Human Interface Research

Date: Tue, 11 Feb 92 15:14:49 EST From: Tkelley@HEL4.BRL.MIL Subject: Mac interface experiments Over the past few weeks I have received numerous requests for information regarding human factors experiments which were conducted in order to develop the Macintosh computer. This was in response to the question I had posted several weeks before. I am sending all of the e-mail I received related to this issue. I did find on my own some fairly good information, but it seems as though much of the Mac development was first of all based on the Xerox Star, and secondly not very emperically, but rather based on common sense. One good information source containing some early Star experiments is "Readings in Human-Computer Interaction A Multidisciplinary Approach" by Ronald M. Baecker and William A.S. Buxton. This book contains, "Human Factors Testing in the Design of Xerox's 8010 Star Office Workstation" by William L. Bewley, Teresa L Roberts, David Schroit and William L. Verplank also "Designing the Star User Interface" by David Canfield Smith, Charles Irby, Ralph Kimball, Bill Verplank and Eric Harslem which was actually reprinted from Byte Magazine,v.7,n.4,April 1982. Sorry I did not respond directly to all of you asking for this information. But since there was quite a few of you, I decided posting it was the best way.



Received: from [130.43.2.6] by hel4.HEL4.BRL.MIL id aa12162; 22 Jan 92 19:44 EST Received: from [90.20.0.222] by colossus.apple.com with SMTP (5.65/11-Dec-1991-eef) id AA06026; Wed, 22 Jan 92 17:39:05 -0800 for Received: by alink-gw.apple.com (5.65/27-Sep-1991-eef) id AA26179; Wed, 22 Jan 92 17:31:32 -0800 for Message-Id: <696130303.0301622@AppleLink.Apple.COM> Subject: Studies To: TKELLEY@HEL4.BRL.MIL From: MACDTS@AppleLink.Apple.COM (Macintosh Developer Tech Supt) Date: 23 Jan 92 01:01 GMT TO: OF: Gateway to Internet/BITNET/UUCP, TKELLEY@HEL4.BRL.MIL@INTERNET# SUBJECT: Studies Dear Troy, If you have access to AppleLink, the best place to start would be the Developer Talk Bulletin Board, Apple Human Interface folder. Beyond that, check out the Macintosh programming newsgroup and the cognitive science newsgroups on USENET. The reference, "The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design" is available through APDA, product # T0400LL/A. If you don't have direct access to AppleLink, you might want to contact a local Mac User Group and they should be able to help you find information posted on AppleLink. To find a User Group near you, call 800-538-9696. The address, MACINTERFACE is no longer an active address and should not be used. If you are a part of the Developer Program, please send your questions to the AppleLink address: DEVHOTLINE or MACDTS. Please understand, that support through these addresses is limited to registered Developers in our program. I hope this is of some help to you, and thank you in advance for your understanding and cooperation of our direct support policy. Christopher Callahan Developer …