Lecture 7 paradigms

Today’s Outline Topics of discussion included today are, Paradigms, interaction and Example Time Sharing Video Display Units Programming Toolkits Window systems and the WIMP interface Metaphor Direct manipulation Language versus Action Modern evolving paradigms of computing

Introduction to Paradigm The primary objective of an interactive system is to allow the user to achieve particular goals in some application domain, that is, the interactive system must be usable.

Introduction to Paradigm The designer of an interactive system, then, is posed with two open questions: 1. How can an interactive system be developed to ensure its usability? 2. How can the usability of an interactive system be demonstrated or measured?

Paradigms One approach to answering these questions is by means of example, in which successful interactive systems are commonly believed to enhance usability and, therefore, serve as paradigms for the development of future products.

What are Paradigms Predominant theoretical frameworks or scientific world views e.g., Aristotelian, Newtonian, Einsteinian (relativistic) paradigms in physics Understanding HCI history is largely about understanding a series of paradigm shifts Not all listed here are necessarily “paradigm” shifts, but are at least candidates History will judge which are true shifts

A paradigm is a way of thinking about the world.

Paradigms of interaction New computing technologies arrive, creating a new perception of the human—computer relationship. We can trace some of these shifts in the history of interactive technologies.

The initial paradigm Batch processing Impersonal computing

Batch processing Batch Processing In some systems, the changes are not made immediately but stored up and all performed in one go when the database is not in general use. This is called batch processing. This type of processing is used when it is not practical break the job into individual parts. Batch processing is ideal for: Recording attenance records in schools from OMR sheets Producing bills for electricity, gas and telephone comapnies Producing monthly bank and credit card statements In batch processing all the changes (Insertions, deletions, and amendments) are stored up in a transaction file. At a certain point the transaction file will be closed. To update the master file, the transaction and master files go through a merge process to create an updated master file.

Example Paradigm Shifts Batch processing Time-sharing Interactive computing

Example Paradigm Shifts Batch processing Timesharing Networking @#$% ! ??? Community computing

Example Paradigm Shifts Batch processing Timesharing Networking Graphical displays Move this file here, and copy this to there. C…P… filename dot star… or was it R…M? % foo.bar ABORT dumby!!! Direct manipulation

Example Paradigm Shifts Batch processing Timesharing Networking Graphical display Microprocessor Personal computing

Example Paradigm Shifts Batch processing Timesharing Networking Graphical display Microprocessor WWW Global information

Example Paradigm Shifts Batch processing Timesharing Networking Graphical display Microprocessor WWW Ubiquitous Computing A symbiosis of physical and electronic worlds in service of everyday activities.

Time-sharing In the 1940s and 1950s, the significant advances in computing consisted of new hardware technologies. Mechanical relays were replaced by vacuum electron tubes. Tubes were replaced by transistors, and transistors by integrated chips, all of which meant that the amount of sheer computing power was increasing by orders of magnitude. By the 1960s it was becoming apparent that the explosion of growth in computing power would be wasted if there was not an equivalent explosion of ideas about how to channel that power.

Time Sharing A new concept of time sharing is introduced. a single computer could support multiple users. Previously, the programmer was restricted to batch sessions, in which complete jobs were submitted on punched cards or paper tape to an operator who would then run them individually on the computer.

Time Sharing Time-sharing systems of the 1960s made programming a truly interactive venture and brought about a subculture of programmers known as ‘hackers’ i.e.; single-minded masters of detail who took pleasure in understanding complexity. Now with time-sharing capability, true human computer interaction is possible.

Video Display Units As early as the mid-1950s researchers were experimenting with the possibility of presenting and manipulating information from a computer in the form of images on a video display unit (VDU). These display screens could provide a more suitable medium than a paper printout for presenting vast quantities of strategic information for rapid assimilation. The earliest applications of display screen images were developed in military applications, most notably the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) project of the US Air Force.

Visual Display units Primary user hardware for displaying visual media such as graphics, text, images. Consists of components such as Monitor, Video adapter card, video adapter cable. Various such devices are CRT, color CRT, DVST, Flat Panel Displays (LCD & Plasma), LED monitors, etc.

Old monochrome vs Lcd

Video Display Units In1962, a young graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Ivan Sutherland, astonished the established computer science community with his Sketch pad program, that the capabilities of visual images were realized.

Sketch pad Program

Video Display Unit Sketchpad demonstrated two important ideas. First, computers could be used for more than just data processing. Secondly, Sutherland’s efforts demonstrated how important the contribution of one creative mind

Programming Toolkits Douglas Engelbart’s ambition since the early 1950s was to use computer technology as a means of complementing human problem solving activity. Engelbart’s idea as a graduate student at the University of California at Berkeley was to use the computer to teach humans.

Douglas Engelbart’s ambition “By ‘augmenting man’s intellect’ we mean increasing the capability of a man to approach a complex problem situation, gain comprehension to suit his particular needs, and to derive solutions to problems.... We refer to a way of life in an integrated domain where hunches, cut-and-try, intangibles, and the human ‘feel for the situation’ usefully coexist with powerful concepts, streamlined terminology and notation, sophisticated methods, and high-powered electronic aids”.

