Hans-Jürgen Hoffmann Darmstadt University of Technology Dept. of Computer Science June 2003

1. Web and Aging— How the Web may evolve to a usable technical artifact as others which we are familiar with — Hans-Jürgen Hoffmann Darmstadt University of Technology Dept. of Computer Science June 2003 HCI Intl., Crete

2. Digression to history- Automobile- Telephone- ATM banking • Web in history- 1995 minus- 2003- 2011 plus • Some examples of stupid designs • Less is more • Be positive • And an epilogue (if you like) Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

3. Remarksfrom a retired professorin Computer ScienceTake it easy ! Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

4. Digression to history — the automobile — • Take Volkswagen as an example • Ferdinand Porsche, designing engineer, 1934 • High time in the fifties/sixties, millions in use • Do you remember:- poor heating- fixed seats- manual choke- frequent checking of oil level - fuel reserve switch at the floor board- manual switching for direction change, no automatic reset • Production just stopped in 2003 Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

5. Digression to history — the telephone — • Philipp Reis, inventor, 1861Alexander Graham Bell, inventor and designing engineer, 1876Thomas Alva Edison, inventor, 1876 • Long-distance calling, in the fifties • Replacement of analogue signalling by digital signalling, ~1990 • Internet telephonie, ~2000 • Do you remember:- ringing by pulse wheel - operator switching- ground key • Largest “computerized” network • Easy to use, just lift handset and dial Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

6. Digression to history — ATM banking — • Who invented it? Luther George Simjian, 1939 • Usable design by Don Wetzel, about 1970 • Touch screen, multi-lingual • Full service approaching • Security features • Now nearly everywhere,networked, worldwide • Home banking,internet banking • Standardisation missing . . Sorry, I didn’t find a better photography Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

7. Web in history — 1995 minus — • Hypertext, first approaches beginning 1945 • U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), 1973 - basics of Internet technology • Tim Berners-Lee(now Director of the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C), inventor and designing engineer of WWW;prototyping begins about 1990, demonstrations 1991 running • Browser development; propagation in science institutes and universities • Study Georgia University 1994http://www.gvu.gatech.edu/user_surveys/survey-01-1994/graphs/results-general.html=> 2 % of users elder than 50 years • First usability studies and design guidelines in literature(seldom followed) Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

8. Web in history — 2003 — • Web is “omnipresent”,like automobile, telephone, ATM • Electronic business (B2B), electronic commerce (B2C) • Not much advance in usability (although much articles in literature) • Elder people on the Web- passive (like TV)- semi-active (surfing for what they are interested in)- active (e.g., contributing in discussing communities) • However, (still) low consideration during design for what elder people wish or need, resp. Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

9. Web in history — 2011 plus — • Technical restrictions decreasing (e.g., broadband access) and access cheaper • Commercialisation • Some advance in usability (e.g., “Less is more”-movement) • Web even more omnipresent, “mobile” Web:E-Government, E-Learning, E-anything, Virtual travelling, M-Commerce • W3C starts to work on usability guidelines for Web usage by elder (and impaired) users • Elder people should actively influence Web design and usage — thanks for organising this workshop — Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

10. Some examples of stupid designs • Not all (especially elder people) use most recently introduced technologies; incompatibilities • Not much emphasis on content • Complex, bad arrangements • Small font, line thickness, button size, jargon • Flashing etc. • Who will continue this list ? • Similar complaints by other serious Web users ! Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

11. Less is more (i) Friedrich Schiller, 1795 - 1805: Einfachheit ist das Resultat der Reife (Simplicity is the result of maturity) Bill Raduchel, ~1999 ( Chief Strategy Officer, Sun Microsystems ) The challenge over the next 20 years will not be speed or cost or performance; it will be a question of complexity Jan Baan, ~1999 Our enemy is complexity, and it’s our goal to kill it Dave Moss, 2001 Keep it simple( in recognition of Visual Studio.Net, Microsoft Developer Network Journal, issue 27 ) Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

12. Less is more (ii) Stickers distributed by an American company, 2000, 2003, ... Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

13. Less is more (iii) There are posters distributed by IBM at CHI 2003 also following the Less is more-movement (sorry, the posters are so big that I can’t scan them in) Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

14. Be positive ! However, don’t stop to identify stupid designs ! Say it ! Avoid to visit/use them ! Stupid designs are stupid for all users, not only for the elder people ! Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

15. Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

16. Epilogue Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

17. That is what we missed ! . Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

18. And that is what will come ! Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann

19. ContactProf. em. Dr. Hans-Jürgen HoffmannDarmstadt University of TechnologyDarmstadt, GermanyHJHoffmann@ACM.org Web, a usable technical artifact - H.-J. Hoffmann