Interview of Aaron Marcus, President AM + A, for the edu training center) itonline
In February, Aaron Markus, a man who has devoted 40 years of graphic design and usability, will visit Russia and Ukraine. His author's seminars with the assistance of the Edu-itonline training center will be held in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev. He first derived a correlation between the quality of user interfaces and the increase in the number of grateful consumers. And it was he who reduced the space between hi-tech and man. We bring to your attention the interview given by Aaron Marcus, President of Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc. (AM + A), employee of the edu training center) itonline.
1. In 1967, you became the first graphic designer to devote himself fully to computer graphics. What was your first project, how was it related to design? What are the prerequisites for creating a quality interface?
My first work in the field of computer graphics began with an internship at the AT + T acoustics research department of Bell Laboratories, located in Murray Hill in the US (New Jersey), where I worked as an intern researcher and acted as a programmer. At the interview, I told these guys one phrase that no one else in life would have said: “I don’t know why you want to hire me, but I already have a degree in physics, and now I’m studying graphic design. And so I thought that I should do something that would combine both these areas. Do you have anything suitable for me? ”Honestly, I did not understand how and to whom such an idea might come to mind - to take me to work. But two specialists who interviewed me, Peter Denes and A. Michael Knoll, (A. Michael Noll), scientists with years of research experience, looked at each other with a smile and said that they were looking for just such a specialist! I was greatly surprised, and at the same time pleased with the opportunity to take my first step into the new world of computer graphics, which “appeared” only a few years ago - around 1964. I was given the opportunity to do programming for computers that were considered among the most powerful in the world, as well as for the first interactive computers that used raster scan displays - the latest technology that was just invented.
The first of my serious completed projects was the prototype of an interactive page layout system, made in 1969-71, for the innovative product AT + T Picturephone, announced in 1964. You can say that I programmed one of the first desktop publishing systems. In this project, I was able to use the new knowledge accumulated in the process of work, as well as my experience in the field of typography, the use of color, character systems, layout and publishing. Of course, this greatly influenced the approach that I used in this project. Even without a suitable name for this type of activity, I was already engaged in designing, focused on the user's problems, using the knowledge I had at that time about the work of a graphic artist (using today's terminology, creating a user profile or actor), which ultimately was a user of the system. The design goal was to increase the efficiency and quality of the Yellow Pages telephone directory page layout. I was considering how best to display on the screen the appearance of the text, the bold face of the font and illustration. I was thinking about which symbols to use to represent the commands executed by the user on the screen, creating a prototype of a “graphical” user interface, although all user interaction with the system was mainly done using the keyboard. Fundamental education, knowledge in mathematics and logic helped me quickly master the programming language that was used to create this system (it was a specific platform that was difficult enough for me to master). Knowledge in the field of graphic design and publishing significantly simplified for me the task of designing software screens that used the concept of visualization to enter data and display the results of users' actions of the developed system. I was lucky: I was already familiar with the subject area, concept and content, as well as with the working environment of the developed application. I published a detailed description of the project I carried out in a scientific journal dedicated to printing research and the use of graphic tools for communication between people.
')
Marcus, Aaron (1971). “A Prototypical Computerized Page Design System,” Visible Language, Vol. 5, No. 3, Summer 1971, pp. 196-220.
This first project served as a starting point and was used as a guide in the following projects, including research on finding the best way to present technical documentation on C programming — this project was carried out at the Agency for Advanced Research Projects of the US Department of Defense for three years (1982-1985), and I participated in it as a second researcher with Ron Baker, currently occupying the position of professor in Computing at the University of Toronto (Ron Baecker, Prof. of Computer Science, University of Toronto). According to the results of this project, we published a book.
Baecker, Ron, and Aaron Marcus (1990). ACM Press and Addison-Wesley Publishers, Reading, MA, 348 pp.
Based on these first projects and subsequent experience gained while working as a researcher in the department of computer engineering of mathematics at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory), where I wrote one of the first user interface design guides in 1980-1982. I formulated the principles of creating effective user interfaces, which, after some changes in terminology and concepts, remain relevant and still serve me.
I believe that the basis of user interfaces are the following elements: metaphors, mental models, navigation patterns, interaction characteristics, as well as certain presentational characteristics (these include language, voice timbre, sound design, and even characteristics of tactile sensations and smells). The process of designing user interfaces begins with planning, and includes the following main activities, sometimes performed in parallel or in the form of a cycle: planning, research, analysis, development, implementation, evaluation, documentation, training and support. The goal of this process is to make the process of user interaction with the program interface (as well as with the product, customer service, company, and other potential contact channels) practical and convenient (that is, effective, efficient, and comfortable) and both useful and attractive. The last of the characteristics listed here introduces an emotional component, increases confidence, establishes social connections, defines the context, and also touches on many other aspects that were not associated with the user interface in the first few decades of its development as an independent discipline. In particular, we believe that culture plays an important role in shaping user experience.
How did you imagine the future of design in the 1960s? Which of your predictions about the future come true?
