The rich picture - a tool for reasoning about work context.

1. R33
ANDREW MONK AND STEVE HOWARD
methods
& tools
Rich Picture: 10.1-P101, Root Definitions: 10.2
The Rich Picture: A Tool for
consider logically
Reasoning About Work Context
T
The Importance of Concerns
Have you ever observed the following situation? A computer system is built to satisfy well-specified
requirements. The requirements clearly describe the task to be supported, and the system
express complete disapproval of
satisfies them. Despite all this care and attention, the system is universally condemned by
management and users. Why does this happen? Surprisingly often, the task supported is not one that
users actually perform. More likely, the model of work underlying the computer system interferes
with other tasks the user wants to perform.
i n t e r a c t i o n s . . . m a r c h + a p r i l 1 9 9 8 21

2. terrible
The really catastrophic side effects are those Origins of Rich Pictures
that prevent other people from doing their Rich pictures originated in the Soft Systems
work. If the chief accountant can no longer get Methodology (SSM) [4, 3, 18]. SSM, in turn,
the figures she needs, the system will never see had its origins in sociotechnical approaches to
the light of day! system design [15]. Within this tradition,
Andrew Monk A new computer system will affect the way identifying multiple viewpoints of a work sit-
repeated
Department of people work; if it does not there is no point in uation is a recurrent problem. SSM was devel-
Psychology introducing it in the first place. These effects oped during the 1960s and 1970s by Peter
harmful
University of York will be deleterious if the developers do not Checkland and his students at Lancaster
consequence
York, Y01 5DD consider the implications for both the system’s University. At the core of SSM is a desire to
United Kingdom users and other people who may be affected by understand human activity systems in a way
AM1@york.ac.uk use of the system. All work has numerous, and that is meaningful to the actors in that system.
sometimes competing, objectives. A single SSM consists of seven main stages that pro-
express
Steve Howard user may have the objectives “to complete a ceed from articulating the problem situation,
Swinburne CHI job well” and “to get home soon.” through building alternative systems models,
Laboratory (SCHIL) Management may have the objectives “to cut to making recommendations for action.
Swinburne University the head count in this department” and to Checkland proposes the rich picture as a rep-
of Technology “minimize the transaction times for cus- resentation to be used at the beginning of this
PO Box 218, tomers.” We call these objectives “concerns.” process.
Hawthorn, 3122 Concerns are the high-level objectives that sig- Rich pictures are generally constructed by
Australia nificantly constrain the way work is done. interviewing people. The ideal interview
SHoward@swin.edu.au Effective systems can be designed only by tak- should take place at the workplace because the
different tool
ing into account the divergent concerns of artifacts people use to do their work will be
stakeholders. A designer may think she is tak- close at hand. They will be able to show you
ing an “impersonal view of the problem,” but documents and products, and you may even
exact
the very act of identifying the problem implies be able to observe them doing their work. The
a particular viewpoint. rich picture serves to organize and reason
How is a designer therefore to reason about about all the information that users provide.
these divergent concerns that motivate the Drawing the picture will point to places where
way different stakeholders view the system you need to find out more or to apparent con-
inconsistency, conflict
they are designing? This paper discusses a sim- tradictions in the conclusions you have drawn.
ple graphical device, called a rich picture, that In the latter case you will need to go back to
has been found to be useful in this respect. A your informants and then make changes based
rich picture is a cartoon-like representation on what they tell you. Drawing a rich picture
that identifies all the stakeholders, their con- then is an iterative process of understanding
cerns, and some of the structure underlying and refining that understanding.
the work context. A rich picture is a tool for What does a rich picture look like? The
recording and reasoning about these aspects of rich picture depicts the primary stakeholders,
the work context, in particular, how they their interrelationships, and their concerns. It
should affect the design. It is a tool in the is intended to be a broad, high-grained view
sense that a notation or representation is a of the problem situation. There is no single
tool. Rich pictures have been used as an ele- best way of producing a rich picture; the same
ment of various methods. The next section analyst will use different styles under different
briefly explains the origin of rich pictures in circumstances. To illustrate this, Figures 1 and
the Soft Systems Methodology and how they 2 present rich pictures of contrasting styles.
