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A Graded Interface for Novice/Expert Interaction

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Workstations and Publication Systems
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Abstract

As the diversity and number of potential users of interactive computer systems increases, there is a growing awareness that the design of the user-machine interface is crucial for their efficiency and acceptability. Systems designers often talk of the fundamental dilemma in dialogue design being the conflict between making an interface easy to use for novices and quick and sophisticated for expert users. This so-called ’trade-off has become so well established that one could be forgiven for believing that the form of dialogue either suits novices or experts, but cannot cater for both.

This paper describes a model for an Interactive Graphic Interface (IGI) to an Electronic Office System (EOS) which is currently being developed at the Computer Science Department of the University College of Swansea. Attention is focused on utilities available within the system which give a graded, consistent interface across a range of users of varying experiences. That is, both novices and experts interact with the system in the same style but the nature of the interface allows experienced users to proceed more rapidly towards their goals.

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© 1987 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.

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Butcher, M.D. (1987). A Graded Interface for Novice/Expert Interaction. In: Earnshaw, R.A. (eds) Workstations and Publication Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4770-8_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4770-8_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-9148-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-4770-8

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