Programming Toolkits Ideas that Engelbart’s team developed at the Augmentation Research Center includes word processing and the mouse

Programming toolkits in Overview Engelbart at Stanford Research Institute 1963 – augmenting man's intellect 1968 NLS/Augment system demonstration the right programming toolkit provides building blocks to producing complex interactive systems

Personal computing 1970s – Papert's LOGO language for simple graphics programming by children A system is more powerful as it becomes easier to user Future of computing in small, powerful machines dedicated to the individual Kay at Xerox PARC – the Dynabook as the ultimate personal computer

Window systems and the WIMP interface humans can pursue more than one task at a time windows used for dialogue partitioning, to “change the topic” 1981 – Xerox Star first commercial windowing system windows, icons, menus and pointers now familiar interaction mechanisms

Metaphor relating computing to other real-world activity is effective teaching technique LOGO's turtle dragging its tail file management on an office desktop word processing as typing financial analysis on spreadsheets virtual reality – user inside the metaphor Problems some tasks do not fit into a given metaphor cultural bias

Metaphore In developing the LOGO language to teach children, Papert used the metaphor of a turtle dragging its tail in the dirt. Children could quickly identify with the real-world phenomenon and that instant familiarity gave them an understanding of how they could create pictures.

Metaphor Metaphors are used quite successfully to teach new concepts in terms of ones which are already understood. Metaphors are used to describe the functionality of many interaction widgets, such as windows, menus, buttons and palettes.

Direct Manipulation In the early 1980s as the price of fast and high-quality graphics hardware was steadily decreasing, designers were beginning to see that their products were gaining popularity as their visual content increased.

Direct Manipulation As long as the user–system dialog remained largely unidirectional – from user command to system command line prompt computing was going to stay within the minority population of the hackers (programmers) who reveled in the challenge of complexity. In a standard command line interface, the only way to get any feedback on the results of previous interaction is to know that you have to ask for it and to know how to ask for it.

Direct Manipulation Rapid feedback is just one feature of the interaction technique known as direct manipulation.

Direct Manipulation Ben Shneiderman highlights the following features of a direct manipulation interface: visibility of the objects of interest incremental action at the interface with rapid feedback on all actions reversibility of all actions, so that users are encouraged to explore without severe penalties syntactic correctness of all actions, so that every user action is a legal operation replacement of complex command languages with actions to manipulate directly the visible objects (and, hence, the name direct manipulation)

Direct Manipulation The first real commercial success which demonstrated the inherent usability of direct manipulation interfaces for the general public was the Macintosh personal computer, introduced by Apple Computer, Inc. in 1984

Direct manipulation – in overview 1982 – Shneiderman describes appeal of graphically-based interaction visibility of objects incremental action and rapid feedback reversibility encourages exploration syntactic correctness of all actions replace language with action 1984 – Apple Macintosh the model-world metaphor What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG)

Language versus Action actions do not always speak louder than words! Image projected as DM – interface replaces underlying system language paradigm interface as mediator interface acts as intelligent agent programming by example is both action and language

Hypertext 1945 – Vannevar Bush and the memex key to success in managing explosion of information mid 1960s – Nelson describes hypertext as non-linear browsing structure hypermedia and multimedia Nelson's Xanadu the first hypertext project still a dream today The memex (a portmanteau of "memory" and "index" or "memory" and "extender") is the name of the hypothetical proto-hypertext system that Vannevar Bush described in his 1945 The Atlantic Monthly article "As We May Think".

Hypertext and Hypermedia Ted Nelson coined the term hypertext in 1963. Also credited for being first to use words like hypermedia. Hypertext spawned from the concept of Memex (Vannevar Bush):a mechanical desk linked to an extensive archive of microfilms, able to display books, writings, or any document from a library. Earlier hypertext: footnotes

Example of hypertext <html> <body> <h1>My First Heading</h1> <p>My first paragraph.</p> </body> </html>

Multimodality a mode is a human communication channel emphasis on simultaneous use of multiple channels for input and output

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) CSCW removes bias of single user / single computer system Can no longer neglect the social aspects Electronic mail is most prominent success

The World Wide Web Hypertext, as originally realized, was a closed system Simple, universal protocols (e.g. HTTP) and mark-up languages (e.g. HTML) made publishing and accessing easy Critical mass of users lead to a complete transformation of our information economy.

World wide web

Agent-based Interfaces Original interfaces Commands given to computer Language-based Direct Manipulation/WIMP Commands performed on “world” representation Action based Agents - return to language by instilling proactivity and “intelligence” in command processor Avatars, natural language processing Agents programming is a modern technique to automate industrial and scientific tasks.

Ubiquitous Computing “The most profound technologies are those that disappear.” Mark Weiser, 1991 Late 1980’s: computer was very apparent How to make it disappear? Shrink and embed/distribute it in the physical world Design interactions that don’t demand our intention computing is made to appear everywhere and anywhere

Sensor-based and Context-aware Interaction Humans are good at recognizing the “context” of a situation and reacting appropriately Automatically sensing physical phenomena (e.g., light, temp, location, identity) becoming easier How can we go from sensed physical measures to interactions that behave as if made “aware” of the surroundings?

Summary Today we have covered Examples of effective strategies for building interactive systems provide paradigms for designing usable interactive systems. The evolution of computing usability paradigms also provides a good perspective on the history of interactive computing. Paradigms range from the introduction of time-sharing computers, through the WIMP and web, to ubiquitous and context-aware computing