afterwards draw
look. The sections thereafter sketch some They depict a pub and a Web design compa-
examples of how they may be used in HCI. A ny, respectively. Figure 1 is intended to cap-
rich picture is a small but effective idea. It can ture the viewpoints of
beer factory
be incorporated into any design process. D The brewery owning and supplying the
Perhaps it would be useful in yours. pub;
22 i n t e r a c t i o n s . . . m a r c h + a p r i l 1 9 9 8

3. D The employees that work in it; The three most important components of a
D The customers that frequent it; and rich picture are structure, process, and con-
D Indirectly involved stakeholders such as cerns.
the community, the police, and other D Structure refers to aspects of the work
nearby area
pubs in the vicinity. context that are slow to change. These
Contrast this with Figure 2, which is might be things such as the organizational
place
intended to capture the internal structure of hierarchy of a firm, geographic localities,
the Web design company and viewpoints of physical equipment, and so on. Most
the roles within it, as well as the viewpoints of important, it includes all the people who
human imaginably
external bodies such as clients. Figure 1 will use or could conceivably be affected
emphasizes the flow of goods and services by the introduction of the new system. In
from supplier to customer, whereas Figure 2 Figure 1 the structure described is a brew-
emphasizes the flow of influence. So, for ery, owning a pub, having a landlord and
example, the Professional Society of Web customers, and situated in a community.
Designers influences the company through In Figure 2 the structure includes the
expectations and standards. The director boundaries between the company and the
influences the work of the analyst and the world in general and those of a given pro-
coder through strategy documents, and so on. ject within the company. The analysts
Figure 1 Rich Picture of a Pub
Profit? Am I earning
Concern
enough?
Capital Investment
||
zz
yyy
,,,
Management The Landlord The Employee
|||
zzz
yy
,,
Goals
Transformation
The Brewery
Stackholder
Profits Value for Money
Quality of Facilities
Image
|||
Enjoyment
Goods
Noise?
Disturbance? Cash
Convenience?
The Customers
The Pub
tension, conflict
The Community
Competition
Closing time?
Drunk driving? Other Pubs
The Police
Based on Patching, 1995
i n t e r a c t i o n s . . . m a r c h + a p r i l 1 9 9 8 23

4. Table 1. Elements of an Effective Rich Picture put on her to reduce the number of staff
Element Comment in her department. Someone in that
1. Include structure Include only enough structure to allow department may have a concern that his
downgrade
you to record the process and con- job may be de-skilled or that he may be
fire
cerns. The latter requires that all the laid off. The thought bubbles coding con-
people who will use or could con- cerns in Figure 1 make it clear that the
ceivably be affected by the introduc- brewery, the employees of the pub, and
tion of the new system be included. the customers each have very different
complexdetails
perspectives on what the pub is for.
2. Include process Do not attempt to record all the intri- Finally, tensions between stakeholders can
very general and without many details
cacies of process; a broad brush be highlighted. The “crossed swords” icon
approach is usually all that is needed
serves this purpose. In Figure 1 the pub is
draw shown to be in tension with other pubs, pre-
3. Include concerns Caricature the concern in a thought seemingly
sumably through their competition for a lim-
bubble (see Figures 1–3 for exam- collection
ited pool of customers. Identifying tensions
ples). A fuller explanation may be
with crossed swords is a useful preliminary
provided in a supplementary docu-
step to precisely identifying the conflicting
ment
concerns and how they may be resolved.
