James D. Hollan

Distributed cognition: toward a new foundation for human-computer interaction research

We are quickly passing through the historical moment when people work in front of a single computer, dominated by a small CRT and focused on tasks involving only local information. Networked computers are becoming ubiquitous and are playing increasingly significant roles in our lives and in the basic infrastructures of science, business, and social interaction. For human-computer interaction to advance in the new millennium we need to better understand the emerging dynamic of interaction in which the focus task is no longer confined to the desktop but reaches into a complex networked world of information and computer-mediated interactions. We think the theory of distributed cognition has a special role to play in understanding interactions between people and technologies, for its focus has always been on whole environments: what we really do in them and how we coordinate our activity in them. Distributed cognition provides a radical reorientation of how to think about designing and supporting human-computer interaction. As a theory it is specifically tailored to understanding interactions among people and technologies. In this article we propose distributed cognition as a new foundation for human-computer interaction, sketch an integrated research framework, and use selections from our earlier work to suggest how this framework can provide new opportunities in the design of digital work materials.

Direct manipulation interfaces

Direct manipulation has been lauded as a good form of interface design, and some interfaces that have this property have been well received by users. In this article we seek a cognitive account of both the advantages and disadvantages of direct manipulation interfaces. We identify two underlying phenomena that give rise to the feeling of directness. One deals with the information processing distance between the users intentions and the facilities provided by the machine. Reduction of this distance makes the interface feel direct by reducing the effort required of the user to accomplish goals. The second phenomenon concerns the relation between the input and output vocabularies of the interface language. In particular, direct manipulation requires that the system provide representations of objects that behave as if they are the objects themselves. This provides the feeling of directness of manipulation.

Edit wear and read wear

We describe two applications that illustrate the idea of computational wear in the domain of document processing. By graphically depicting the history of author and reader interactions with documents, these applications offer otherwise unavailable information to guide work. We discuss how their design accords with a theory of professional work and an informational physics perspective on interface design.

Beyond being there

A belief in the efficacy of imitating face-to-face communication is an unquestioned presupposition of most current work on supporting communications in electronic media. In this paper we highlight problems with this presupposition and present an alternative proposal for grounding and motivating research and development that frames the issue in terms of needs, media, and mechanisms. To help elaborate the proposal we sketch a series of example projects and respond to potential criticisms.

Pad++: A Zoomable Graphical Sketchpad For Exploring Alternate Interface Physics

We describe Pad++, a zoomable graphical sketchpad that we are exploring as an alternative to traditional window and icon-based interfaces. We discuss the motivation for Pad++, describe the implementation, and present prototype applications. In addition, we introduce an informational physics strategy for interface design and briefly contrast it with current design strategies. We envision a rich world of dynamic persistent informational entities that operate according to multiple physics specifically designed to provide cognitively facile access and serve as the basis for design of new computationally-based work materials.

A diary study of mobile information needs

Being mobile influences not only the types of information people seek but also the ways they attempt to access it. Mobile contexts present challenges of changing location and social context, restricted time for information access, and the need to share attentional resources among concurrent activities. Understanding mobile information needs and associated interaction challenges is fundamental to improving designs for mobile phones and related devices. We conducted a two-week diary study to better understand mobile information needs and how they are addressed. Our study revealed that depending on the time and resources available, as well as the situational context, people use diverse and, at times, ingenious ways to obtain needed information. We summarize key findings and discuss design implications for mobile technology.

KidPad: a design collaboration between children, technologists, and educators

We established an interdisciplinmy, intergenemtional collaboration in the fidl of 1995, between the University of New Mexico’s Computer Science Departmen4 the College of Fducatiou and local Albuquerque elementary school children. The goal of this reaeamh was to develop an expressive digital medium with an intuitive zooming - to support a learning environment tbr children. In the _ of this eollaboratio~ design methodologies that support a child’s role in the development of new technologies WE explored. What follows is a summary of our iterative design experience, collaboration, and the results of the resuch to date.

Graphical multiscale Web histories: a study of padprints

We have implemented a browser companion called PadPrints that dynamically builds a graphical history-map of visited web pages. PadPrints relies on Pad++, a zooming user interface (ZUI) development substrate, to display the history-map using minimal screen space. PadPrints functions in conjunction with a traditional web browser but without requiring any browser modifications. We performed two usability studies of PadPrints. The first addressed general navigation effectiveness. The second focused on history-relat ed aspects of navigation. In tasks requiring returns to prior pages, users of PadPrints completed tasks in 61.2% of the time required by users of the same browser without PadPrints. We also observed significant decreases in the number of pages accessed when using PadPrints. Users found browsing with PadPrints more satisfying than using Netscape alone.

SLAP widgets: bridging the gap between virtual and physical controls on tabletops

We present Silicone iLluminated Active Peripherals (SLAP), a system of tangible, translucent widgets for use on multitouch tabletops. SLAP Widgets are cast from silicone or made of acrylic, and include sliders, knobs, keyboards, and buttons. They add tactile feedback to multi-touch tables, improving input accuracy. Using rear projection, SLAP Widgets can be relabeled dynamically, providing inexpensive, battery-free, and untethered augmentations. Furthermore, SLAP combines the flexibility of virtual objects with physical affordances. We evaluate how SLAP Widgets influence the user experience on tabletops compared to virtual controls. Empirical studies show that SLAPWidgets are easy to use and outperform virtual controls significantly in terms of accuracy and overall interaction time.

Strategic directions in human-computer interaction

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is the study of how people design, implement, and use interactive computer systems and how computers affect individuals, organizations, and society. This encompasses not only ease of use but also new interaction techniques for supporting user tasks, providing better access to information, and creating more powerful forms of communication. It involves input and output devices and the interaction techniques that use them; how information is presented and requested; how the computer’s actions are controlled and monitored; all forms of help, documentation, and training; the tools used to design, build, test, and evaluate user interfaces; and the processes that developers follow when creating interfaces. This report describes the historical and intellectual foundations of HCI and then summarizes selected strategic directions in human-computer interaction research. Previous important reports on HCI directions include the results of the 1991 [Sibert and Marchionini 1993] and 1994 [Strong 1994] NSF studies on HCI in general, and the 1994 NSF study on the World-Wide Web [Foley and Pitkow 1994].