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The Pragmatics of
Human-Computer Interaction

M.A. Thesis

Tom Alby

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• Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Introduction
  • Goal, Background, and Motivation
  • Overview of the Structure of this Paper
  • Terms and Definitions
• A Short History of Human-Computer Interaction
  • Early Computers
    • From the Abacus to Punch Card Machines
    • The First Computer Generation
    • The Second Computer Generation
    • The Third Computer Generation
  • Modern Computers
    • The Forth and the Fifth Computer Generation
    • Graphical User Interfaces
    • Conclusion
• Defining the Interface
  • The Computer
    • Computer Input and Output Devices
    • Information Storage
    • Information Processing
    • Operating System Concepts
  • The Human
    • Human Input and Output Channels
    • Information Storage
    • Information Processing
  • Design Principles in Human-Computer Interface Design
    • Interface Guidelines
    • Learnability and Simplicity
    • Direct Manipulation and WYSIWYG
    • Consistency and Perceived Stability
    • User Control
    • Feedback and Dialog
    • Knowing the User and his Tasks
    • Conclusion
• The Mouse Click as an Utterance
  • Human-Computer Relationships
    • Relationships and Communication
    • The "Dead" Machine and the Identity-Tranforming Tool
    • Computer Holding Power
  • From the Speech Act to the "Click Act"
    • Menus: User Utterances and Actions
    • User Actions as Click Acts
    • Classification of Click Acts
    • An Example: SimpleText
    • Conclusion
• Other Interaction Methods
  • Metaphors
    • Metaphors in Language and Thought
    • The Desktop Metaphor
    • The Desktop as a Virtual Space
    • Other Metaphors
    • The Metaphor as an Utterance
    • Metaphors and the Cooperative Principle
    • Conclusion
  • Windows
    • Types of Windows
    • Windows as a Part of the Desktop Metaphor
    • The Pragmatics of Windows
    • Conclusion
  • Dialog Boxes
    • Types of Dialog Boxes
    • Dialog Boxes as a Part of the Desktop Metaphor
    • Error Messages and the Cooperative Principle
    • Conclusion
  • The Discourse of Human-Computer Interaction
    • Discourse Analysis and Conversation Analysis
    • Human-Human Conversation vs. Human-Computer Conversation
    • Conclusion
• Conclusion
  • Summary of Results
    • Human-Computer Interaction vs. Human-Human Communication
    • Human-Computer Interaction and Interfaces
  • The Future of Human-Computer Interfaces
    • Voice and Sound Interfaces
    • Agents
    • Current Trends
• Works Cited
• About this document ...

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