Consistent Interface Research Articles

Joachim Lügger: Offene Navigation und Suchmaschinen in Verbünden, Konsortien und den Wissenschaften

Integration of navigation and search in licensed journal databases and also free digital documents through a single consistent user interface is one of the still unsolved R&D problems in scientific information. Here elements of the invisible and the visible web have to be seamlessly linked on the basis of open standards. The article describes the start and the development process of a cooperative activity named distributed journal server which moved to a more general project named distributed document server which is now the basis of a cooperative project with the objective to realize an open digital library for the sciences.

ACHIEVING A UNIFORM AND CONSISTENT GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR A MAJOR RAILWAY SYSTEM

The Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC) West Rail commissioned a five year ergonomics study in 1998 to assess four rail control systems. The study, which focused solely on ergonomics issues, was the first of its kinds in Hong Kong. The Railway recognized the need to consider the human aspect in their operations and aimed to achieve a uniform and consistent Graphical User Interface (GUI) with the existing systems and between the new systems being developed. A Uniform GUI provide benefits that are manifold; an overall integrated company aesthetic, the reduction of the probability of human error during operations, less rigorous training requirements, and the potential for promoting multi-tasking abilities amongst the different operators. With the increasing number of new railway lines being planned for future, there is a need to determine the standardization requirements and to examine what level of integration would be the optimal solution for a railway. This paper discusses the approach that was taken to achieve a uniform GUI for West Rail systems and the way ergonomics should be applied to future railways.

A life scientist's gateway to distributed data management and computing: the PathPort/ToolBus framework.

The emergent needs of the bioinformatics community challenge current information systems. The pace of biological data generation far outstrips Moore's Law. Therefore, a gap continues to widen between the capabilities to produce biological (molecular and cell) data sets and the capability to manage and analyze these data sets. As a result, Federal investments in large data set generation produces diminishing returns in terms of the community's capabilities of understanding biology and leveraging that understanding to make scientific and technological advances that improve society. We are building an open framework to address various data management issues including data and tool interoperability, nomenclature and data communication standardization, and database integration. PathPort, short for Pathogen Portal, employs a generic, web-services based framework to deal with some of the problems identified by the bioinformatics community. The motivating research goal of a scalable system to provide data management and analysis for key pathosystems, especially relating to molecular data, has resulted in a generic framework using two major components. On the server-side, we employ web-services. On the client-side, a Java application called ToolBus acts as a client-side "bus" for contacting data and tools and viewing results through a single, consistent user interface.

Motion Simulation With Working Model 2D and MSC.visualNastran 4D

Motion Simulation With Working Model 2D and MSC.visualNastran 4D

INFOHARNESS: managing distributed, heterogeneous information

Today, important information is scattered in so many places, formats, and media, that getting the right information at the right time and place is an extremely difficult task. Developing a single software product, for example, includes the creation of documents ranging from the requirements specification and project schedules to marketing presentations, multimedia tutorials, and more. Each document may be created by a different person using a different tool, and each may be stored in a different place. InfoHarness is an information integration system, platform, and tool set that addresses these problems, managing huge amounts of herterogeneous information in a distributed environment. Through a powerful, consistent user interface, InfoHarness provides rapid search of and access to information assets including documents and parts of documents, mail messages, images, code files, video clips, Web pages with URLs, InfoHarness queries, and views of relational tables. The system makes all these artifacts available without relocating, restructuring, or reformatting the data.

User Interface Consistency across End-User Applications: The Effects on Mental Models

:Consistent user interfaces across applications are thought to facilitate transfer of learning because a user can draw on existing knowledge when using a new application. But despite the interface consistency guidelines and standards that are based on transfer of learning assumptions, few studies have investigated the effects of interface consistency, especially when a user interacts with multiple applications. The user’s knowledge of a computer application is often described as a mental model. This study tested whether the consistency of the user interface across applications affects mental-model development when a user learns and uses multiple applications. One hundred and fourteen participants learned two prototype cooperative work applications in a controlled laboratory setting. Interface consistency across applications was manipulated for two attributes commonly referred to in interface design guidelines: the visual appearance of the display screen and the action language syntax. As hypothesized, inconsistent action language syntax across applications resulted in more user actions to complete tasks. Inconsistent visual appearance, however, resulted in greater accuracy, which was surprising. This study provides support for the consistency guideline for action language syntax, but a distinctive visual appearance rather than a consistent one might help the user form more accurate mental models when initially learning multiple applications. Schema theory is used to explain both the expected and the unexpected results. Implications and promising research directions are proposed.

