TOOLS FOR INTERACTIVE SYSTEM DESIGN
Hartmut Weule, Lukas Loffler · ACM SIGCHI Bulletin · 1988
Our interface development project describes several unique requirements for the human-computer interface for situations where one or more expert systems are integrated into a process environment. Our prototype for the Human Interface to the Thermal Expert System, HITEXS, is build in Intellicorp's KEE environment and consists of a set of tools which assist the operator in verifying expert system diagnoses. Our design ideas grew out of the metaphor of a knowledgeable assistant. This suggested the following capabilities for our interface:(1) Routine operations must be handled with ease(2) Information needs to be filtered, e.g. only relevant and important knowledge should be conveyed(3) The interface must brief, advise, remind the user(4) The interface must be able to explain the actions of the expert system(5) The interface must be able to accept for execution detailed assignments based on high-level instructionsOur goal is to instantiate these characteristics and thus demonstrate state-of-the-art human interface design; e.g. we are developing an interface that is both sensitive to the needs of the user and responsive to the physical system context.