Jonathan Grudin

           Preamble : History in a Time of Rapid Obsolescene Human-Tool Interaction at the Dawn of Computing 1945-1955 : Managing Vacuum Tubes 1955-1965 : Transistors, New Vistas 1965-1980 : HCI Before Personal Computer 1980-1985 : Discretionary Use Comes into Focus 1985-1995 : Graphical User Interfaces Succeed 1995-2005 : The Internet Era Arrives Looking Back : Cultures and Bridges Looking Ahead : Trajectories Conclusion : The Next Generation

 The typewriter is a species on its last legs.

 Why study the history of HCI?

 Point out possible trends and trajectories that you might download into your crystal balls.

 Definitions  HCI  CHI  Human Factors  Ergonomics  IS  IT

     Engineering psychology was born during the war.

American aviation psychologists created the HFS.

Early tool use was not discretionary.

Three roles in early computing  Management, programming, operation ENIAC   First general-purpose electronic computer in 1946 10 feet tall, 1,000 square feet

   Major strides were reducing the time spent replaciong or resetting vacuum tubes.

“Knobs and dials”, human factors or ergonomics approaches One computer operator could do work that previously required a team.

   Grace Hopper Improve programmers’ interfaces “freeing mathematicians to do mathematics” ⇒ today’s usability goal of freeing users to do their work

    Supporting Operators : The First Systematic HCI Research Computers ⇔ cards, tape Improving the design of buttons, switches, and displays was natural extension of human factors/ergonomics.

Brian Shackel : 1959, “Ergonomics for computers”  The HFS formed in 1957.

Transistor Transistor computer EMIac computer

  Visions and Demonstrations Vannevar Bush and the MEMEX  In 1945, “As We May Think”  “New form of encyclopidias will appear, ready made with a mesh of associative trails, …”  J.C.R. Licklider  “man-machine symbiosis” in 1960    “At present, however, there are no man-computer symbioses…” The computer as “ a fast information-retrieval and data-processing machine” “on-line man-computer communication”

 John McCarthy, Christopher Strachey, Wesley Clark  Timesharing allowed several of simultaneous users at terminals.

 John McCarthy TX-0 at MIT ($10 M) Ivan Sutherland and Computer Graphics  Sketchpad, Iconic Representations

 Douglas Engelbart, augmenting human intellect  In 1963, “a conceptual framework for the augmentation of man’s intellect”  Wordprocessing, mouth, …  Ted Nelson’s vision of interconnectedness  In 1960, “hypertext”  In 1965, “ A file structure for the complex, the changing, and the indeterminate”  Project Xanudu    Conclusion : Vision, Demos, and Widespread Use The inspiring vision, demoing the vision in working prototypes, and the evolution of widespread practices -> modern PC “truly a computer with which an individual could interact”

   Human Factors and Ergonomics Embraces Computers In 1969, Human factors , I. J. of Man-Machine Studies In 1973, “Design of Man-Machine Dialogues”  In 1980, 3 significant HF&E books were published.

 2 on VDT design, 1 on general guidelines    Information Systems IBM system/360 IN 1967, Management Science, “Information Systems in Management Science” HCI as one of five major research streams     Programming : Subject of Study, Source of Change The Psychology of Computer Programming, Software Psychology Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) : computing Human Sciences and Advanced Technology (HUSAT) : ergonomics

  Computer Science : A New Discipline Computer Graphics : realism and interaction DEC PDP-1 ※ Application was not quite at hand.

Xerox Alto  Artificial Intelligence : winter follows summer  Late 60s – early 70s AI burst onto the scene. -> It did not go as expected.

  AI research has influenced HCI.

AI did not come into focus in HCI, and AL researchers have shown limited interest in HCI.

 Only Newell and Simon studied human behavior.

  Discretion in Computer Use   Minicomputers and Office Automation A mini could support a small group(or office) with file sharing, applications such as word processing, spreadsheets, and e-mail.

OA/OIS led important emerging issues – hypertext, computer-mediated communication, collaboration support    The Formation of ACM SIGCHI : Human aspects of computing HFS cosponsored CHI conference. CHI focused on novice use.

  CHI and Human Factors Diverge Cognitive eng., usability eng. were adopted.

Donald Norman applied eng. techniques to discretionary use.

     Workstations and Another AI Summer : early 80s Neural nets, Production systems Intelligent knowledge-based systems, expert system, machine learning, … Language processing, Knowledge engineering AI interaction with CHI was limited.

Xerox Star

    CHI Embraces Computer Science HCI had focused on expert use -> first-time use HCI became part of curriculum of many CS departments In 1994, Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction   HF&E Maintains a Nondiscretionary Use Focus Governmental concerns and initiatives -> focused on skilled use     IS Extends Its Range Business graphics was important in a research field focused on managerial use.

IS contribution to research in Computer Supported Cooperative Work(CSCW) Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) <-> CHI : Utility <-> Usability   Collaboration Support : OIS Gives Way to CSCW Network : individual -> groups

   The Formation of AIS SIGHCI The Web had a more dramatic effect on IS research.

In 2001, Association for Information Systems established SIGHCI.

     HF&E Embraces Cognitive Approaches Senior HF researchers disliked cognitive approaches.

In 1996, cognitive engineering and decision making -> New tech. group In 2005, human performance modeling would be a new technical group in HFES. -> still focused on nondiscretionary use HCI issues now appear in most branches of HFs.

      CHI Evolves, Embraces Design New technologies have raised new issues.

Web is like a new land mass.

Funology : aesthetic Donald Norman : cognitive engineering, user satisfaction functions Website design : brandology

  Effects of Varying Discretion HF&E and IS arose before discretionary hands-on use    HF&E : rigorously experimental IS : theory-oriented CHI : require confirmation in real-world settings, talk about their experiences rather than doing research     Academic, Linguistic, and Generational Cultures Academis  HF&E, IS : journals  CHI : conference proceedings Linguistic  Operators, users end users   Task analysis <-> cognitive decomposition Implementation <-> development Generational cultures  Government contracting <-> commercial software development

   Discretion – Now You See It, Now You Don’t    Ubiquitous Computing, Invisible HCI?

Human Factors and Ergonomics : technology use is stressed Information System : web portals and business-to-business Computer-Human Interaction : new conferences Information Science : will be a significant player in HCI   New generation will change everything again.

HCI is still in its early days.