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From: tom@elan.Elan.COM (Thomas Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.human-factors
Subject: Re: adaptive user interfaces
Message-ID: <1003@elan.Elan.COM>
Date: 17 Jun 91 19:40:43 GMT
References: <1991Jun16.205355.12316@psych.toronto.edu>
Organization: Elan Computer Group, Inc., Mountain View, CA
Lines: 36

From dsy@psych.toronto.edu (Desiree Sy):
>>In reply to kathy@cs.sfu.ca (Kathy Peters):
>>   I am interested in the concept of adaptive user interfaces - somehow
>>   tailoring the user interface for individual skills and preferences.
>>   (Rather than just having categories like 'naive', 'expert', etc.).
> 
> Microsoft has done a little work on this. Users can adjust their
> menus and keystroke combinations in Word 4.0. I love this feature,
> and would be delighted if more applications would incorporate it.

The problem with putting this kind of control strictly in the hands
of the users is that it assumes that
  a) the user knows what skill level he/she is at
  b) once a user attains a skill level in a particular area, he/she
     never regresses to a previous skill level

Regarding the first point, Microsoft's answer (as quoted above, anyway)
is merely a workaround.  In order for a user to configure a shortcut,
that user must be an "expert" in both the feature being shortcutted,
and the shortcutting functionality itself.  This is usually too big a
jump from when the user was just a beginner.

Regarding the second point, I'm sure many of you have gone on vacation
for a couple of weeks, only to come back and think "now what was the
combination of command line arguments that cpio takes for reading an
HP cartridge tape?"  (Isn't UNIX fun).

In other words, not only is it incorrect to divide users into "naive" and
"expert" - it can be equally inadequate to categorize them based solely on
prior experience with a particular feature.

Just adding to the confusion...
    Thomas Smith
    Elan Computer Group, Inc.
    (415) 964-2200
    tom@elan.com, ...!{ames, uunet, hplabs}!elan!tom