4. Use the language of This will make the rich picture com-
Table 1 lists some of the features that make
the people depicted in it prehensible to your informants for an effective rich picture. The first three
serve to prevent the rich picture from becom-
5. Use any pictorial or textual There is no correct way of drawing a ing overloaded with detail. The advantage of
device that suits your purpose rich picture. There are as many styles having a rich picture that is comprehensible to
as analysts and the same analyst will the people who have given you the informa-
find different styles useful in differ- tion (Item 4 in Table 1) is that you can take it
ent situations back to them for review. In this way you can
obtain
elicit new information and correct mistakes of
drawing the rich picture are included in interpretation. The discipline of using the lan-
this structure to remind themselves that guage of the work context may also help pre-
they too have a separate viewpoint, con- vent the inclusion of structure, process, and
cerns, and possible bias. (preference) concerns that are not real but that the analyst
D Process refers to the transformations that thinks should be there. The last point in Table
occur in the process of the work. These 1 is that work context analysis requires imagi-
transformations might be part of a flow of nation and creativity, just like design itself.
goods, documents, or data. In Figure 1 the Examining the examples given here and in the
processes depicted are transformations of references should provide plenty of ideas for
goods, money, and enjoyment. In Figure 2 potential users of this technique.
the emphasis is more on the process by The remainder of this article illustrates the
which different roles influence one another. role that rich pictures can play in two related
D Concerns is the most useful component, contexts: participatory design and lightweight
for the purposes of this paper. Checkland usability engineering.
calls them “issues.” We prefer the word
“concern” because it captures more clearly Uses of Rich Pictures
the idea of a particular individual’s moti- Rich Pictures in Participatory Design
Participatory design is an approach to vation for using the system. These differ- Drawing a rich picture requires that the analyst
design that attempts to actively involve ent motivations give rise to the different work closely with the stakeholders so that the
the end users in the design process to
help ensure that the product designed perspectives each person has. Each of the pictures capture the situation and related con-
meets their needs and is usable. people captured in the rich picture will cerns from the stakeholders’ points of view.
have concerns. A manager might have a Stakeholders participate in the process by
concern arising from the pressure being working with the analyst to identify structures,
24 i n t e r a c t i o n s . . . m a r c h + a p r i l 1 9 9 8

5. == different roles influence one another
Figure 2 Rich Picture of Web Design Consultancy
Fishy Web Inc. FISHY WEB INC.
Professional Society
of Web Designer Project Team
Profit?
Long term reputation?
Expectations
Standards boundary Director
Resources Need more
Data time
Potential
Clients Strategy
Documents
Market Research Administration
Marketing
boundary
I don’t have Work
enough time
to talk to the user
If only I had
more powerful
Web Analyst tools
Competitor Concepts
Companies Problems
Solutions HTML Coder
Marketing
Good job
done dirt cheap Focus?
Bias?
preference
Current
Clients Analysts
processes, and concerns significant to them. that identifies the stakeholders and the work
environment
SSM’s focus on the stakeholders’ viewpoint setting. Figures 1–3 are examples of this type
shares much with various participatory design of rich picture. | Additionally, a rich picture of
methods [e.g., 7]. There is, however, an impor- the participatory design team itself can be
tant difference between participatory design used to identify the necessary managers,
involving active participation
and SSM: the role of the user in the design hands-on users, beneficial users, analysts,
process. In participatory design the user takes designers, and other participants. This type of
an active role in the analysis and design rich picture can be useful in “designing
process; in SSM this is often not the case. design,” in composing the stakeholder meet-
Rich pictures can be used to record, reason ings, and in reasoning about design processes.
about, communicate, and negotiate signifi- Comparing the work-context rich picture
cant issues as they arise during or after partic- with the design-context rich picture provides a
ipatory design. Essentially the role of the rich way of checking whether there is appropriate
picture is to make explicit the stakeholders, stakeholder representation on the design
their interrelationships, and their concerns. team. Consider the use of rich pictures with
Interestingly, this can be done at two levels. A the following techniques seen frequently in
rich picture of the work context can be drawn approaches to participatory design.
