Poorly designed Web pages and online forms assault computer users every day.
That’s because building a user interface is easy but building a good one is not. Too often, fields prompting people for information are unclear and so are the controls used to submit it. Shrink those interfaces onto smaller and smaller devices, and they become even bigger pains to use.
Programmers are often so concerned with making sure things work from a purely technical standpoint that they forget about the people stuck using the results, said DePaul University computer science professor Rosalee Wolfe.
“The trouble plays itself out in businesses all the time,” she said. “Employees have to spend more time figuring out how to use the interface than completing the work that is supposed to be done.”
Getting programmers to think in user-friendly ways requires changes in college computer science courses, which traditionally have put far more emphasis on collecting and retrieving data than on easing access to it, Wolfe said.
“The Catch-22 is that the people who now teach never received this kind of training. They’ll tell you it’s very important, but they’ll also tell you they’re not sure how to go about giving it.”
Working with a $271,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, Wolfe and computer science professor Dan McCracken of the City University of New York are developing a curriculum to help computer science instructors incorporate more of what Wolfe calls “human-computer interaction” into classes. Ideally, she said, more colleges and universities will offer degrees on the subject.
DePaul’s bachelor’s degree in human-computer interaction, established seven years ago, was the first of its kind in the nation. The university now offers a master’s degree in the subject. Wolfe said about a dozen other institutions offer similar programs, including Carnegie Mellon University and the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The new teaching materials, which will include texts, syllabi and guidelines for evaluating students’ work, are on track for global distribution in March 2003, Wolfe said.
More online: Wolfe shares an “embarrassingly low-tech” strategy to help programmers build better interfaces, and Rob Marchiori of ABN Amro provides a checklist for programmers wanting to put their best interface forward at chicagotribune.com/developers.
Home groan: Advertisers, marketers and unscrupulous Web site administrators are continuing their never-ending battle for attention online with sneaky and increasingly popular tricks.
Home page flipping is especially popular with Internet service providers. Once their software is installed, ISPs typically change the first page customers are used to seeing to a page of the company’s choice. Webmasters are capable of doing the same–and wily ones do. As a result, users may find themselves with a home page that’s not only unfamiliar but also offensive.
Microsoft also has gotten in on the act of converting personal computers into marketing platforms. The software behemoth is adding to the clutter on e-mail and browser screens by providing ISPs, computer-makers and corporate network administrators with tools that let the companies slap their own logos, messages, tool bars and Web links on Internet Explorer and Outlook Express.
More online: Find out how to win back a kidnapped home page and cut through marketing clutter on e-mail and browsers at chicagotribune.com/toolbox.
Show time: Look for plenty of wireless devices and tech tools aimed at improving corporate network security at the upcoming Comdex Chicago, the city’s largest technology trade show. Also count on more local flavor as the show develops a regional focus.
“We want to focus instead on being the one event that brings Chicago’s technology community together every year,” said Bob Bierman, Comdex Chicago’s general manager.
Bierman said this year’s show is likely to draw about 40,000 people, significantly fewer than the 62,000 who attended last year. Comdex is set for March 5-7 at McCormick Place.
New on chicagotribune.com
Learn how software can compromise a firm’s network security from Weston Nicolls of Forsythe Solutions at chicagotribune.com/securityblanket.
Check out TV tuner hardware that transforms personal computers into television sets and video recorders at chicagotribune.com/reviews.
Learn more about the open-source operating system Linux and the free software users can download online from Jim Cusick of Chicago’s Hostway Corp., at chicagotribune.com/linux.
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Christine Tatum talks tech on Mondays during CLTV’s 2 p.m. newscast.
