Man-Computer Interaction: Human Factors Aspects of Computers & People

The aim of this book is to bring together and try to inter relate some of the concepts and relevant knowledge from the varfous disciplines concerned with this area of research and application, including especially the human sciences, computer sciences and engineering. The focus throughout is up0n the human rather than upon the computer issues in Man-Computer Interaction (MCI). The book is based upon the papers presented by invited speakers at an Advanced Study Institute held at Mati, Attica, Greece 5-18 September 1976, which was sponsored by the NATO Advanced Study Institutes Programme. These papers were not intended to be ency clopaedic or to yield a 'state of the art' volume. But as revised here they do represent well the scope and breadth of MCI ('man' is used throughout generically for men, women, humans, people). The material in this book is as timely today as when presen ted in lectures; it is not out of date. Indeed in many respects it is more timely, because the computer industry is now recognising the need to heed the users. Computer designers are becoming receptive to the importance of the human factors aspects. Recognition of the user's needs has been stimulated by the work, elsewhere as well as here, of the contributors to this book.

Klappentext

The aim of this book is to bring together and try to inter­ relate some of the concepts and relevant knowledge from the varfous disciplines concerned with this area of research and application, including especially the human sciences, computer sciences and engineering. The focus throughout is up0n the human rather than upon the computer issues in Man-Computer Interaction (MCI). The book is based upon the papers presented by invited speakers at an Advanced Study Institute held at Mati, Attica, Greece 5-18 September 1976, which was sponsored by the NATO Advanced Study Institutes Programme. These papers were not intended to be ency­ clopaedic or to yield a 'state of the art' volume. But as revised here they do represent well the scope and breadth of MCI ('man' is used throughout generically for men, women, humans, people). The material in this book is as timely today as when presen­ ted in lectures; it is not out of date. Indeed in many respects it is more timely, because the computer industry is now recognising the need to heed the users. Computer designers are becoming receptive to the importance of the human factors aspects. Recognition of the user's needs has been stimulated by the work, elsewhere as well as here, of the contributors to this book.

Inhalt
1 Introduction.- Man-Computer Interaction (MCI) reality and problems.- 2 Conversation and communication.- Improving the communication between people and computers.- Some characteristics of conversations.- Interactive human communication: some lessons learned from laboratory experiments.- 3 Aspects Of the hardware interface.- Office computerisation in Sweden: worker participation, workplace design considerations and the reduction of visual strain.- Man-computer interaction in public systems.- 4 Aspects of the software interface.- Interactive software for humans.- The empirical study of computer language.- Towards a design for an on-line scheduling aid.- 5 Training and education.- The role of user support.- Problems of man-computer interaction in education and training.- 6 Manager and organisation.- A task-tool analysis of manager-computer interaction.- The impact of computer-use on organisation structure.- Strategies for the human use of a computer-based system.- Approaches to determining functional needs of information system users.- 7 Modelling and problem solving.- Modelling the user.- Outlook for man-computer symbiosis: toward a general theory of man-computer problem solving.- 8 Specialist Users.- The specialist user.- Man and computer in future on-board guidance and control systems of aircraft.- Dynamic graphical interaction in engineering design.- 9 Evaluation and the wider context.- Evaluating man-computer systems.- Epilogue.- Appendices.- 1. Contributors to this book.- 2. Institute participants.- 3. Institute programme.