i n t e r a c t i o n s . . . m a r c h + a p r i l 1 9 9 8 25

6. D Brainstorming: Brainstorming is often Using a rich picture does not, in itself, solve
skilful
used to generate ideas about the problems any of the delicate problems encountered in
and potential solutions of the work situa- participatory design: how to deal with private
tion. Because rich pictures can be drawn or confidential concerns, how to bring togeth-
“on the fly” during a brainstorming ses- er different constituencies that have very dif-
Unduly: more than is normal or reasonable sion, ideas can be captured without unduly ferent ways of describing the work context, or
disrupting or constraining a necessarily cre- how to deal with minorities within a con-
ative, unstructured process. Rich pictures stituency. However, constructing a rich pic-
mamy
here present an alternative to the multitude ture with the help of the relevant stakeholders
Sketch: preliminary drawing
Doodle: to draw shapes, lines, or patterns without
of sketches and doodles that participants will make the concerns apparent, and identi-
really thinking about what you are doing
often walk away with from brainstorming fying a problem is an important first step in
sessions. A rich picture helps everyone solving it.
involved in its construction to take a con-
sistent view of the problem situation with- Rich Pictures in Lightweight
out demanding that they all agree on what Usability Methods
the problem is. Multiple conflicting con- When people think of user interface design
cerns can be captured in the pictures as they usually think of large, high-profile pro-
shown in Figures 1–3. jects, such as word processors or military com-
D Storyboarding: Storyboarding is often mand and control systems. The majority of
used to describe the flow of, for example, user interface design projects are in fact very
the users’ activities so that they can be small: perhaps, for example, someone has
reviewed and evaluated by both designers requested a Windows 95 interface for some
and users. Rich pictures can provide an small part of the company database. Another
elegant adjunct to a connected series of example is the design of a Web page. The one
storyboards by representing, in a single or two developers given the task probably do
abstract summary, the major structures not even consider themselves user interface
increasing
and flows, at an organizational level, rele- designers; yet cumulatively these small pro-
vant to a work situation. Rich pictures jects significantly affect the productivity of an
here present a supplement to the flow organization.
charts and procedural descriptions often On a large project one can afford to recruit
used to connect the separate episodes of a or train developers in specialized techniques;
story. indeed, an elaborate, well-specified design
Mock-up: a full-size model of something large that has not yet
been built, which shows how it will look or operate, D Paper-Based Prototyping: Many partici- methodology may be necessary just to manage
or which is used when the real thing is not needed
patory design techniques use paper-based the large number of personnel involved [11].
mock-ups and prototypes to repre- On a small project the techniques used must
sent design ideas early in the be “lightweight,” that is, the costs to the orga-
development process [e.g., nization must be minimal. Nielsen [16] has
name
14]. Such techniques pro- dubbed these techniques “discount.” They
vide a way for stakehold- may only achieve 90 percent of what is possi-
ers to comment on the ble with more elaborate methods, but they do
details of the design and so for very much less than 90 percent of the
the extent to which it cost. Costs here are measured in training and
meets the user’s charac- in the time it takes to apply the technique;
teristics and needs. In therefore, lightweight techniques have to be
capturing the primary easy to learn and quick to apply. If a project is
concerns of the users assigned only 4 person-weeks of effort, a tech-
and, potentially, the major information nique for improving some aspect of the quali-
flows likely to affect the system, the rich ty of a user interface is unlikely to justify more
picture places the emerging design in its than 1 day of training and 2 or 3 days of appli-
overall social and technical context. cation. Examples of lightweight techniques
i n t e r a c t i o n s . . . m a r c h + a p r i l 1 9 9 8

7. include Monk et al.’s simplified user testing designer can develop common ground by
procedure Cooperative Evaluation [13] and focusing on actions and tasks. A rich picture
Nielsen’s simplified usability inspection tech- can serve a similar communicative function
nique, Heuristic Evaluation [17]. With these much earlier in design when one is thinking
techniques, prototypes and scenarios are cru- about the general work context and the con-
cial parts of communication between designer straints this imposes.
and user. Without these concrete representa- Monk [12] describes how a rich picture can
tions of the design, little communication can be used as the first step in a lightweight design
occur. With them, however, both user and process, to reason about the redesign of the
too many people
P
Figure 3. Rich Picture of a
Cold Storage Warehouse
i n t e r a c t i o n s . . . m a r c h + a p r i l 1 9 9 8 27

8. work context that will be required. He sug- middle of a large sheet of paper some figure
operator : SO use and control a machine or vehicle gests that “before” and ”after” rich pictures be who represents the primary user or operator.
