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From: sfp@mars.ornl.gov (Phil Spelt)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Reorganization
Message-ID: <1991Apr19.124849.21960@cs.utk.edu>
Date: 19 Apr 91 12:48:49 GMT
References: <26213@hydra.gatech.EDU> <1991Apr18.164526.5141@dsd.es.com>
Sender: usenet@cs.utk.edu (USENET News Poster)
Reply-To: sfp@mars.epm.ornl.gov (Phil Spelt)
Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab
Lines: 44

In article <1991Apr18.164526.5141@dsd.es.com> rthomson@dsd.es.com (Rich Thomson) writes:
>In article <26213@hydra.gatech.EDU>
>	kirlik@chmsr.gatech.edu (Alex Kirlik) writes:
>>[...] Besides interface software
>>design, cog-eng relates to hardware design, documentation, training,
>>the design of a telephone, a stapler, the layout of you-are-here maps
>>in shopping malls [...]
>
>Most of the "you are here" maps I've seen in shopping malls were
>obviously "designed" by someone without cognition.  Why else are they
>so damned hard to use?   Things like the index being next to useless
>unless you already know the name of the store, the "grid" coordinates
>not aligned to any grid (might as well be a street address), the "you
>are here" marker not shown in a distinctive color from the map (god
>forbid if you're color blind), etc.
>
>While I can imagine a cog-eng might be able to do a great job designing
>one of these things, they always look like the average fourth grader
>could do a better job.
>
>						-- Rich
>-- 
>  ``Read my MIPS -- no new VAXes!!'' -- George Bush after sniffing freon
>	    Disclaimer: I speak for myself, except as noted.
>UUCP: ...!uunet!dsd.es.com!rthomson		Rich Thomson
>ARPA: rthomson@dsd.es.com			PEXt Programmer

That's because cog-eng and human factors are both "just common sense", as
we all know.  Since we all think and learn, we are all, ipso facto, experts
in these two fields, right  <8=)  ?!??!

If you get the impression that this is a FLAME for those who think that way,
you are VERY perceptive!
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MIND.  A mysterious form of matter secreted by the brain.  Its chief activity
consists in the endeavor to asscertain its own nature, the futility of the
attempt being due to the fact that it has nothing but itself to know itself
with.   -- Ambrose Bierce
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Phil Spelt, Cognitive Systems & Human Factors Group  sfp@epm.ornl.gov
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Any opinions expressed or implied are my own, IF I choose to own up to them.
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