1. Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to Human Computer Interaction Guidelines Jens Ingensand GIS Research Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) jens.ingensand@epfl.ch

2. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Overview 1 Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Principles 2 Open Source Software and HCI 3 Development of an Interface According to HCI Guidelines 4 Guidelines for Open Source GIS Developers Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

3. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Overview 1 Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Principles 2 Open Source Software and HCI 3 Development of an Interface According to HCI Guidelines 4 Guidelines for Open Source GIS Developers Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

4. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 1 Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Principles A set of theories and methods with one principal goal: Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines Minimizing the users cognitive load

5. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 1 Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Principles Usability - Effective to use (effectiveness) - Efficient to use (efficiency) - Safe to use (safety) - Have good utility (utility) - Easy to learn (learnability) - Easy to remember how to use (memorability) (Preece, 2002) Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

6. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Overview 1 Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Principles 2 Open Source Software and HCI 3 Development of an Interface According to HCI Guidelines 4 Guidelines for Open Source GIS Developers Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

7. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 2 Open Source Software and HCI -The meeting of two different paradigms: -The open source-developer-user who both uses software and contributes to its development -HCI principles that attempts to bridge the gap between programmers and users through specific techniques (Nichols & Twidale 2003) Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

8. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 2 Open Source Software and HCI -Is there a usability problem ? - Usability is harder to specify and to distribute than functionality - Open source software projects are often initiated by persons with a technical need - Usability experts seldom get involved in open source projects - Open source projects don’t have the resources to undertake usability work - Open source software tends to bloat more than proprietary software Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

9. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Overview 1 Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Principles 2 Open Source Software and HCI 3 Development of an Interface According to HCI Guidelines 4 Guidelines for Open Source GIS Developers Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

10. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 3 Development of an Interface According to HCI Guidelines Goals: - parcel-management-system for winegrowers - based on open-source GIS modules - using HCI-guidelines Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

11. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 3 Development of an Interface According to HCI Guidelines Technologies: - MapServer - PhP - Postgresql/Postgis - Rosa-applet - Java Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

12. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 3 Development of an Interface According to HCI Guidelines HCI Problems (example) Java mode disabled Click to enable Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

13. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 3 Development of an Interface According to HCI Guidelines Prototype Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

14. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Overview 1 Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Principles 2 Open Source Software and HCI 3 Development of an Interface According to HCI Guidelines 4 Guidelines for Open Source GIS Developers Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

15. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 4 Guidelines for Open Source GIS Sevelopers Problem: many different modules and projects put together => Consistency => Feedback, error-handling and labels => Focus on the interaction => Compatibility Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

16. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology 4 Guidelines for open-source GIS developers Problem: missing contact to the user => already a few sample-users can reveal many problems => offer possibility to give feedback to the user => involvement of other parties Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

17. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Questions? Comments? Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines

18. 2004-06-08Jens Ingensand, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Thank You! Developing Interfaces for Open Source GIS Applications According to HCI Guidelines