Byte, 1982 -
Xerox-Star
by way of
http://www.scratchdisk.com/Xerox-Star.jpg/
"In
the 1980s, the most important factors affecting how prevalent computer
usage becomes will be reduced cost, increased functionality, improved
availability and servicing, and, perhaps most important of all,
progress in user-interface design. The first three alone are necessary,
but not sufficient for widespread use. Reduced cost will allow people
to buy computers, but improved user interfaces will allow people to use
computers. In this article, we have presented some principles and
techniques that we hope will lead to better user interfaces.
User-interface
design is still an art, not a science. Many times during the Star
design we were amazed at the depth and subtlety of user-interface
issues, even such supposedly straightforward issues as consistency and
simplicity. Often there is no one “right” answer. Much of the time
there is no scientific evidence to support one alternative over
another, just intuition. Almost always there are trade-offs. Perhaps by
the end of the decade, user-interface design will be a more rigorous
process. We hope that we have contributed to that progress."
14.08.2004, 19:35