developed. The former records critical aspects Monk’s lightweight technique is to encourage
of the work context as it now exists, and the user centered-design and to avoid the natural
latter illustrates how the context tendency for developers to take a system-ori-
will change when the new sys- ented view. Putting the operator at the center
tem is introduced. The before of the picture makes her the focus of atten-
picture can be presented to tion. Next, the stakeholders that directly
one’s informants to check influence the operator’s work can be pictured
that the analysis does not along with the elements of structure needed to
misinterpret
misconstrue or explain the process of work. Monk illustrates
omit crucial fac- his methods with a real example of design for
tors. If more than a cold storage warehouse; the rich picture
one developer is developed in this process is shown in Figure 3.
working on the project, The operator is given a fictitious name, Jenny.
the before picture can also be invaluable in Jenny’s job involves taking delivery notes from
communication between developers and get- the drivers of vehicles bringing goods into the
ting everyone to think on the same wave- warehouse (depicted as stick figures wearing
length. As the prototype design is developed caps). Jenny enters the data from the delivery
tally: a record or count of a number of items an after picture will emerge. The after picture note into a computer system to provide tally
can be presented to management to alert them lists for the deliveries to be checked by the
to the implications of the new computer sys- warehouse men (signified by stick figures
tem. If they are unhappy it is still early enough wearing black hats). The roles described thus
for changes to be made. If they accept the far then are the core stakeholders in the
design then they can make appropriate adjust- process of getting the work done. The rich
ments, change reporting structures, organize picture also identifies other clerks and a super-
external
retraining, and so on. visor. Finally, the most peripheral stakeholders
The procedure suggested by Monk first are drawn in. In Figure 3 they appear at the
involves talking to stakeholders about their top edge of the picture. They are the directors
jobs. A rich picture can be a useful way for and computer systems people of the two orga-
developers who are not used to this sort of nizations taking part of this operation—the
work to focus their thoughts. Normally a des- owners of the cold store and the owners of the
intended
ignated contact in the user organization will stores supplied.
be interviewed first. The people who will end When the major structures and processes
up actually using the system should also be have been added, the concerns can be
interviewed. It is then a matter of judgment addressed. The thought bubble for Jenny in
how many of the additional stakeholders iden- Figure 3 codes the wide variations in workload
tified by these initial informants one also she has to put up with. Other concerns
needs to talk to. It is always a good idea to included are the need for the drivers to get
interview people in their workplace, where away as soon as possible, worries about job
they can show you documents, screens, and so security, and so on. Thought bubbles may be
secret
on. A portable tape recorder may be useful to somewhat cryptic to someone who was not
check what was said, and you should always involved in generating a rich picture, so Monk
have a prepared list of topics or interview suggests that an additional sheet be added
schedule so that you cover all the critical explaining in slightly more detail the concerns
points. Clegg et al. [5] give useful and practi- of each stakeholder. The same sheet may
cal advice on how to get the best out of your explain the process and specific responsibili-
informants. ties not coded on the picture.
When drawing a rich picture for this pur- One of the important reasons for drawing
pose, you normally start by sketching in the a rich picture is to clarify one’s thoughts. For
28 i n t e r a c t i o n s . . . m a r c h + a p r i l 1 9 9 8

9. this reason one should not be afraid to throw al interviews, “train me” sessions, work log-
away an early version and start again. Rich ging, semistructured interviews, scenario
pictures can also be presented to informants analysis, model building, wish lists, and
(although you may need different versions for assumption challenging. They argue that no METHODS TOOLS
a small change, improvement
different informants) to make amendments or single technique is capable of capturing full COLUMN EDITORS
important
radical revision. The rich picture is only the the diversity of the work setting. Michael Muller
first step in Monk’s lightweight method. The Dearden and Wright draw an interesting Microsoft Corporation
next is to identify work objectives and user distinction between techniques that are situat- One Microsoft Way
exceptions, which are then used to develop ed in the work context and those that go Redmond, WA 98052
scenarios that can be used to refine early pro- beyond the immediate situation. The former mullerm@acm.org
totype designs and to make sure that the techniques can be used only in the work place.
