in a strange land

modelling and understanding cyberspaceAlan Dix

Lancaster University,

vfridge and aQtive

http://www.hcibook.com/alan

overview• background

– the history of cyberspace

• HCI– changes and trends

• design– general principles for HCI and Cyberspace

background

the history of cyberspace

one man’s journey• “A Mapmaker’s Dream” (James Cowen, 1996)

– Fra Mauro, 16th-century Venitian monk– cartographer– explorer within an island monastery

• the world– not just rivers and mountains– ideas, imagination, culture

four ages of information

• Age of Proximity– control and information by physical contact

four ages of information

• Age of Proximity

• Age of Bureaucracy– long-distance remote contact– physical messages– early cyberspace

four ages of information

• Age of Proximity

• Age of Bureaucracy

• Age of Money– freemarket economies:– exchange of value– exchange of information

four ages of information

• Age of Proximity• Age of Bureaucracy• Age of Money• Age of Information

– electronic messages– information objects– challenges power structures– remolds economics

way findingdesign issues for

cyberspace• maps and navigation

– ‘lost in hyperspace’– guiding users through it

• construction– designing structures for cyberspace

HCI

changes and trends

increasing multiplicity

• 1980s - personal computers– one man and his machine– and they were men!

increasing multiplicity

• 1980s - personal computers

• late 1980’s & 1990s - CSCW– lots of people– geographically remote– but ...– one person per machine

increasing multiplicity

• 1980s - personal computers

• late 1980’s & 1990s - CSCW

• family use ... ?

families and friends

lots of people, together and remote

work and fun

• traditional HCI methods– tasks, goals, work, work, work– and the odd game

• now– e-shopping– communities– experience

virtual crackers

• real crackers– cheap and cheerful!– bad joke, plastic toy, paper hat – pull and bang

virtual crackers

• virtual crackers– cheap and cheerful– bad joke, web toy, cut-out mask – click and bang

virtual crackers

• virtual crackers– cheap and cheerful– bad joke, web toy, cut-out mask – click and bang

design

general principlesfor HCI and Cyberspace

what is design?

achieving goals within constraints

• goals - purpose– who is it for, why do they want it

• constraints– materials, platforms

• trade-offs

abstraction and grounding

• in design– abstract rules and guidelines– concrete examples

• in training

• in navigation– maps, fish-eye etc.

hyperbolic browser (inxight)

data mapped inhyperbolic space

hyperbolic spaceprojected into 2D

scenarios

• stories for design– communicate with others– validate other models– dynamics

• linearity– time is linear - our lives are linear– tours - linear paths in complex spaces

labrynth

golden rule of design

understand your materials

for Human–Computer Interaction

understand your materials

• understand computers– limitations, capacities, tools, platforms

• understand people– psychological, social aspects– human error

for Cyberspace

understand your materials

• understand virtual objects– clones and copies, non-continuity, magic!

• understand virtual space– non-linear, non-Euclidean, discrete

• understand people– how do we understand physical space?

Clay tablet map

2200 BC

Yorghan Tepe,Iraq

Egyptian garden

1400 BC

garden of a high court official of Amenhotep III

at Thebes

T-O mapof the world

Isidore of Seville560-636 AD

Wales

John Speed1610

View of the World from 9th Avenue

Saul Steinberg 1975

rules of navigation

where you are

where you’ve come from

what you can do next

where you will get to

designing environments

• not just systems

• also environments– operating systems– buildings

• 2D surfaces– users create their own structure

vfridgecollaborativelybuildingstructureinspace

so ...the world becomes cyberspace

HCI gets more difficult

moving towards design of cyberspace

for more ...

• HCI textbookhttp://www.hcibook.com/

• Cyberspacehttp://www.hiraeth.com/alan/topics/cyberspace

• vfridge and aQtivehttp://www.vfridge.com/

http://www.aqtive.com/