Comparing a form-based and a language-based user interface for instructing a mail program

  • Authors:
  • Robin Jeffries;Jarrett Rosenberg

  • Affiliations:
  • Hewlett-Packard Labs, Palo Alto, CA;Hewlett-Packard Labs, Palo Alto, CA

  • Venue:
  • CHI '87 Proceedings of the SIGCHI/GI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and Graphics Interface
  • Year:
  • 1986

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Abstract

In the domain of interaction languages, forms have been found to be of value in allowing users, especially non-programmers, to specify objects and operations with a minimum of training, time, and errors. Most of that research, however, has been on the use of data base query languages. The present research found that in a procedural task of specifying mail filtering instructions, non-programmers using a form were as fast as programmers using a procedural language, although programmers using the form were faster still.