Trials and tribulations of implementing intranet technology: the Cassini Information Access System

The Cassini Information Access System (IAS) was built to provide Cassini Integration and Test engineers with ready access to current technical and logistical project information. World Wide Web (www) technology was used to provide a consistent user interface to pre-existing interactive systems as well as new repositories and interactive services developed specifically for Cassini. A Web "gateway" was developed for each pre-existing data service. Each service had its unique requirements including read-only and read-and-write access to SQL databases. Other requirements called for the development of many background processes to handle the access of data produced by proprietary databases and non-database data repositories. Through the use of the www, anonymous ftp, Novell services, and unique data conversion programs, we were able to put the system into limited operation by August 1995 and full operation by March 1996.

Improved Methods for Image Registration

We report a system for PET–MRI registration that is improved or optimized in several areas: (1) Automatic scalp/brain segmentation replaces manual drawing operations, (2) a new fast and accurate method of image registration, (3) visual assessment of registration quality is enhanced by composite imaging methods (i.e., fusion) and (4) the entire procedure is embedded in a commercially available scientific visualization package, thereby providing a consistent graphical user interface. The segmentation algorithm was tested on 17 MRI data sets and was successful in all cases. Accuracy of image registration was equal to that of the Woods algorithm, but 10 times faster for PET–PET and 4 times faster for PET–MRI. The image fusion method allows detection of misalignments on the order of 2–3 mm. These results demonstrate an integrated system for intermodality image registration, which is important because the procedure can be performed by technicians with no anatomic knowledge and reduces the required time from hours to about 15 min on a modern computer workstation.

Information issues in telemedicine systems.

This paper examines the use of the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) for telemedicine from the computer scientist's point of view. As increased bandwidth becomes available at reasonable cost, it becomes possible to employ graphical user interfaces in telemedicine systems. This means that human-computer interaction (HCI) techniques can be applied to the interface design. This paper describes some of these as applied to telemedicine by other authors. HCI techniques can be considered to be part of the development process of telemedicine systems. An integrated, multimedia-based telemedicine system which emulated the concept of a hospital information system would have many benefits, such as a consistent user interface with appropriate clinical metaphors, integrated patient records with facilities to store graphical information, and remote access. Telemedicine has much to offer in terms of providing higher standards of patient care through improved response times by clinicians who have the required information immediately available. The patient also benefits from convenience factors, such as being able to consult locally a remote specialist.

The info superhighway

The opportunities are attractive, but some pavers of the Information Superhighway (ISH) are too eager to pour concrete. They risk making rough roads that will alienate the very users they seek. These technologically oriented ISH devotees may be building dramatic overpasses and painting stripes without figuring out where the highway should be going. I believe greater attention should be paid to identifying appropriate services, designing a consistent user interface, and developing a clearer model of the diverse user communities.

The CTD Oceanographic Rendering and Analysis Laboratory (CORAL)

Abstract The CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) oceanographic Rendering and Analysis Laboratory (CORAL) is a general purpose X Windows/OSF Motif-based computatioal environment for the archiving, browsing, analysis and display of geophysical data. CORAL provides the user with several noteworthy feature: 1) a consistent, robust and intuitive graphical user interface to a geophysical database(s) and related analysis and display functions that are user extensible; 2) a high-level database interface for acquiring any desired subset(s) of data from multiple databases; 3) a simplified method for manipulating subsets of data once retrieved from one or more databases; and 4) analysis functions organized as extensible libraries for use in a wide variety of geophysical problems. Moreover, the library structure allows other analysis capabilities (e.g., Statistical Sciences’ S-PLUS) to be added easily to CORAL. CORAL also provides graphical and rendering capabilities and support for several map projections commonly ...

