Argues that the shared use of artifacts is supported by latent border resources that lie beyond the canonical artifact. Designers must understand the role border resources play and work more directly to help users develop them. This will require designers to change their understanding of artifacts and users. (Contains 69 references.) (KRN)

This article offers an introduction to the central concepts and principles of the Systemic-Structural Theory of Activity (SSTA), an activity-theoretical approach specifically tailored to the analysis and design of human work. In activity theory, cognition is understood both as a process and as a structured system of actions. Building on the…

An attempt is made to provide a comprehensive guide to design of the dialogues between man and computer that take place at computer terminals. Particular topics include problems with conventional alphanumeric dialogues, dialogues with sound and graphics, pyschological characteristics of computer terminal users, problems of designing dialogues for…

Redesign of human-computer interface for users of computerized information systems can make substantial difference in training time, performance speed, error rates, and user satisfaction. Information and computer scientists are using controlled psychologically oriented experimentation, and evaluations during system development and active use to…

The model presented identifies three basic needs which must be met in order to increase our understanding of the user interface in computerized information systems: empirical studies of users' attitudes; systematic summaries and critical analyses of these studies; and an interim set of guidelines for user interface design. (EJS)

The command language features of 11 on-line information retrieval systems are presented in terms of the functional needs of a searcher sitting at a terminal. Functional areas considered are: becoming familiar with the system, receiving help when in trouble, regulating usage, selecting a data base, formulating simple queries, expressing single…

The report summarizes the results of a number of studies which have been performed in an attempt to develop a technology for using human resources data as criteria in engineering design studies. Eight investigations conducted during the period 1966-1975 are briefly described. The results of the eight studies are integrated around six topics of:…