HCI ‘Intraface Model’ for System Design

We outline an alternative model of the interface in HCI, the ‘intraface’, in response to design issues arising from navigational and learning problems in hypertext domains. Ours is a model of general application to computer systems. It is composed of four key elements, identifiable within a dynamic interconnected context. These are the user; his/her interests; the tools employed and the ‘ensemble’ of representations brought to bear. In this paper we sketch the present shortcomings of HCI design before outlining the background for the model which draws upon two themes in contemporary psychology, conversational analysis and ‘affordance’ realist theories in perception. This framework allows for the development of principles of cooperation, user engagement and learning in HCI environments.     

‘A or B’ to ‘A and B’

nal responses to such situations predominantly involve trade–off and compromise. This either/or thinking style almost invariably leads to lose–lose outcomes. This in turn despite the inordinate amount of literature and methodology available for ‘optimising’ those outcomes. Highly fashionable talk of ‘third ways’ or ‘win–win’ or ‘A and B’ solutions are an emerging counter to such thinking. Unfortunately, the literature–base for such approaches is largely non–existent, and hence win–win remains as precisely fashionable talk to most observers. This paper discusses the positive role TRIZ may be expected to play in beginning the task of turning win–win from nice idea to practical reality. Mass–customization is used as an exemplar contradiction problem.     

Design of ‘softer’ robust nonlinear control laws

We show that the Lyapunov function used in backstepping feedback designs for uncertain nonlinear systems leads to unnecessarily ‘hard’ control laws having undesirable high-gain properties. We present a new Lyapunov function and use it to design ‘softer’ control laws which exhibit the high-gain properties to a much lesser extent. We show that the ‘soft’ designs eliminate the chattering exhibited by the ‘hard’ designs and achieve the same or better performance with less control effort.     

‘You can't not go with the technological flow,can you?’ Constructing ‘ICT’ and ‘teaching and learning’

This paper seeks to show how ‘policy’, ‘management’ and ‘information and communications technology’ (ICT) were constructed for schools in England between 2000 and 2003 and to discuss some effects of these constructions on teaching and learning in the institutions involved in the InterActive Education Project. It argues that their contribution collectively constituted ‘ICT’ as a particular kind and form of challenge for schools, and that recognising the nature of this constitution is crucial to understanding the relationship between ICT and teaching and learning. Informed by an abductive methodology, this paper draws on analyses of policy documents and interviews with the head teachers of the educational institutions taking part in the InterActive Education Project to show how the possibilities and opportunities of using ICT were shaped by those constructions. It suggests that the main policy framing ICT in education over the period in question, the National Grid for Learning, had the provision of hardware and infrastructure as its main target, but offered little advice on how they might be used. This constituted the core of the management problem of ICT for schools. The final section of the paper outlines some of the mechanisms through which schools addressed these issues and discusses some possible implications for what counts as ‘teaching and learning’ with ‘ICT’.     

The ‘Design Dimension’ of Quality Improvement Programmes*

There is a direct link between design and quality: often effective design is the soundest foundation for enhanced quality. Yet design and design management issues are rarely addressed adequately during the course of quality improvement programmes. Moreover, design and design professionals do not appear to be harnessed to help such programmes succeed. This paper outlines an initiative by the Chartered Society of Designers which seeks to redress these shortcomings by highlighting ‘the design dimension’ of quality improvement programmes.     

Identrus — the ‘Technical Platform’

In his outline of Identrus, John Bullard described the business rationale for its existence, and its fundamental principles of trust, global interoperability and simplicity. He has explained how the delivery of identity assurance services, within a supporting framework of operating rules, and governed through the application of private contract law, allows Identrus to deliver trusted digital signature services on a global basis. In this article we discuss how these services are realized by Identrus and its participants, in practice, and outline some of the technology underpinning the system.     

Experiments with ‘HP Java’

We consider the possible role of Java as a language for high performance computing. After discussing reasons why Java may be a natural candidate for a portable parallel programming language, we describe several case studies. These cover Java socket programming, message-passing through a Java interface to MPI, and class libraries for data-parallel programming in Java. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.