Orchard 2000—a decision support system for New Zealand's orchard industries

Abstract To compete in world markets, New Zealand's horticultural industries must meet increasingly stringent quality standards and market preferences, and continue to offer new and innovative products. Their ability to do this depends on the continual transfer of new orchard management technologies from discipline‐based research programmes. “Orchard 2000” is a computerised decision support system designed to provide a standard framework for the encapsulation of horticultural science into decision support “tools” for orchardists. These decision support tools provide information which helps decision makers with specific management decisions. The framework incorporates an orchard database which stores details of orchard layout, weather, production, operation, and finances. The decision support tools share this database rather than having their own files, so data are stored in an easily accessible and non‐redundant form. These tools also have a consistent graphical user interface, reducing the learning time ...

A research framework for exploring user interaction with multiple applications

This paper describes a research framework for exploring human factors issues arising when a user learns and uses multiple applications. A model of the training/learning process is extended to include five factors that might affect the user's mental models of multiple applications. The factors are access to common data objects, concurrent use, simultaneous training, relative actual use, and interface consistency across applications. Each factor is operationalized and shown to be independent of the others. User interface consistency across applications is particularly complex, and since interface consistency is a design decision made explicitly because of assumed effects on the mental models of users, it is discussed in more detail. Propositions about the effects of the five factors are offered, including interface consistency interactions. Initial studies with intriguing results are described.

ITS and user interface consistency

ITS and user interface consistency

The Pan language-based editing system

Powerful editing systems for developing complex software documents are difficult to engineer. Besides requiring efficient incremental algorithms and complex data structures, such editors must accommodate flexible editing styles, provide a consistent, coherent, and powerful user interface, support individual variations and projectwide configurations, maintain a sharable database of information concerning the documents being edited, and integrate smoothly with the other tools in the environment. Pan is a language-based editing and browsing system that exhibits these characteristics. This paper surveys the design and engineering of Pan , paying particular attention to a number of issues that pervade the system: incremental checking and analysis, information retention in the presence of change, tolerance for errors and anomalies, and extension facilities.

A flexible system call interface for interprocessor communication in a distributed memory multicomputer

The Multifaceted Communication System for the distributed memory NCUBE is an interprocessor communication system that supports many features useful for application programs: asynchronous, partially and fully synchronous calls in blocking and non-blocking modes, buffered and unbuffered transmissions, gather and scatter operations, broadcasting, a general pipe mechanism, and file operations. A major achievement of this design is the use of a single, consistent user interface. This paper describes the main features of that interface and the semantics of the operations it embodies.

The editorial role in developing an online user interface

As the quality of online systems escalates as a marketing issue, the Editor becomes proportionately more important to the development of a usable and consistent user interface. Editors are vital to the development of a quality user interface for any online system, be it a software product, its accompanying help, or more extensive online documentation. Editors negotiate for quality, lending an experienced eye for detail to each stage of product development, working as part of the Development Team to build a consistent product that meets user needs .

Designing and building a user interface for an on-line banking service: a case study

This paper describes the design and construction of a consistent user interface. The client was a major Belgian bank, the product an on-line banking service that needed upgrading. The user interface itself is not discussed, the focus is on design techniques and problems. The technique discussed in greatest detail is a 'style guide’, a design document that specifies the user interface standards. The main problem was to get the style guide accepted by the technicians. The purpose of the paper is to show how user interface design takes place in a real-life, commercial setting with deadlines imposed by the market. A final section estimates the costs and benefits of paying more attention to user interface design.

The case against user interface consistency

Designers striving for user interface consistency can resemble Supreme Court justices trying to define pornography: each of us feels we know it when we see it, but people often disagree and a precise definition remains elusive. A close examination suggests that consistency is an unreliable guide and that designers would often do better to focus on users' work environments.

User interface support for the integration of software tools: an iconic model of interaction

This paper presents a model of interaction based on an iconic representation of objects. An application of the model to an iconic shell for Unix™ is described. Finally a client server architecture for the implementation of the model is introduced. We show that a software development environment can take advantage of such a model and architecture in order to provide a consistent, adaptable and extensible user interface.