing was defined as meaning two different things: physical disappearance (miniaturizing devices and their integration into everyday objects so that they become invisible) and mental disappearance (objects no longer being seen as computers, but as ordinary objects that are interactive). The author demonstrated this evolution into invisibility with examples, going from LiveBoard to Roomware.
Discussion
I found the definitions given to be more interesting than the examples of systems I am unfamiliar with. However, the definitions explained the meaning of "disappearing computer", which I believe can be seen by the devices surrounding us today, such as cell phones that now surf the internet. They have become such a part of our everyday life, that we see it as a phone and not a computer powering the phone.
Chapter 10: It Really Is All About Location
Author: Anind K. Dey, Carnegie Mellon University
Summary
This chapter discussed the importance of location-aware systems, and the system that started the field. Active Badge is a system of badges tracked by infrared sensors to determine the location of people within a building, to be used in place of swiping badges. The author discusses how this system allowed research to occur concerning location-aware systems, showing the usefulness of them and demonstrating the fact that you don't have to be limited by the technology available to you in order to experiment with future ideas.
Discussion
I really liked reading about this system, it seems like it is very useful not only in a research perspective, but also in an application perspective. I especially like that this system started the location-aware systems that are in wide-use today, even though they didn't actually have the technology to do it then.
Chapter 46: The Essential Role of Mental Models in HCI: Card, Moran, and Newell
Author: Kate Ehrlich, IBM Research
Summary
This chapter defined and described mental models in various fields. Mental models are designed to explain how people construct internal representations of meaning from which they infer semantic relationships, and can be applied to UI design and HCI to provide a theory of the user's representation of a system. The user's model is represented by goals, operators, methods, and selectional rules.
Discussion
The idea of creating a mental model is good, but I am not sure how useful it would be in practice. It seems like it is making the thought process too rigid and formatted, but it seems as if it has influenced the field of HCI a lot.
Chapter 47: A Most Fitting Law
Author: Gary M. Olson, University of Michigan
Summary
This chapter discussed the implications of Fitts's Law, which the author describes to be a precise prediction about how movement and target characteristics are related quantitatively. The law says that the time it takes to move to a target is a function of the length of movement and the size of the target. The author lists of design ideas that result from this law, including the value of the edge of the screen, the value of pop-up menus, and the idea of expanding items as you move towards them.
Discussion
I find the idea that a mathematical equation could tell designers so much about how to best design a system with the cursor in mind to be fascinating. In particular, I find it amusing that the author describes how the Macintosh system to follows the design principles that results from Fitts's Law, while contrasting by saying that Windows does not follow these principles.
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