John M. Carroll
Caroline Carrithers
Abstract
New users of high-function application systems can become frustrated and confused by the errors they make in the early stages of learning. A training interface for a commercial word processor was designed to make typical and troublesome error states “unreachable,” thus eliminating the sources of some new-user learning problems. Creating a training environment from the basic function of the system itself afforded substantially faster learning coupled with better learning achievement and better performance on a comprehension post-test. A control group spent almost a quarter of their time recovering from the error states that the training interface blocked off. We speculate on how this training strategy might be refined, and more generally, on how function should be organized in a user interface.
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Digital Library
- 2 Carroll. J.M. Presentation and form in user-interface architecture. BYTE 8, 12 (Dec. 1983). 113-122.Google Scholar
- 3 Carroll. J.M. and Mack. R.L. Actively learning to use a word processor. In Cognitive Aspects of Skilled Typewriting, W.E. Cooper, ed. Springer-Verlag, New York, 1983.Google Scholar
- 4 Carroll, J.M. and Mack, R.L. Learning to use a word processor: By doing, by thinking, and by knowing. In Human Factors in Computing Systems, J.C. Thomas and M. Schneider, eds. ABLEX, Norwood, N.J., 1984. Google ScholarDigital Library
- 5 Ferguson. G.A. Statistical Analysis in Psychology and Education. Mc- Graw-Hill, New York. 1971.Google Scholar
- 6 Mack, R.L., Lewis, C.H., and Carroll, LM. Learning to use word processors: Problems and prospects. ACM Trans. Off. lnfo. Syst. 1, 3 (July 1983), 254-271. Google ScholarDigital Library
Index Terms
- Training wheels in a user interface
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Reviews
John M. Hammer
A word processing interface was modified to limit the functions available to novice users. These functions, which were unnecessary for basic word processing, had been previously observed to be error states that novices had difficulty recovering from. When evaluated against the original system, the modified system was superior for novices in terms of time to finish a task, successful completion rate, time spent correcting errors, etc. This paper is useful because it provides a design approach. In contrast, a great deal of literature in this area produces empirical facts of limited generality.
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