Based on my first experience with computers in the late 1960s - early 1970s, I understood that my professional experience and my knowledge of graphic design and the use of visual tools in communication played an extremely important role in designing screen forms. . After all, computers help people communicate, not just working with numbers. I knew about early research done at the Xerox Research Center in Palo Alto in 1972 and even sent one of my students to Princeton University for a summer internship around this time to the unit where Alan Kay and others worked famous researchers. I intuitively felt that visualization would be increasingly used in the computer industry. And my expectations were met. I also thought that in the future there would be excellent graphical means of presenting and working with accumulated information, the complexity of which would surpass everything that we had until now. And it also came true, although at present we are just beginning to explore the possibilities and prospects in this area.
2. In the past decade, you have focused on web-based applications, mobile devices, designing vehicle controls, designing systems that use information visualization, training personnel for centers dealing with product quality improvement, developing globalization and localization guides, and Much attention was paid to the “baby face” problem (devices with small displays). What are the prospects for each of these areas and how can we make significant improvements in each of them?
The rate at which changes occurred in each of these areas was constantly increasing. Approximately every 7 years (plus or minus two years) paradigms change in any of the computing platforms, and significant changes occur in various aspects of human-computer interaction. Very often, people try in vain to assimilate the principles of using new forms of presenting information or to get comfortable with new systems of concepts. We are constantly in the process of forming a new philosophy, principles, methods and techniques that make it easier for us to achieve our goals. At the very beginning, people often go ahead, act through trial and error, often making more effort than required. Then, when they gain experience and get used to the new, they begin to use simpler and more elegant methods, making fewer mistakes. However, to gain experience, you have to experiment a lot and often use new opportunities.
In the early days of video text and teletext, old, almost forgotten graphic and text means were used in telecommunications; and although at that time graphic capabilities were limited to several different fonts and eight colors, the first generation of “designers” (or at least the people who defined how each screen would look) tried to use as many different fonts and different colors on one screen as possible. Such an approach made it difficult for most users to read the information. In the end, everything came back to normal; however, it took several years. We see the same thing these days when it comes to web design.
Trying to look into the future, it is difficult to formulate the main trends in several phrases. I believe that a fashion for mobile and handheld gadgets can form, contributing to the proliferation of mobile platforms, which was predicted by many experts. In the future, “computers” in the modern sense of the word will disappear, and various miniature intelligent devices will take their place. The communication process will involve various modes of interaction, including reaction to touch, sound communication, used along with the visual presentation of information. Social, professional, related and other connections will play an increasingly important role in the development of communications, which will play a decisive role in how information will be collected and used, how functionality will be realized, how content will be formed, what forms of information presentation will be used. The explosive growth in the number of people united by a single information environment across the globe (second billion users), the amount of information and transmitted traffic will necessarily lead to the emergence of new paradigms of information presentation and user interaction with the information environment, which will require more efficient use of the contents of this information space. make it more convenient and suitable for use in all conditions and under any circumstances, thereby facilitating communication between people.
3. You are the author of more than 250 articles, 5 books, and co-author of 7 books devoted to designing user interfaces, devices for working with information, and cultural aspects in modeling user interaction with interactive devices. Could you share with us your plans about your future projects and books that you are going to publish?
Thanks for the interesting question. I would like to highlight the following.
I am currently working with Yukio Ota, President of the Tokyo Design Association Yukio Ota (Ota Yukio Design Association) to translate his book on LoCoS, a universal language of symbols, first published in 1973 into English. This book will be published in English in the UK in 2008, AM + A organized an extranet for LoCoS:
www.amanda.com/extranet/extranet_f.html
Username: Password: yuki00ta (Note: the “00” characters are zeros, not the letters “O”).
Professor Ota and his students created a Japanese website about LoCoS; The LoCoS guide in Japanese has been published on this site, LoCoSworld. The site LoCoSworld is a place where all the necessary information is collected for LoCoS supporters, including the Palette system, which facilitates the interaction between people and supports the ability to add LoCoS characters, tools for translating schemes into symbols, and other applications:
locosworld.net
I am also helping Mr. Ota, who teaches courses at the Tama Art University in Tokyo, in his project to develop improved national Japanese standards for pictograms used in medicine and related fields.
AM + A continues to work on many interesting, challenging projects. One such project is the development of new standards for designing user interfaces for various eBay server-side applications that support the work of many servers of this huge system. Another large-scale project is assistance in the evaluation and processing of an interactive medical information library used by nurses and doctors at the Keizer Medical Center, one of the leading medical centers in the United States.
I am also going to publish an extended version of the bibliography on information interaction design and information visualization, which I published in a periodical on this issue.
Marcus, Aaron (2007). "Information Graphics: A Celebration and Recollection." Visual Business Intelligence Newsletter, published: newsletter@perceptualedge.com in March 2007
In addition, I write editorials for each issue of the User Experience magazine published by the Usability Professionals Association ( www.usabilityprofessionals.org ).
I also wrote in a new, as yet unpublished book, an entire chapter about my career, about how, starting from physics, I soon became interested and began to work on designing user interfaces.
