Design environments for high-functionality computer systems
Andreas Lemke, Gerhard Fischer · 1989
High-functionality computer systems (HFCS) offer many tools and components. No single user of such a system can be or should be expert with them all. This thesis explores the issues involved in designing computational environments to support users who are performing design tasks in unfamiliar domains. Design environments are needed to allow designers to take advantage of the many facilities of HFCS without extended learning and training periods. To investigate these issues, a series of construction kits and design environments for the domain of user interface design have been implemented. Evaluation of user interactions with these systems shows that design environments enable nonexperts to carry out design tasks that otherwise require a considerable amount of expertise. With this experience as a foundation, an architecture for design environments is presented.