These pages are dedicated to all those developers who do not have time - or take interest in - reviewing project related theory and empirical research. Still, developers employ one of the most important resources for making excellent human-computer interaction (HCI): the know-how for how to manipulate computers to do what they are told to. But the problem is often to know exactly what computers shall do?

It is a paradox that there exists a mass of literature on HCI and on multimedia design, and still the impact on practical design is not remarkable. The reason seems to be that there is a communication gap between scientists and practical developers. Practical developers seldom consult experimental research, not to speak of cognitive theory of perception and human information presentation. Also, cognitive computer scientists tend to have a tradition in publishing for each other, and not for a technical oriented goal group. Fortunately, many scientists start to summarise their research as guidelines for developers. Hence, much relevant research is formulated for developers, so there is only one more obstacle to overcome: bring the guidelines to them.

These pages contains guidelines related to the various functions and purposes of a computer. The context is exclusively human - computer interaction settings. We have implemented the following structure:

• System: Offers guidelines for basic system and functionality design. These guidelines goes beyond information presentation as they also address the HCI of the basic functionality of a computer.
• Presentation: Offers guidelines related to information presentation on the system level. These guidelines suggest how to support perception by employing basic information codes like colour, text, characters and contrast optimally.
• Interaction: Offers guidelines about the various means of HCI. The interaction guidelines relate to those situations when the user is active.
• Media: Offers guidelines for how to employ media in a more complex information presentation context, e.g. for learning or for information content oriented presentations.
• Communication: Offers guidelines about how the computer can ease the communicate with its users, and for how computers can support communication with other people.

These Web-pages will be instantly updated with new guidelines. You are welcome to help us with this. Send us your research and / or readings suggesting feasible guidelines. Also we are open for critics as our goal is to keep these pages actual and interesting (Sissel Guttormsen Schär).

A system, which is easy to operate, represents an important source of quality when interacting with new media. This chapter provides usability guidelines to design easy to use interfaces. Function like 'play', 'stop', 'rewind' shall be easily accessible and simple to operate. These guidelines are based on human factors research and some of them are standardized by the ISO 9241 standards. The ISO 9241 standards are based on the technical systems of the 90ies and are addressing classical GUIs of operating systems and applications (e.g. Macintosh or Windows GUIs). It is important to reflect the rapidly evolving designs of user interfaces, especially new designs appearing in the World Wide Web, when applying these guidelines.

The presentation takes an important role in the transmission and understanding of information to other human beings. Legibility is the prerequisite for textual information to be perceived correctly. Accessibility takes disabilities and individual preferences into account. Concise and easy to read text as well as comprehensible codes make sure, the receiver will understand what he perceives.

Generally, interaction is regarded as one of the most winning benefits of the information technology, - under the condition that it is implemented to support the various needs of the users! Interaction also starts to be relevant for the presentation of information. New information technology makes it possible to present information with flexible user-defined views. This development implies that users increasingly must interact with the computer in a more demanding way, also when it comes to simple activities as reading text. All kinds of interaction are enabled by the user-interface. The user-interface includes available interaction tools and also the graphical appearance of software or presentations (e.g. keyboard, mouse, menus, graphical structure).

The information and guidelines in this part are based on extensive literature reviews and own empirical research. The resulting structure is reflected in the following selection of design guidelines for (multi) media-information-presentations. Research on effects of current media-information technology does to some degree bring as many questions as answers. The guidelines in this chapter should, therefore, to some extent be treated consultative. Relevant open questions are the relative importance of all the factors treated separately here, i.e. effects related to information type, media characteristics, static and dynamic media, media combinations, individual characteristics, task, and test conditions. Generally, we recognise that current research in the field media and information technology reflect a re-orientation to the new technology trends. This also influences the applied research paradigms. In order to prevent conflicting information we aim for a continued update and revision of the guidelines published here. We do not claim that the presented guidelines represent the total research in this area. Rather, we give a reflected overview over central research.