Marcus, Aaron (2008). "My Journey: From Physics to Graphic Design, to User Interface / Information-Visualization Design," in Alexenberg, Mel, Ed., Educating Artists for the Future. London: Intellect Press. Preparing for publication.
The experience gained during the last four years of managing a virtual development office I summarized in another book, which will also be released in 2008:
Marcus, Aaron (2008). “Light and Lively: Running a Virtual Design Office.” In Poggenpohl, Sharon, et al., Eds., Design Integrations: Research, Methods, Collaboration. Cambridge: MIT Press. Preparing for publication.
I published a new version of the chapter on cross-cultural aspects in designing user interfaces in one of the most well-known reference books devoted to this issue:
Marcus, Aaron. (2007) “Global / Intercultural User-Interface Design,” in Jacko, J. and A. Spears, Eds., Chapter 18, Handbook of Human-Computrer Interaction, Third Edition. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, 2007, pp. 355-380.
Also, together with Professor Patrick Rau from the Tsinghua University in Beijing, I published an updated version of the chapter on these same issues in a leading publication on universal design:
Marcus, Aaron, and Rau, Patrick (2007). "International and Intercultural User Interfaces," in User Interfaces for All, ed. Dr. Constantine Stephanidis, Chapter, 2nd rev. edition, Mawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, (forthcoming).
One of the latest publications is a revised version of a popular article published on the AM + A website devoted to the problem of returning usability investments, published in a good, popular book by the authors Bias and Mayhew.
Marcus, Aaron (2005). "User Interface Designs Returns on Investment: Examples and Statistics." Chapter 2 in Bias, RG, and Mayhew, DJ., (Eds.), Cost-Justifying Usability, 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Elsevier, pp. 17-39.
4. You have been engaged in consulting clients from different countries from all over the world for over 30 years and have been a keynote speaker at very many international conferences. And now you have come to Russia. What are your expectations from the workshop and audience in our country? How do you assess the level of Russia in the field of mobile device development, design and usability? What would you advise Russian specialists in these areas?
The last time I was in Russia was in May 1990. Since then, much has changed in the country, and I would first of all like to form my own opinion and see with my own eyes everything that I have only read about for almost 20 years. I think that I will meet many bright, talented people, and I will be glad to hear their opinions on the current state of affairs and on the prospects for development in this area. I believe that for many professionals in Russia, the concepts of usability and user experience-based design may be new. I think it will be interesting for them to discover new sources of information and they will quickly become familiar with the new concepts of a user interface design approach. At international conferences in which I participated, I noticed several experts from Russia. I suppose,that they have every opportunity to participate more actively in this process, to unleash their own potential, and in the future they will have a big impact on the process of developing products and services around the world. Now the Russian economy is on the rise, education in Russia has good traditions, and in addition, a new generation of people has grown up in Russia who are ready to contribute to the global development process. This generation, which successfully makes its way in business, and makes a significant contribution to the emergence of new products and services. This is an amazing era, a time of great change. I am glad that I was lucky to visit your country at this particular time.Now the Russian economy is on the rise, education in Russia has good traditions, and in addition, a new generation of people has grown up in Russia who are ready to contribute to the global development process. This generation, which successfully makes its way in business, and makes a significant contribution to the emergence of new products and services. This is an amazing era, a time of great change. I am glad that I was lucky to visit your country at this particular time.Now the Russian economy is on the rise, education in Russia has good traditions, and in addition, a new generation of people has grown up in Russia who are ready to contribute to the global development process. This generation, which successfully makes its way in business, and makes a significant contribution to the emergence of new products and services. This is an amazing era, a time of great change. I am glad that I was lucky to visit your country at this particular time.I am glad that I was lucky to visit your country at this particular time.I am glad that I was lucky to visit your country at this particular time.
5. In 2000, you were recognized as the “Master of Graphic Design of the 20th Century” by the ICOGRADA Association, and in 2007 you became a member of the scientific community of the American Institute of Fine Arts. Could you give some advice to specialists who are just starting their career in this field?
The chapter in the book I already mentioned talks about all aspects of my career, and at the end of it, readers will find some tips for young designers, artists and researchers interested in developing new media environments, new technologies, and creating new systems.
Marcus, Aaron (2008). "My Journey: From Physics to Graphic Design, to User Interface / Information-Visualization Design," in Alexenberg, Mel, Ed., Educating Artists for the Future. London: Intellect Press. Preparing for publication.
If possible, specialists from Russia, the professional community should participate in professional communities, follow the activities and publications of professional organizations and familiarize themselves with conference materials on user interface design, usability, user experience design, and emphasizing the role of these important disciplines in research and practice. This is a must-do, even if they cannot become members of all communities or attend all conferences dedicated to this topic. Here are some of them - in my opinion, these are the best resources.
AIGA 2009 in the USA (http://www.aiga.org). The American Institute of Fine Arts is the leading organization in the field of graphic design. Their website provides information on the Center for Intercultural Interactions in Design.
