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GUIDELINESFORDESIGNINGUSERINTERFACESOFTWARE:2.DataDisplay

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GUIDELINESFORDESIGNINGUSERINTERFACESOFTWARE
ESDTR86278
by SidneyL.Smithand JaneN.Mosier
Introduction

DataEntry

| DataDisplay |

SequenceControl

UserGuidance

DataTransmission

DataProtection

TableofContents

2DATADISPLAY
Datadisplayreferstocomputeroutputofdatatoauser,andassimilationofinformationfrom
suchoutputs.Somekindofdisplayoutputisneededforallinformationhandlingtasks.Data
displayisparticularlycriticalinmonitoringandcontroltasks.Datamaybeoutputonelectronic
displays,orhardcopyprintouts,orotherauxiliarydisplaysandsignalingdevicesincludingvoice
output,whichmayalertuserstounusualconditions.
Inthisdiscussion,dataareconsideredtobedisplayelementsrelatedtoauser'sinformation
handlingtask.Displayeddatamightconsistofstockmarketquotations,orthecurrentposition
ofmonitoredaircraft,orapageoftext,oramessagefromanotheruser.Displayeddatamight
provideguidancetoauserinperformingamaintenancetask,ormightprovideinstructiontoa
userwhoistryingtolearnmathematicsorhistory.
Theremightbesomedisplayelementsthatthemselvesdonotconstitutetaskrelateddata.
Thoseelementsincludelabels,prompts,computergeneratedadvisorymessagesandother
guidancethathelpsauserinteractwithacomputersystem.Althoughsuchuserguidance
displayfeaturesaresometimesmentionedhereinconnectionwithdatadisplay,theyare
discussedmoreextensivelyinSection4oftheseguidelines.
Ingeneral,somewhatlessisknownaboutdatadisplay,andinformationassimilationbythe
user,thanaboutdataentry.Incurrentinformationsystemdesign,displayformattingisanart.
Guidelinesaresurelyneeded.Buttheseguidelinesmaysimplyservetohelpadesigner
becomemoreproficientintheart.
Itmustberecognizedthatguidelinescannottelladesignerwhatthespecificcontentsofa
displayshouldbe,butonlyhowthosecontentsshouldbepresented.Thespecificdatathat
mustbedisplayedcanonlybedeterminedthroughacarefultaskanalysistodefinetheuser's
informationrequirements.
Foreffectivetaskperformance,displayeddatamustberelevanttoauser'sneeds.Anearly
statement(Smith,1963b,pages296297)oftheneedforrelevanceindatadisplay,although
writtenbeforecommonadoptionofgenderfreewording,otherwiseseemsvalidstill:Whenwe
examinetheprocessofmancomputercommunicationfromthehumanpointofview,itisuseful
tomakeexplicitadistinctionwhichmightbedescribedascontrasting"information"with"data."
Usedinthissense,informationcanberegardedastheanswertoaquestion,whereasdataare
therawmaterialsfromwhichinformationisextracted.Aman'squestionsmaybevague,such
as,"What'sgoingonhere?"or"WhatshouldIdonow?"Ortheymaybemuchmorespecific.
Butifthedatapresentedtohimarenotrelevanttosomeexplicitorimplicitquestion,theywill
bemeaningless....Whatthecomputercanactuallyprovidethemanaredisplaysofdata.
Whatinformationheisabletoextractfromthosedisplaysisindicatedbyhisresponses.How
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effectivelythedataareprocessed,organized,andarrangedpriortopresentationwilldetermine
howeffectivelyhecanandwillextracttheinformationherequiresfromhisdisplay.Too
frequentlythesetwotermsdataandinformationareconfused,andthestatement,"Ineedmore
information,"isassumedtomean,"Iwantmoresymbols."Thereasonforthestatement,
usually,isthattherequiredinformationisnotbeingextractedfromthedata.Unlessthe
confusionbetweendataandinformationisremoved,attemptstoincreaseinformationina
displayaredirectedatobtainingmoredata,andthetroubleisexaggeratedratherthanrelieved.
Certainlythisdistinctionbetweendataandinformationshouldbefamiliartopsychologists,who
mustcustomarilydistinguishbetweenaphysicalstimulus(e.g.,"intensity"ofalight)andits
perceivedeffect("brightness").Thedistinctionisnotfamiliartosystemdesigners,however,
althoughtheissueitselfisoftenaddressed.Inthefollowingdescriptionofwhathasbeencalled
the"informationexplosion",noticehowthetermsdataandinformationareused
interchangeably,confoundinganotherwiseincisiveandlivelyanalysisbyMartin(1973,page
6):Thesumtotalofhumanknowledgechangedveryslowlypriortotherelativelyrecent
beginningsofscientificthought.Butithasbeenestimatedthatby1800itwasdoublingevery50
yearsby1950,doublingevery10yearsandby1970,doublingevery5years....Thisisa
muchgreatergrowthratethananexponentialincrease.Inmanyfields,evenoneasoldas
medicine,morereportshavebeenwritteninthelast20yearsthaninallpriorhumanhistory.
Andnowtheuseofthecomputervastlymultipliestherateatwhichinformationcanbe
generated.Theweightofthedrawingsofajetplaneisgreaterthanthe

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