Information Design Journal - Volume 3, Issue 3, 1982

Computing needs a coherent and shared means of graphic expression, to describe what it is doing and how it is doing it, to the lay public, the industry's non-professional designers and to computer scientists. This will promote effective information display on computer equipment while fostering a better understanding for all of computing's aims and methods. Examples are given of areas of computing which are clear candidates for graphic innovation and some form of standardisation. Some obstacles to this are considered.

The introduction of microprocessors into the design of typesetting technology is revolutionising its capabilities. This paper reviews some of the latest developments and assesses their impact on the designers of educational texts.

This article reports on an experiment carried out to study the usage of a computer based local information system for the general public. A number of sources of feedback were employed, each revealing different problems faced by users and aspects of the interactive process. A series of guidelines are presented for the design of similar systems in the future.

This paper considers the computer screen as a spacetime arena. It develops a taxonomy of the various variables associated with the display of textual material.

A structured approach for proper inclusion of Human Factors in the design of videotex systems is presented. The framework describes the process of information communication by videotex in terms of user tasks and functions. Behavioral descriptions of each task serve to delineate the equipment requirements necessary for their proper execution. These requirements are of two types—physical and operational. For each task, design issues arising from these requirements are discussed and empirical support for resolving these issues is presented.

The European and North American videotex systems are introduced and their graphic capabilities contrasted. It is suggested that the public's perception of videotex is fragmented and that the inadequacy of the graphic capability of the present European systems is a contributory factor in this. Recent innovations within the UK are touched upon. An example is demonstrated of the type of reassessment required of a publisher's material when presenting this in videotex.

This article gives a brief tutorial description of word processors, but the major part of it discusses the system design issues, almost all of which arise because system designers are technical people and typists are skilled 'craftsmen'.