CS92/ED89: The Educational Software Seminar
Notes: March 10, 2005
Roger B. Blumberg, Brown University
http://www.cs.brown.edu/courses/cs092/2005/cs92.mar10.html
The Humane Interface II
Introduction: Jakob Nielsen's "Usability" Studies
In light of the questions we raised at the end of class on Tuesday,
after what the phrase "humane interface" can/should really signify for
a group as willing and able to adapt as humans, we'll look at the
two recent columns by Nielsen and evaluate his definition and
application of the term "usability".
Jef Raskin's The Humane Interface I
"As far as the customer is concerned, the interface
is the product." (5)
Here are a few questions we might discuss, along with Sarah's
question, as we conclude discussion of the first three chapters:
- What do you consider an example of good design (whether
in the realm of computers or not)?
- What is an example of an interface you consider
"humane" (by Raskin's definition [6]) and one you do not
consider humane in this sense (no need to limit yourself
to computer interfaces here)
- What claims in chapter 1 do you think should be revised
when learning is the primary goal of a computer
program's use?
- What would be an example of a design decision in
educational software motivated by Raskin's notion of
"cognitive conscious"" by the "cognitive unconscious"?
- How do you reconcile Raskin's claims about the locus
of attention with the motivations afforded by multimedia
and multi-modal design?
- What is a program interface that you think
handles "modes" pretty well?
- What claims in chapter 3 do you think should be revised
when learning is the primary goal of a computer
program's use?
Raskin's The Humane Interface II
We'll continue our discussion of Raskin's book with Vanessa's
questions. As with our discussion of earlier chapters,
we'll want to eventually ask how Raskin's ideas/principles
should be modified or revised when we're designing for
learning. For example, if we take Dewey's
Experience and Education seriously,
we might raise the following questions:
- Recalling Dewey's comment about "collateral learning"
(EE 48), we might wonder how a computer-based
"learning environment" could be designed to facilitate it.
- Recalling Dewey's distinctions between the "progressive"
and "traditional" education, we might wonder
how we could design educational software in ways that
solicit "the participation of the learner in the formation
of the purposes involved in his studying." (EE 67).
- Recalling Dewey's idea of "educative experience,"
how can a computer-based experience "lead out into an
expanding world of subject matter, a subject-matter of
facts or information and of ideas." (EE 87).
For Tuesday: We'll meet in 165 CIT for a Director Lab.
Anyone without a CS course to their credit should definitely attend.
Meanwhile, each team should be hard at work on their storyboard,
and we'll begin storyboard presentations on Thursday the 17th
(as scheduled in the syllabus).