2-D Diagrams LO4596

Al Selvin (selvin@nynexst.com)
Thu, 4 Jan 1996 10:04:07 -0500

Replying to LO4497 --

> From: "William J. Hobler, Jr." <bhobler@cpcug.org> Date: Sat, 30
> Dec 1995 07:53:46 -0500
> Subject: 2-D diagrams LO4497
>
> JOHN WARFIELD wrote
> >
> >Of course what is of final importance in representations is whether
> >human beings possess the capacity to extract from them with some
> >modest effort what they are intended to convey.
> >
> >Fortunately most people who deal with hypertext and other extended
> >forms of representation are able to ignore that simple fact, because
> >to do otherwise would be to go out of business.

> Just as in facilitating meetings the facilitator must be familiar with
> the mental models of the participants, the designer of presentations
> must connect with the viewer, reader or listener.

This is the point, I think. I agree with John that representations must be
"readable" and understandable or they are without much merit. Hypertext
and other software tools can, indeed, allow people to create gigantic
representations that do not communicate. However, this is not inherently
the case.

Our work in this vein has been driven, in large part, by the need to
strike a balance between the communicative needs and capacities of a
model's users, especially in dialogue with one another, with the need to
model large amounts of complex information (for example, in business
process redesign projects).

We originally began working with QuestMap (not "QuestMaps," sorry for the
typo!) and related approaches as facilitative mechanisms -- ways to help
groups involved in design projects attain greater degrees of shared
understanding. We have also (as part of the same general body of work)
been exploring ways to model and simulate complex domains. One of the
results of these efforts has been work to combine the two approaches,
which has had some success in project settings. As William points out, the
success has been due to the ability of the medium -- and its practitioners
(modeler/facilitators) -- to serve and support a wide variety of
communicative activities.

--
Al Selvin
NYNEX Science & Technology
selvin@nynexst.com