CHI 2008, Florence, Italy (http://www.SIGCHI2006.org). The group on the problems of human interaction with computers within the Association for Computing Machinery is a large and well-known international organization engaged in the design of user interfaces, the owner of the information resource Interactions.
HCII 2009 in San Diego, USA (California). (http://HCII2009.org). The international conference on various aspects of human-computer interface (Human-Computer Interface International conference) is the conference that presents the widest international audience in the field of user interface design.
IWIPS 2008 in Bangalore (http: //www.IWIPS2007) (last conference). The International Symposium on Internationalizing Products and Services is the only conference dedicated to globalization and localization.
UPA 2008 in Baltimore, USA (Maryland)
(http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/conference/2008/). The Usability Professionals Association is an international organization with branches in many countries, including Russia. Russian specialists need to join both local and global groups in order to keep abreast of the latest developments in this field. The Usability Professionals Association publishes the User Experience magazine and is a sponsor of World Usability Day; The next date for this event is November 13, 2008, and in Russia it is also planned to hold events on the topic of usability at this time.
Vision + 13, the date of the next event is summer 2008, it is planned to be held in Austria (http://www.iiid.net), this is a conference dedicated to information design. The International Institute of Information Design is sponsoring this conference and a number of other projects.
Practitioners, scientists, teachers and researchers can publish articles on the topic of usability and tell about their latest developments and projects in the following periodicals: User Experience (UX, UPA edition), Interactions, Information Design Journal (CHI edition), International Journal for Human-Computer Interaction (edition IJHCI), as well as in the magazines Universal Access in the Information Society (edition UIAIS) and Visible Language. I am the Chief Editor of UX, the editor of Information Design, a member of the advisory board of Interactions, and also a member of the editorial boards of IJHCI, UAIS and Visible Language. And I urge all those involved in this issue to publish their articles in these publications. Requirements for publications you can find on the websites of the relevant publications.
Keeping in touch with professionals, following developments and developments in the field of usability, exchanging ideas and opinions, reporting on the results of their research and development, young professionals in Russia can contribute to the development of usability trends on a global scale, organize new interesting discussions on this topic , make information technology more user friendly.
6. What projects in the field of mobile devices, in your opinion, are the most successful? Could you give some examples? What is the most important? Design? Web 2.0? Usability?
In the design and development of mobile devices, the most interesting project was the development of more than 100 different concepts of improved user interfaces for smartphones in the US; The works were carried out 2-3 years before the appearance of smartphones on the market. Back in 2000, we developed the concept of visualization of products such as the Apple i-Phone, a product that appeared in 2007, and published a description of this project in a separate article:
Marcus, Aaron, and Chen, Eugene (2002). “Designing the PDA of the Future. ”Interactions, ACM Publisher, www.acm.org , 9: 1, January / February 2002, 32-44.
Over the next few years, largely due to our efforts and several projects we have completed, Samsung, being a little-known brand in the US, managed to rise to the second position after Motorola in the field of mobile phones and to the second position after Sony in the field of consumer goods.
As for Web 2.0, here we worked with a leading mobile operator to create a more convenient and customizable Web-based user interface. For us, it was an interesting, sophisticated, advanced and modern product.
In the field of usability, the results obtained in our research project DARPA in 1982–85 were tested by a group of independent experts specializing in ergonomic features. The results showed that novice programmers using our development, improved their performance in terms of perception of information by 20%, and this is truly outstanding results.
Among other interesting projects I can name our collaboration with Saber. We were lucky to work with three business units and develop a new user interface for the first version of the Travelocity site. We have developed more than 20 graphic versions of applications destined for one of the world's leading travel agencies and allowed to book tickets. Our version has completely changed the old information systems that have been operated in this company for more than 20 years and did not have a graphical interface. According to the results of this project, we published an article in Design Journal:
Marcus, Aaron, (2001). “User-interface design for air-travel booking: A case study of Saber.” Information Design Journal, 10: 2, 186-206.
7. Will we have web 3.0?
People are already using semantic features provided by the web, extensions of WWW, in which information can be transmitted not only through the human language, but also in a format designed to interact with software agents. This makes it easy to find, share and consolidate information. This is a new philosophy, a number of principles that form the basis of the development, which allow building interaction in groups of people and being the basis of new technologies. These principles determine the future of the Web, where software will have amazing capabilities to collect, organize, analyze and present information to people in formats that people could not even dream of yesterday. In combination with a huge, hitherto inaccessible number of interactions between people and various objects represented on the Web,This concept provides an opportunity not only to create a second reality, but also to go much further, to the place where people will work together, have fun, think, create and create new things.
Platforms, programs and computers are changing, and only one thing in designing user interfaces remains the same over time: behaviors, communication patterns. In the future, designers of user interfaces will be masters of such "ceremonies", experts in the field of human communication.
About Aaron Marcus and AM + A
AM + A is a world-renowned organization that has been engaged in research and analysis for 25 years in the field of user interface design, human interaction with information systems, information visualization, and intercultural interaction on the Web, in workplaces, and in areas related with the development of desktop applications, mobile devices, cars and consumer goods. Their customers include Japanese companies Epson, Fujitsu, Justsystem, Ricoh and NTT Data. AM + A works with both well-known and start-up companies in many countries. He lectures in different countries and universities around the world. In 2007, Aaron Marcus became a member of the scientific community of the American Institute of Fine Arts.