Further reading: [Blake77] [Buck93] [ChanLin99] [ChanLin01] [Doering95] [Guttormsen_ip] [Hays96] [Hegarthy94] [Herrington99] [Langley81] [Large94] [Large96] [Park92] [Rieber88] [Rieber90] [Sutcliffe97]

Computer mediated human communication is less “rich” than direct human communication. In this context communication means both

• Exchange of information between people in order to reach a goal, or solve a task (e.g. developing a product together), and
• Personal communication.

Hence, relevant communication aspects are those directly affecting human task related information exchange. There is no general accepted taxonomy of communication and the available models are related to specific contexts. The following scheme gives an overview over important parameters related to personal and task oriented communication.

[Bordeau00] [Guttormsen01a] [Macaulay95]

Blake, T. (1977). Motion in instructional media: some subject-display mode interactions. Perceptual and Motor Skills, vol. 44, pp. 975-985.

Bordeau, J., Winer, L., Chomienne, M., Vazquez-Abad, J., Wasson, B. (2000). The baker's dozen: design principles for collaborative telelearning. In Bourdeau, J., Heller, R. (eds.). ED-MEDIA 2000, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, Montreal Canada, June 26 - July 1.

Buck, S. (1993). Entwicklung von Grundlagen für kognitionspsychologisch orientierte Richtlinien zur Gestaltung von Multimedia-Produkten. Paderborn: Universität GH Paderborn, p. 232.

ChanLin, L. (1999). Visual treatment for different prior knowledge. International Journal of Instructional Media, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 213-219.

ChanLin, L.-J. (2001). Considerations of spatial ability in learning from animation. In Montogomerie, C., Viteli, J. (eds.). ED-MEDIA 2001, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications Tampere, Finnland, June 25-20.

Döring, K.W. (1995). Lehren in der Weiterausbildung. Ein Dozentenleitfaden. Weinheim: Deutscher Studien Verlag.

Guttormsen Schär, S., Haubner, P. (2001). How can computers support collaborative project oriented learning? Experience with computer-supported co-operative work (CSCW). In Christoph Daetwyler (ed.). Use of computers in medical education part I: theoretical contributions. Zeitschrift für Hochschuldidaktik, Beiträge zu Studium, Wissenschaft und Beruf, Heft 4/1999. Available as pdf.

Guttormsen Schär, S., Zimmermann, P., Zuberbühler, H.J., Widmer, R.M., Krueger, H. (in preparation). Presentation of process oriented information content with multimedia: empirical studies with a differential approach. Available at the author.

Hays, T.A. (1996). Spatial abilities and the effects of computer animation on short-term and long-term memory in learning from multimedia systems. Journal of Educational Computing Research, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 139-155.

Hegarthy, M., V.K. Sims (1994). Individual differences in mental animation during mechanical reasoning. Memory and Cognition, vol. 22, pp. 411-430.

Herrington, J., Standen P. (1999). Moving from an instructivist to a constructivist. Multimedia learning environment. In Collins, B., Oliver, R. (eds.). ED-MEDIA'99, World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, Seattle, Washington, USA, June 19-24.

Langley, P., Simon, H.A. (1981). The central role of learning in cognition. In Anderson, J.R. (ed.). Cognitive skills and their acquisition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Large, J.A., et al. (1994). Multimedia and comprehension. A cognitive study. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, vol. 45, pp. 515-528.

Large, A., et al. (1996). Effects of animation in enhancing descriptive and procedural texts in a multimedia learning environment. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, vol. 47, no. 6, pp. 437-448.

Macaulay, L. (1995). Human Computer Interaction for Software Designers. London: International Thomson Computer Press, pp. 136-172.

Park, O., Gittelman, S.S. (1992). Selective use of animation and feedback in computer-based instruction. Educational Technology Research and Development, vol. 40, no.4, pp. 27-38.

Rieber, L.P., Hannafin, M.J. (1988). Effects of textual and animated orienting activities and practice on learning from computer-based instruction. Computers in Schools, vol. 5, no. 1/2, pp. 77-89.

Rieber, L.P. (1990). Animation in computer-based instruction. Educational technology Research and Development, vol. 38, pp. 77-86.

Sutcliffe, A.G. (1997). Task related information analysis. International Journal of Human Computer Studies, vol. 47, pp. 223-255