design supports all relevant aspects of the The latter allow the analyst and the user to Finn Kensing
work. The rich picture serves as a starting detect issues beyond the range of the observ- Department of
point and a context for all these activities. able situation, for example, the organizational Computer Science
Readers wishing to know more about this and historical contexts. Dearden and Wright Roskilde University
process should consult Monk [12]. assert that different techniques have different Building 20.2
Monk’s lightweight method is a relatively strengths and weaknesses. Observation allows P.O. Box 260
informal technique; that is, it is not precisely one to separate what people say they do from DK 4000 Roskilde
specified. This has the advantage of making it what they really do, but it has practical limita- Denmark
relatively easy to learn and apply. The disad- tions. With only a limited amount of time in +45-4674-2548
vantage is that different people will apply it in the workplace it may be impossible to see the Fax: +45-4674-3072
different ways. This is not a problem when the full process. Infrequent, but nonetheless kensing@ruc.dk
design team is small and coordination is important, problems may not crop up while
straightforward. However, when design teams you are actually there. Only by using a variety
get larger a much more precisely specified of situated and nonsituated techniques can
succeed
method is needed, just so that everyone knows the fullest account emerge, given the prevail-
what everyone else is doing [11]. Examples of ing practical constraints. The rich picture can
more tightly specified procedures that make serve as a representation to motivate all these
use of rich pictures are different sources of information about the
D TheoryBuilder [10, 19]; work. It can also serve as a representation to
D Howard and Smith’s [8] use of rich pic- integrate information regarding the higher
tures with Johnson’s [9] Knowledge level work context coming from
Analysis of Tasks; and the sources.
D Multiview [2]. The versatility of the rich
picture arises from its sim-
Some Final Comments plicity. We suspect that
repeating
One recurring theme in this review has been many readers will
the value of using more than one technique already have seen ways of
when analyzing a work context. We are not incorporating rich pic-
suggesting that using a rich picture will solve tures into their own meth-
all your problems. It is just one of many small ods and we would encourage
but useful ideas that may be applied to any them to do so. The foregoing
design problem. The value of using a wide examples of good practice
variety of techniques is eloquently discussed should allow you to do this
by Dearden and Wright [6]. They report on a effectively. Perhaps one day
case study that borrowed from a number of the rich picture will be as familiar
methodological traditions to analyze a work a diagram to see at a design meeting as the
widespread
context. According to this approach an SSM- now ubiquitous data flow diagrams and flow
style rich picture is just one of the techniques charts. When that day arrives we will have
used. Dearden and Wright also used contextu- moved much further toward removing our
i n t e r a c t i o n s . . . m a r c h + a p r i l 1 9 9 8 29

10. blinders and making a genuine attempt to see London, 1992.
the other person’s point of view. System design 10. Khushalani, A., Smith, R., and Howard, S. What
can only benefit from such a change. happens when designers don’t play by the rules: towards
a model of opportunistic behaviour in design.
Acknowledgments Australian Journal of Information Systems 1, 2 (1994),
Dr. Monk was supported by the ESRC pp. 13–31.
Cognitive Engineering Program. Dr. Howard 11. Kraut, R. E., and Streeter, L. A. Coordination in
was supported by a grant from Swinburne software development. Communications of the ACM 38,
University of Technology, Australia. We 3 (1995), pp. 69–81.
would like to thank the editors of this section 12. Monk, A. F. Lightweight techniques to encourage
for valuable comments on an earlier manu- innovative user interface design. In L. Wood R.
script. Zeno, eds., Bridging the Gap: Transforming User
Requirements into User Interface Design. CRC Press,
References Boca Raton, 1997.