1. In 1967, you became the first graphic designer to devote himself fully to computer graphics. What was your first project, how was it related to design? What are the prerequisites for creating a quality interface?
My first work in the field of computer graphics began with an internship at the AT + T acoustics research department of Bell Laboratories, located in Murray Hill in the US (New Jersey), where I worked as an intern researcher and acted as a programmer. At the interview, I told these guys one phrase that no one else in life would have said: “I don’t know why you want to hire me, but I already have a degree in physics, and now I’m studying graphic design. And so I thought that I should do something that would combine both these areas. Do you have anything suitable for me? ”Honestly, I did not understand how and to whom such an idea might come to mind - to take me to work. But two specialists who interviewed me, Peter Denes and A. Michael Knoll, (A. Michael Noll), scientists with years of research experience, looked at each other with a smile and said that they were looking for just such a specialist! I was greatly surprised, and at the same time pleased with the opportunity to take my first step into the new world of computer graphics, which “appeared” only a few years ago - around 1964. I was given the opportunity to do programming for computers that were considered among the most powerful in the world, as well as for the first interactive computers that used raster scan displays - the latest technology that was just invented.
The first of my serious completed projects was the prototype of an interactive page layout system, made in 1969-71, for the innovative product AT + T Picturephone, announced in 1964. You can say that I programmed one of the first desktop publishing systems. In this project, I was able to use the new knowledge accumulated in the process of work, as well as my experience in the field of typography, the use of color, character systems, layout and publishing. Of course, this greatly influenced the approach that I used in this project. Even without a suitable name for this type of activity, I was already engaged in designing, focused on the user's problems, using the knowledge I had at that time about the work of a graphic artist (using today's terminology, creating a user profile or actor), which ultimately was a user of the system. The design goal was to increase the efficiency and quality of the Yellow Pages telephone directory page layout. I was considering how best to display on the screen the appearance of the text, the bold face of the font and illustration. I was thinking about which symbols to use to represent the commands executed by the user on the screen, creating a prototype of a “graphical” user interface, although all user interaction with the system was mainly done using the keyboard. Fundamental education, knowledge in mathematics and logic helped me quickly master the programming language that was used to create this system (it was a specific platform that was difficult enough for me to master). Knowledge in the field of graphic design and publishing significantly simplified for me the task of designing software screens that used the concept of visualization to enter data and display the results of users' actions of the developed system. I was lucky: I was already familiar with the subject area, concept and content, as well as with the working environment of the developed application. I published a detailed description of the project I carried out in a scientific journal dedicated to printing research and the use of graphic tools for communication between people.
')
Marcus, Aaron (1971). “A Prototypical Computerized Page Design System,” Visible Language, Vol. 5, No. 3, Summer 1971, pp. 196-220.
This first project served as a starting point and was used as a guide in the following projects, including research on finding the best way to present technical documentation on C programming — this project was carried out at the Agency for Advanced Research Projects of the US Department of Defense for three years (1982-1985), and I participated in it as a second researcher with Ron Baker, currently occupying the position of professor in Computing at the University of Toronto (Ron Baecker, Prof. of Computer Science, University of Toronto). According to the results of this project, we published a book.
Baecker, Ron, and Aaron Marcus (1990). ACM Press and Addison-Wesley Publishers, Reading, MA, 348 pp.
Based on these first projects and subsequent experience gained while working as a researcher in the department of computer engineering of mathematics at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory), where I wrote one of the first user interface design guides in 1980-1982. I formulated the principles of creating effective user interfaces, which, after some changes in terminology and concepts, remain relevant and still serve me.
I believe that the basis of user interfaces are the following elements: metaphors, mental models, navigation patterns, interaction characteristics, as well as certain presentational characteristics (these include language, voice timbre, sound design, and even characteristics of tactile sensations and smells). The process of designing user interfaces begins with planning, and includes the following main activities, sometimes performed in parallel or in the form of a cycle: planning, research, analysis, development, implementation, evaluation, documentation, training and support. The goal of this process is to make the process of user interaction with the program interface (as well as with the product, customer service, company, and other potential contact channels) practical and convenient (that is, effective, efficient, and comfortable) and both useful and attractive. The last of the characteristics listed here introduces an emotional component, increases confidence, establishes social connections, defines the context, and also touches on many other aspects that were not associated with the user interface in the first few decades of its development as an independent discipline. In particular, we believe that culture plays an important role in shaping user experience.
How did you imagine the future of design in the 1960s? Which of your predictions about the future come true?
