USER GUIDANCE IN INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS - THE ROLE OF GRAPHICAL FEATURES

Abstract

Users of technical systems become increasingly involved in computer controlled dialogues of various forms. One kind of dialogue is of the interrogative form based on the exchange of alphanumeric and symbolic strings via keyboard terminal. Other kinds make use of more sophisticated information display modalities in combination with various data input modalities. Each configuration depends on the type of task and user. There is the expert user of a CAD system on one hand, and the non-expert user of a medical information system on the other. This paper investigates the requirements for non-expert menu dialogue design as it relates to the visual interface. The relevance of certain graphical features, based on the capabilities of today's graphics terminals, is discussed. It is concluded that the design of those interactive systems, which rely mostly on the visual interface, can and must extensively incorporate advanced graphical features in an intelligent manner. User guidance as an aspect of system intelligence can thereby be enhanced significantly.