User Understanding.
Abstract
This document explores some ideas about how much understanding a user needs to perform skillfully using a device. I suggest a framework for characterizing user understanding and discuss the role of understanding in performance and learning. I propose that (a) the level at which a user interacts with a device is determined by the tasks being performed, (b) the device's functions and structures that are understood differ from level to level, and (c) a uniform set of criteria is appropriate for evaluating understanding at any level. The criteria concern three aspects of a USER's knowledge about a device: 1)Coherence - are the components of the user's knowledge related in an integrated structure; 2) Validity - does the user's knowledge reflect the actual behavior of the device?; and 3) Integration - to what extent is the user's knowledge about a device tied to other components of a user's knowledge? The author discusses how Coherence, Validity, and Integration facilitate learning, improve the efficiency, flexibility, and reliability of performance, provide predictive and explanatory power, increase the likelihood that procedures will be remembered or can be regenerated, and enable the transfer of skills. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA157155
Entities
People
- M. S. Riley
Organizations
- University of California, San Diego