Based on my first experience with computers in the late 1960s - early 1970s, I understood that my professional experience and my knowledge of graphic design and the use of visual tools in communication played an extremely important role in designing screen forms. . After all, computers help people communicate, not just working with numbers. I knew about early research done at the Xerox Research Center in Palo Alto in 1972 and even sent one of my students to Princeton University for a summer internship around this time to the unit where Alan Kay and others worked famous researchers. I intuitively felt that visualization would be increasingly used in the computer industry. And my expectations were met. I also thought that in the future there would be excellent graphical means of presenting and working with accumulated information, the complexity of which would surpass everything that we had until now. And it also came true, although at present we are just beginning to explore the possibilities and prospects in this area.
2. In the past decade, you have focused on web-based applications, mobile devices, designing vehicle controls, designing systems that use information visualization, training personnel for centers dealing with product quality improvement, developing globalization and localization guides, and Much attention was paid to the “baby face” problem (devices with small displays). What are the prospects for each of these areas and how can we make significant improvements in each of them?
The rate at which changes occurred in each of these areas was constantly increasing. Approximately every 7 years (plus or minus two years) paradigms change in any of the computing platforms, and significant changes occur in various aspects of human-computer interaction. Very often, people try in vain to assimilate the principles of using new forms of presenting information or to get comfortable with new systems of concepts. We are constantly in the process of forming a new philosophy, principles, methods and techniques that make it easier for us to achieve our goals. At the very beginning, people often go ahead, act through trial and error, often making more effort than required. Then, when they gain experience and get used to the new, they begin to use simpler and more elegant methods, making fewer mistakes. However, to gain experience, you have to experiment a lot and often use new opportunities.
In the early days of video text and teletext, old, almost forgotten graphic and text means were used in telecommunications; and although at that time graphic capabilities were limited to several different fonts and eight colors, the first generation of “designers” (or at least the people who defined how each screen would look) tried to use as many different fonts and different colors on one screen as possible. Such an approach made it difficult for most users to read the information. In the end, everything came back to normal; however, it took several years. We see the same thing these days when it comes to web design.
Trying to look into the future, it is difficult to formulate the main trends in several phrases. I believe that a fashion for mobile and handheld gadgets can form, contributing to the proliferation of mobile platforms, which was predicted by many experts. In the future, “computers” in the modern sense of the word will disappear, and various miniature intelligent devices will take their place. The communication process will involve various modes of interaction, including reaction to touch, sound communication, used along with the visual presentation of information. Social, professional, related and other connections will play an increasingly important role in the development of communications, which will play a decisive role in how information will be collected and used, how functionality will be realized, how content will be formed, what forms of information presentation will be used. The explosive growth in the number of people united by a single information environment across the globe (second billion users), the amount of information and transmitted traffic will necessarily lead to the emergence of new paradigms of information presentation and user interaction with the information environment, which will require more efficient use of the contents of this information space. make it more convenient and suitable for use in all conditions and under any circumstances, thereby facilitating communication between people.
3. You are the author of more than 250 articles, 5 books, and co-author of 7 books devoted to designing user interfaces, devices for working with information, and cultural aspects in modeling user interaction with interactive devices. Could you share with us your plans about your future projects and books that you are going to publish?
Thanks for the interesting question. I would like to highlight the following.
I am currently working with Yukio Ota, President of the Tokyo Design Association Yukio Ota (Ota Yukio Design Association) to translate his book on LoCoS, a universal language of symbols, first published in 1973 into English. This book will be published in English in the UK in 2008, AM + A organized an extranet for LoCoS:
www.amanda.com/extranet/extranet_f.html
Username: Password: yuki00ta (Note: the “00” characters are zeros, not the letters “O”).
Professor Ota and his students created a Japanese website about LoCoS; The LoCoS guide in Japanese has been published on this site, LoCoSworld. The site LoCoSworld is a place where all the necessary information is collected for LoCoS supporters, including the Palette system, which facilitates the interaction between people and supports the ability to add LoCoS characters, tools for translating schemes into symbols, and other applications:
locosworld.net
I am also helping Mr. Ota, who teaches courses at the Tama Art University in Tokyo, in his project to develop improved national Japanese standards for pictograms used in medicine and related fields.
AM + A continues to work on many interesting, challenging projects. One such project is the development of new standards for designing user interfaces for various eBay server-side applications that support the work of many servers of this huge system. Another large-scale project is assistance in the evaluation and processing of an interactive medical information library used by nurses and doctors at the Keizer Medical Center, one of the leading medical centers in the United States.
I am also going to publish an extended version of the bibliography on information interaction design and information visualization, which I published in a periodical on this issue.
Marcus, Aaron (2007). "Information Graphics: A Celebration and Recollection." Visual Business Intelligence Newsletter, published: newsletter@perceptualedge.com in March 2007
In addition, I write editorials for each issue of the User Experience magazine published by the Usability Professionals Association ( www.usabilityprofessionals.org ).
I also wrote in a new, as yet unpublished book, an entire chapter about my career, about how, starting from physics, I soon became interested and began to work on designing user interfaces.
Marcus, Aaron (2008). "My Journey: From Physics to Graphic Design, to User Interface / Information-Visualization Design," in Alexenberg, Mel, Ed., Educating Artists for the Future. London: Intellect Press. Preparing for publication.