1. Avison, D. and Fitzgerald, G. Information Systems 13. Monk, A. F., Wright, P., Haber, J.,
Development: Methodologies, Techniques and and Davenport, L. Improving
Tools. Blackwell Scientific Publishers, Oxford, your human-computer
1988. interface: a practical tech-
2. Avison, D. and Wood- nique. BCS Practitioner
Harper, T. Multiview Series. Prentice-Hall,
Methodology. Blackwell Hemel Hempstead, 1993.
Scientific Publishers, 14. Muller, M. J. PICTIVE—An exploration in partici-
Oxford, 1990. patory design. In S. P. Robertson, G. M. Olson, and J.
3. Checkland, P. Systems S. Olson, eds., CHI’91 Human Factors in Computer
Thinking, Systems Practice. John Systems (New Orleans, 1991). ACM, New York, pp.
Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 1981. 225–231.
4. Checkland, P. and Scholes, J. Soft 15. Mumford, E. Sociotechnical system design: evolving
Systems Methodology in Action. John Wiley and Sons, theory and practice. In G. Bjernes, P. Ehn, and M.
Chichester, 1990. Kyng, eds., Computers and Democracy: A Scandinavian
5. Clegg, C., Warr, P., Green, T., Monk, A., Kemp, N., Challenge. Avebury, Aldershot, UK, 1987.
Allison, G., and Lansdale, M. People and Computers: 16. Nielsen, J. Usability Engineering at a Discount. In
PERMISSION TO MAKE DIGITAL/ HARD How to Evaluate Your Company’s New Technology. Ellis G. Salvendy and M. J. Smith, eds., Proceedings of the
COPY OF PART OR ALL OF THIS WORK Horwood, Chichester, UK, 1988. Third International Conference on Human-Computer
FOR PERSONAL OR CLASSROOM USE IS 6. Dearden, A. and Wright, P. Experiences Using Interaction, HCI-International ‘89, Boston, September,
GRANTED WITHOUT FEE PROVIDED Situated and Non-situated Techniques for Studying Elsevier Science, 1989, pp. 394–401.
THAT COPIES ARE NOT MADE OR Work in Context. In S. Howard, J. Hammond, and G. 17. Nielsen, J. and Mohlich, R. Heuristic evaluation of
DISTRIBUTED FOR PROFIT OR COM- Lindgaard, eds., Human Computer Interaction—INTER- user interfaces. In J. C. Chew and J. Whiteside, eds.,
MERCIAL ADVANTAGE, THE COPYRIGHT ACT’97. Chapman and Hall, London, 1997. Human Factors in Computer Systems, CHI’90. CHI ’90,
NOTICE, THE TITLE OF THE PUBLICA- 7. Greenbaum, J. and Kyng, M. Design at Work: Seattle, April, ACM, New York, 1990, pp. 249–256.
TION AND ITS DATE APPEAR, AND Cooperative Design of Computer Systems. Lawrence 18. Patching, D. Practical Soft Systems Analysis. London,
NOTICE IS GIVEN THAT COPYING IS BY Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, 1991. Pitman Publishing, 1990.
PERMISSION OF ACM, INC. TO COPY 8. Howard, S. and Smith, R. Using the Soft Systems 19. Smith, R., Howard, S., Sutherland, T., and
OTHERWISE, TO REPUBLISH, TO POST Methodology to Front-end Task Analysis. In HCI: A Khushalani, A. TheoryBuilder: A Behavioural Perspective
ON SERVERS, OR TO REDISTRIBUTE TO Light Into the Future, Proceedings of OZCHI’95 on Modelling and Improving Systems Development.
LISTS REQUIRES PRIOR SPECIFIC PERMIS- (Wollongong, Australia, November 1995), pp. 88–94. Proceedings of First Australian Seminar on Modelling and
SION AND/OR A FEE. 9. Johnson, P. Human Computer Interaction: Psychology, Improving Systems Development. School of Information
© ACM 1072-5220/98/0300 $3.50 Tasks Analysis and Software Engineering. McGraw-Hill, Technology, Swinburne University, 1994.
30 i n t e r a c t i o n s . . . m a r c h + a p r i l 1 9 9 8