SIGIA-L Mail Archives: RE: Re: SIGIA-L: ZUI hatred
RE: Re: SIGIA-L: ZUI hatred
From: Tanya Rabourn (rabourn_at_columbia.edu)
Date: Mon Mar 25 2002 - 03:04:35 EST
Lyle_Kantrovich_at_cargill.com wrote:
> One of the key things I've learned from Jared Spool's research is that
> users sometimes don't know REALLY what they are looking for. For
I think I just heard every current and former librarian lurking on this
list say "no joke, Lyle" all at once. That's why library schools teach
that reference interview dance.
Following this ZUI thread just makes me that much more impressed with the
IBM solution to searching Philip Glass's back catalog. Matt Jones
mentioned it a few weeks ago on the list and fortunately pointed out to me
that one of the team members from IBM was speaking about it the week after
the IA summit (in nyc).
http://www.philipglass.com/glassengine/
They were trying to address the needs of users wanting to license portions
(for commercials, etc. I assume) of his works yet they wouldn't be
knowledgeable enough to perform a known item search. They would only know
that they wanted the song to be pretty zippy or airy, etc. I believe it
was Glass who suggested using the sliders to select the level of
"velocity" and other such terms that seem in keeping with the primary
users' mental model better than most that I've seen.
Jared wrote:
> So, the question comes down to, how does a designer know, in advance
> of usage, what dimensions to use that users will want to zoom in on?
>
> If ZUI's map into what we know about current web-based content, the
> answer to the question will vary based on the content involved.
> Research into the content area and how people need/want to access it
> is required for successful implementation.
I think that's what's responsible for some of our poor experiences with
ZUI's.
Back to the glass engine demo -- someone in the audience asked how she
would find a piece that featured a cello. The interface didn't allow for
that. I don't think it was a flaw with the interface though, just wrong
interface for that particular task.
-Tanya
___________________________________
Tanya Rabourn <rabourn_at_columbia.edu>
[User Services Consultant]
AcIS R & D <www.columbia.edu/acis/rad>
tel: 212.854.0295
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