The experience gained during the last four years of managing a virtual development office I summarized in another book, which will also be released in 2008:
Marcus, Aaron (2008). “Light and Lively: Running a Virtual Design Office.” In Poggenpohl, Sharon, et al., Eds., Design Integrations: Research, Methods, Collaboration. Cambridge: MIT Press. Preparing for publication.
I published a new version of the chapter on cross-cultural aspects in designing user interfaces in one of the most well-known reference books devoted to this issue:
Marcus, Aaron. (2007) “Global / Intercultural User-Interface Design,” in Jacko, J. and A. Spears, Eds., Chapter 18, Handbook of Human-Computrer Interaction, Third Edition. New York, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, 2007, pp. 355-380.
Also, together with Professor Patrick Rau from the Tsinghua University in Beijing, I published an updated version of the chapter on these same issues in a leading publication on universal design:
Marcus, Aaron, and Rau, Patrick (2007). "International and Intercultural User Interfaces," in User Interfaces for All, ed. Dr. Constantine Stephanidis, Chapter, 2nd rev. edition, Mawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, (forthcoming).
One of the latest publications is a revised version of a popular article published on the AM + A website devoted to the problem of returning usability investments, published in a good, popular book by the authors Bias and Mayhew.
Marcus, Aaron (2005). "User Interface Designs Returns on Investment: Examples and Statistics." Chapter 2 in Bias, RG, and Mayhew, DJ., (Eds.), Cost-Justifying Usability, 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Elsevier, pp. 17-39.
4. You have been engaged in consulting clients from different countries from all over the world for over 30 years and have been a keynote speaker at very many international conferences. And now you have come to Russia. What are your expectations from the workshop and audience in our country? How do you assess the level of Russia in the field of mobile device development, design and usability? What would you advise Russian specialists in these areas?
The last time I was in Russia was in May 1990. Since then, much has changed in the country, and I would first of all like to form my own opinion and see with my own eyes everything that I have only read about for almost 20 years. I think that I will meet many bright, talented people, and I will be glad to hear their opinions on the current state of affairs and on the prospects for development in this area. I believe that for many professionals in Russia, the concepts of usability and user experience-based design may be new. I think it will be interesting for them to discover new sources of information and they will quickly become familiar with the new concepts of a user interface design approach. At international conferences in which I participated, I noticed several experts from Russia. I suppose,that they have every opportunity to participate more actively in this process, to unleash their own potential, and in the future they will have a big impact on the process of developing products and services around the world. Now the Russian economy is on the rise, education in Russia has good traditions, and in addition, a new generation of people has grown up in Russia who are ready to contribute to the global development process. This generation, which successfully makes its way in business, and makes a significant contribution to the emergence of new products and services. This is an amazing era, a time of great change. I am glad that I was lucky to visit your country at this particular time.Now the Russian economy is on the rise, education in Russia has good traditions, and in addition, a new generation of people has grown up in Russia who are ready to contribute to the global development process. This generation, which successfully makes its way in business, and makes a significant contribution to the emergence of new products and services. This is an amazing era, a time of great change. I am glad that I was lucky to visit your country at this particular time.Now the Russian economy is on the rise, education in Russia has good traditions, and in addition, a new generation of people has grown up in Russia who are ready to contribute to the global development process. This generation, which successfully makes its way in business, and makes a significant contribution to the emergence of new products and services. This is an amazing era, a time of great change. I am glad that I was lucky to visit your country at this particular time.I am glad that I was lucky to visit your country at this particular time.I am glad that I was lucky to visit your country at this particular time.
5. In 2000, you were recognized as the “Master of Graphic Design of the 20th Century” by the ICOGRADA Association, and in 2007 you became a member of the scientific community of the American Institute of Fine Arts. Could you give some advice to specialists who are just starting their career in this field?
The chapter in the book I already mentioned talks about all aspects of my career, and at the end of it, readers will find some tips for young designers, artists and researchers interested in developing new media environments, new technologies, and creating new systems.
Marcus, Aaron (2008). "My Journey: From Physics to Graphic Design, to User Interface / Information-Visualization Design," in Alexenberg, Mel, Ed., Educating Artists for the Future. London: Intellect Press. Preparing for publication.
If possible, specialists from Russia, the professional community should participate in professional communities, follow the activities and publications of professional organizations and familiarize themselves with conference materials on user interface design, usability, user experience design, and emphasizing the role of these important disciplines in research and practice. This is a must-do, even if they cannot become members of all communities or attend all conferences dedicated to this topic. Here are some of them - in my opinion, these are the best resources.
AIGA 2009 in the USA (http://www.aiga.org). The American Institute of Fine Arts is the leading organization in the field of graphic design. Their website provides information on the Center for Intercultural Interactions in Design.
CHI 2008, Florence, Italy (http://www.SIGCHI2006.org). The group on the problems of human interaction with computers within the Association for Computing Machinery is a large and well-known international organization engaged in the design of user interfaces, the owner of the information resource Interactions.
HCII 2009 in San Diego, USA (California). (http://HCII2009.org). The international conference on various aspects of human-computer interface (Human-Computer Interface International conference) is the conference that presents the widest international audience in the field of user interface design.
