Design of Workplace-Integrating User Interfaces based on Work Scenario Graphs

Abstract

People use computers to accomplish work. Traditionally, computers support monolithic applications in which single users perform isolated tasks. Applications in this context can be viewed as tools regarding a specific task. User interface design methods have concentrated on support for three types of human-computer interfaces according to Dzida’s taxonomy (Dzida 1987): the I/O-interface describing the usage surface of the tool, the dialogue interface describing the interaction dynamics, and the tool interface describing supported functions (Figure 1). Although human work spans a complex network of interaction with other humans and with many different tools, the organizational interface, which is concerned with relating humans and tools in the context of their work environment, is usually hardly taken into account in user interface design (Viereck et. al. 1991). In other words, user interface design is tool-centred and not work- centred, as criticized by work psychologists: “Not the machine, but the organization and design of work places is the essential task in the centre of informatics. The design of machines, hardware, and software is subordinate to this task” (Coy 1989).