yam@cbnewsi.ATT.COM (toshihiko.yamakami) (04/12/90)
There may be some people on the net who don't attend to ACM CHI'90 but have interest in CHI'90's discussion. I would like to discuss some concept introduced in CHI'90. If it is duplicate to you, please excuse me and ignore what I say. Dr. Jonathan Grudin presented a paper "User Interface Reaches Out". He is one of the researchers who make a lot of insightful and fruitful comments on groupware these years, I think. In that paper, he mentioned five stages of user interface; hardware, software, terminal, dialogue, and group interface. He said we are between 3rd stage and 4th stage; between terminal(derived from time sharing system) and dialogue. He said that user interface was not necessary 30 years ago because computer users knew computer hardware well. After that, more and more people come to use computers. First computer scientist without hardware knowledge, next scientists without computer science knowledge, third office engineers without computer knowledges, and office users, and so on. The wider use of computer brings necessity of 'user interface'. And he mentioned that the word 'user interface' will be inappropriate in the next decade because many software will be group-used and have group interface. I think his remarks are insightful. I would like to provide MY definitions about multi-user interface and group interface on 'comp.groupware'. The definition of 'multi-user interface': Interface which explicitly support simultaneously access to some abstract objects by more than one users. For exmaple, if the object is a meeting screen, it is multi-user interface to meeting system. If the object is co-authored docuemnt, it is multi-user interface to co-authoring system. If the object is some shared calendar or project, it is multi-user interface to project control or appintment management system. The definition of 'group interface': User interface is produced from the model of HUMAN and SYSTEM. If someone makes a model of GROUP and SYSTEM, it will define the group interface. So the definition of group interface will be the boundary definition in groupwork awared system for compuer supported cooperative work. Groupwork arered menas that the system explicitly understand the nature and characteristics of tasks performed by a group. Maybe it will understand tasks, roles, contexts including time management, and initiatives. What do you think about these definitions? I think group interface has a wide range than multi-user interface. This feeling reflects in definitions. -- yam ( a groupwork architect) -- Toshihiko YAMAKAMI(NTT, Japan) Resident visitor in Bell Labs until Feb 1991 Room 4G634, AT&T Bell Labs, Crawfords Corner Rd. Holmdel, NJ 07733-1988 Tel:(201)949-5742 e-mail: yam@vax135.att.com (was: yam@nttmhs.ntt.jp)