Home

>

Overview of the Structure of this Paper

In the first part of this paper, the history of computers and their interfaces will briefly be outlined. Most authors differentiate between four or five computer generations according to the technology used in each generation. This approach will be augmented with special consideration of interaction methods and programming languages.
The human-computer interface will be defined in detail in the second part. First, computer input and output devices as well as fundamental operating system concepts will be described. Subsequently, the human saspect will be explored. In addition, basic human-interface design guidelines will be introduced.
In the third part of this paper, the relationship computer users have with their machines will be discussed, since the attitude which participants in a conversation have towards each other has an impact on the communication. Furthermore, whether or not speech act theory can be applied to the context of human-computer interaction will be studied. Finally, an attempt to classify the "click acts" will be undertaken.
Other human-computer interaction methods will be examined in the fourth part, beginning with the desktop metaphor since it is the most common of all metaphors in user interfaces. After this, windows and dialog boxes⁶ will be discussed in detail. After having examined the single components, a look will then be taken at them in the discourse of interaction. An attempt will be made to give an answer to the question of what a human-computer conversation looks like, and what comparisons can be drawn with human-human conversation.
Finally, the results will be summarized and analyzed, and new approaches in HCI will be discussed.

>

> _uacct = "UA-276221-6"; urchinTracker();