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The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems View Larger Image | Jef Raskin
Addison-Wesley, Paperback, Published April 2000, 233 pages, ISBN 0201379376 | List Price: $44.99
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This unique guide to interactive system design reflects the experience and vision of Jef Raskin, the creator of the Apple Macintosh project. Other books may show how to use today's widgets and interface ideas effectively. Raskin, however, demonstrates that many current interface paradigms are dead ends, and that to make computers significantly easier to use requires new approaches. He explains how to effect desperately needed changes, offering a wealth of innovative and specific interface ideas for software designers, developers, and product managers.
The Apple Macintosh helped to introduce a previous revolution in computer interface design, drawing on the best available technology to establish many of the interface techniques and methods now universal in the computer industry. With this book, Raskin proves again both his farsightedness and his practicality. He also demonstrates how design ideas must be built on a scientific basis, presenting just enough cognitive psychology to link the interface of the future to the experimental evidence and to show why that interface will work.
Raskin observes that our honeymoon with digital technology is over: We are tired of having to learn huge, arcane programs to do even the simplest of tasks; we have had our fill of crashing computers; and we are fatigued by the continual pressure to upgrade. The Humane Interface delivers a way for computers, information appliances, and other technology-driven products to continue to advance in power and expand their range of applicability, while becoming free of the hassles and obscurities that plague present products.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: The Importance of Fundamentals xvii
Chapter One: Background 1
1-1 Interface Definition 2
1-2 Keep the Simple Simple 2
1-3 Human-Centered Design and User-Centered Design 3
1-4 Tools That Do Not Facilitate Design Innovation 4
1-5 Interface Design in the Design Cycle 5
1-6 Definition of a Humane Interface 6
Chapter Two: Cognetics and the Locus of Attention 9
2-1 Ergonomics and Cognetics: What We Can and Cannot Do 9
2-2 Cognitive Conscious and Cognitive Unconscious 11
2-3 Locus of Attention 17
2-3-1 Formation of Habits 18
2-3-2 Execution of Simultaneous Tasks 20
2-3-3 Singularity of the Locus of Attention 24
2-3-4 Origins of the Locus of Attention 27
2-3-5 Exploitation of the Single Locus of Attention 29
2-3-6 Resumption of Interrupted Work 31
Chapter Three: Meanings, Modes, Monotony, and Myths 33
3-1 Nomenclature and Notations 33
3-2 Modes 37
3-2-1 Definition of Modes 42
3-2-2 Modes, User-Preference Settings, and Temporary Modes 47
3-2-3 Modes and Quasimodes 55
3-3 Noun-Verb versus Verb-Noun Constructions 59
3-4 Visibility and Affordances 62
3-5 Monotony 66
3-6 Myth of the Beginner-Expert Dichotomy 68
Chapter Four: Quantification 71
4-1 Quantitative Analyses of Interfaces 71
4-2 GOMS Keystroke-Level Model 72
4-2-1 Interface Timings 73
4-2-2 GOMS Calculations 76
4-2-3 GOMS Calculation Examples 77
4-3 Measurement of Interface Efficiency 83
4-3-1 Efficiency of Hal's Interfaces 87
4-3-2 Other Solutions for Hal's Interface 90
4-4 Fitts' Law and Hick's Law 93
4-4-1 Fitts' Law 93
4-4-2 Hick's Law 96
Chapter Five: Unification 99
5-1 Uniformity and Elementary Actions 101
5-2 Elementary Actions Cataloged 103
5-2-1 Highlighting, Indication, and Selection 105
5-2-2 Commands 109
5-2-3 Display States of Objects
5-3 File Names and Structures 117
5-4 String Searches and Find Mechanisms
5-4-1 Search-Pattern Delimiters 127
5-4-2 Units of Interaction 129
5-5 Cursor Design and a Strategy for Making Selections 133
5-6 Cursor Position and LEAP 136
5-7 Applications Abolished 139
5-8 Commands and Transformers 143
Chapter Six: Navigation and Other Aspects of Humane Interfaces 149
6-1 Intuitive and Natural Interfaces 150
6-2 Better Navigation: ZoomWorld 152
6-3 Icons 168
6-4 Techniques and Help Facilities in Humane Interfaces 174
6-4-1 Cut and Paste 177
6-4-2 Messages to the User 178
6-4-3 Simplified Sign-Ons 183
6-4-4 Time Delays and Keyboard Tricks 184
6-5 Letter from a User 187
Chapter Seven: Interface Issues Outside the User Interface 191
7-1 More Humane Programming Language Environments 192
7-1-1 System and Development Environment 192
7-1-2 Importance of Documentation in Program Creation 194
7-2 Modes and Cables 195
7-3 Ethics and Management of Interface Design 198
Chapter Eight: Conclusion
References 205
Appendix A: The One-Button Mouse History 207
Appendix B: SwyftCard Interface Theory of Operation 211
References 215
Index 221
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