IWIPS 2008 in Bangalore (http: //www.IWIPS2007) (last conference). The International Symposium on Internationalizing Products and Services is the only conference dedicated to globalization and localization.
UPA 2008 in Baltimore, USA (Maryland)
(http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/conference/2008/). The Usability Professionals Association is an international organization with branches in many countries, including Russia. Russian specialists need to join both local and global groups in order to keep abreast of the latest developments in this field. The Usability Professionals Association publishes the User Experience magazine and is a sponsor of World Usability Day; The next date for this event is November 13, 2008, and in Russia it is also planned to hold events on the topic of usability at this time.
Vision + 13, the date of the next event is summer 2008, it is planned to be held in Austria (http://www.iiid.net), this is a conference dedicated to information design. The International Institute of Information Design is sponsoring this conference and a number of other projects.
Practitioners, scientists, teachers and researchers can publish articles on the topic of usability and tell about their latest developments and projects in the following periodicals: User Experience (UX, UPA edition), Interactions, Information Design Journal (CHI edition), International Journal for Human-Computer Interaction (edition IJHCI), as well as in the magazines Universal Access in the Information Society (edition UIAIS) and Visible Language. I am the Chief Editor of UX, the editor of Information Design, a member of the advisory board of Interactions, and also a member of the editorial boards of IJHCI, UAIS and Visible Language. And I urge all those involved in this issue to publish their articles in these publications. Requirements for publications you can find on the websites of the relevant publications.
Keeping in touch with professionals, following developments and developments in the field of usability, exchanging ideas and opinions, reporting on the results of their research and development, young professionals in Russia can contribute to the development of usability trends on a global scale, organize new interesting discussions on this topic , make information technology more user friendly.
6. What projects in the field of mobile devices, in your opinion, are the most successful? Could you give some examples? What is the most important? Design? Web 2.0? Usability?
In the design and development of mobile devices, the most interesting project was the development of more than 100 different concepts of improved user interfaces for smartphones in the US; The works were carried out 2-3 years before the appearance of smartphones on the market. Back in 2000, we developed the concept of visualization of products such as the Apple i-Phone, a product that appeared in 2007, and published a description of this project in a separate article:
Marcus, Aaron, and Chen, Eugene (2002). “Designing the PDA of the Future. ”Interactions, ACM Publisher, www.acm.org , 9: 1, January / February 2002, 32-44.
Over the next few years, largely due to our efforts and several projects we have completed, Samsung, being a little-known brand in the US, managed to rise to the second position after Motorola in the field of mobile phones and to the second position after Sony in the field of consumer goods.
As for Web 2.0, here we worked with a leading mobile operator to create a more convenient and customizable Web-based user interface. For us, it was an interesting, sophisticated, advanced and modern product.
In the field of usability, the results obtained in our research project DARPA in 1982–85 were tested by a group of independent experts specializing in ergonomic features. The results showed that novice programmers using our development, improved their performance in terms of perception of information by 20%, and this is truly outstanding results.
Among other interesting projects I can name our collaboration with Saber. We were lucky to work with three business units and develop a new user interface for the first version of the Travelocity site. We have developed more than 20 graphic versions of applications destined for one of the world's leading travel agencies and allowed to book tickets. Our version has completely changed the old information systems that have been operated in this company for more than 20 years and did not have a graphical interface. According to the results of this project, we published an article in Design Journal:
Marcus, Aaron, (2001). “User-interface design for air-travel booking: A case study of Saber.” Information Design Journal, 10: 2, 186-206.
7. Will we have web 3.0?
People are already using semantic features provided by the web, extensions of WWW, in which information can be transmitted not only through the human language, but also in a format designed to interact with software agents. This makes it easy to find, share and consolidate information. This is a new philosophy, a number of principles that form the basis of the development, which allow building interaction in groups of people and being the basis of new technologies. These principles determine the future of the Web, where software will have amazing capabilities to collect, organize, analyze and present information to people in formats that people could not even dream of yesterday. In combination with a huge, hitherto inaccessible number of interactions between people and various objects represented on the Web,This concept provides an opportunity not only to create a second reality, but also to go much further, to the place where people will work together, have fun, think, create and create new things.
Platforms, programs and computers are changing, and only one thing in designing user interfaces remains the same over time: behaviors, communication patterns. In the future, designers of user interfaces will be masters of such "ceremonies", experts in the field of human communication.
About Aaron Marcus and AM + A
AM + A is a world-renowned organization that has been engaged in research and analysis for 25 years in the field of user interface design, human interaction with information systems, information visualization, and intercultural interaction on the Web, in workplaces, and in areas related with the development of desktop applications, mobile devices, cars and consumer goods. Their customers include Japanese companies Epson, Fujitsu, Justsystem, Ricoh and NTT Data. AM + A works with both well-known and start-up companies in many countries. He lectures in different countries and universities around the world. In 2007, Aaron Marcus became a member of the scientific community of the American Institute of Fine Arts.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/19098/
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