possible. This not only expands the potential market for a software product, 
but also gives the user the opportunity of using the same software on several 
  
systems. 
The goals of user friendliness and transportability can tend to 
truly user-friendly, 
exclusive. To be 
Speak, some to point, etc. Some prefer 
graphics, and so on. 
degree of commonality among systems. 
the "lowest common denominator". 
keyboard and an alphanumeric CRT. 
rarely adequate. 
The parallels between the dichotomy of user 
independence and the 
problems which led 
systems are illustrated in Figure 1. 
friendliness and machine 
to the development of operating 
be mutually 
a program must be tailored to the 
individual likes and dislikes of the users--some prefer to type, some 
their output in hardcopy, some 
Software portability, on the other hand, requires 
Such commonality generally represents 
For user interaction, this is usually 
For interactive image analysis, this is 
  
ISSUE 
Complexity 
Portability 
Efficiency 
MACHINE 
Hardware devices store 
and retrieve informa- 
tion in increasingly 
complex ways and 
engineers constantly 
modifying their 
Specifications. 
Software packages 
should be able to run 
on many different 
systems with many 
different hardware 
features. 
The software should 
adapt to the hardvare 
environment in order to 
take full advantage of 
the hardware's capabil- 
ities. 
USER 
Humans provide and 
receive information 
in complex ways and 
are scientists are 
constantly discover- 
ing new principles of 
human information 
processing. 
Software packages 
should be able to 
run on many differ- 
ent systems with 
many different human 
interface features. 
The software should 
conform to each indiv- 
idual user's interface 
preferences so that he 
or she can use the 
system comfortably and 
efficiently. 
Figure 1: Parallels Between Machine And User Interfaces 
(Source: Morland, 1985) 
  
Morland (1985) was exhorting application programmers to pay more attention to 
had recognized that the user 
the user interface 
average 
dealt 
applications 
programming, there are equally complex scientific 
in 19083. By 1985, he 
interface was too important and too complex to be left in the hands of 
especially in scientific 
issues which are better 
with by scientific experts who should not be bothered with the details 
of help files, user interface or input/output. 
programmer. 
594 
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