From Apple to Archy: the Visionary Journey of Jef Raskin
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BOOK REVIEW From Apple to Archy: The Visionary Journey of Jef Raskin The Humane Interface By Jef Raskin Addison Wesley, 2000 Reviewed by Charlie Kreitzberg Jef Raskin, who headed the Macintosh project from 1979 to 1982, died on February 26, 2005, at age 61. Like many of the pio- neers in personal computing, Raskin was a Renaissance man—a musician, composer, and conductor. His sculptures have been exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art; one is included in the permanent collection. easy-to-use computer for consumers. When he became convinced that it would The fog that surrounds corporate history According to Wired News, Raskin recalled, work and that it would be an exciting new has created several versions of the origins of “There was this thing that I’d been dreaming product, he started to take over.” the Macintosh and Raskin’s role in it. of for some time, which I called Macintosh. To honor Jef Raskin’s contributions to the According to Arik Hesseldahl’s 2005 Forbes The biggest thing about it was that it would field of interface design, User Experience is article, Raskin wrote his 1967 master’s thesis be designed from a human-factors perspec- publishing this review of his book, The on GUIs and then encountered the Xerox Star tive, which at that time was totally Humane Interface: New Directions for at the Palo Alto Research Center in the incomprehensible.” Designing Interactive Systems. 1970s. After visiting the garage in which It was not an easy sell. “[Steve] Jobs hated Jef Raskin spent a large part of his life pas- Jobs and Wozniak were building their upstart the idea,” Raskin said. “He ran around say- sionately thinking about computers and how company, Raskin became Apple’s thirty-first ing ‘No! No! It’ll never work.’ He was one of best to interact with them. He summarized a lot employee in 1977. the Macintosh’s harshest critics, and he was of that thinking in his book The Humane In 1979, Raskin proposed building an always putting it down at board meetings. Interface. The Humane Interface is not a how- www.usabilityprofessionals.org Summer 2005 User Experience 19 BOOK REVIEW to book. Rather, it is a sweeping look at the Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection interaction design and attention. While atten- field of human interface design, and a Rules (GOMS) model, Fitt’s Law, and Hick’s tion is one of the key cognitive processes that foundation for Raskin’s vision of a new para- Law. These are useful for the less experienced UI designers must consider, Raskin does not digm for human-computer interaction. Like reader but seem neither particularly com- discuss closely related concepts such as Alan Cooper’s books, it is a mixture of ideas pelling nor profound. In reading on, however, recognition vs. recall, perceptual grouping, and opinion; those seeking a nuts-and-bolts it becomes clear that Raskin is laying a foun- concept formation, and mental models of approach to interaction design may be disap- dation for a rethinking of the basic UI process, which are also part of the underly- pointed, and those who have been in the field paradigm that has been with us since the days ing cognitive foundation of UI design. for many years may find some of his discus- of the Xerox Star, Lisa, and Macintosh. This As a musician, Raskin was aware that musi- sions of the fundamentals rather simplistic. But new paradigm was originally called THE (for cal notation is, at best, a fair approximation of for those who are trying to understand the The Humane Environment) and later renamed the composition to be played—a situation that field in holistic terms, and those who want to Archy (a play on R-CHI, the initials of the is even worse in dance choreography. Perhaps take human-computer interaction to the next Raskin Center for Humane Interfaces). this is the reason that he begins with a discus- sion of the problems of creating precise specifications for sequences of actions for key- For those who are trying to under- strokes and mouse movements and presents a workable, if somewhat cumbersome, notation stand the field in holistic terms,… this for accomplishing this task. book is essential reading. UI a la Mode Raskin held that UI interaction should be stage, this book is essential reading. Foundations modeless. A mode is a state in which specific Instructors who are looking for material to Raskin felt that the first step in creating an actions take on unique meanings. For exam- help students get a conceptual grasp of the effective UI paradigm is to ensure that it fits ple, dragging the mouse in a paint program field may also find this an excellent text, par- comfortably within the human cognitive can have different effects depending on what ticularly if supplemented by a comprehensive processes. He identifies a key characteristic tool is selected. In Microsoft Word™, pressing review of the literature such as the one pro- of a good UI paradigm as “automaticity”— the letter keys may have different conse- vided by Shneiderman and Plaisant’s the ability of the user to rapidly habituate to quences depending upon whether you are in Designing the User Interface: Strategies for the UI so that interactions become effortless. Insert or Overwrite mode. Effective Human-Computer Interaction (4th To achieve automaticity, the UI must align Raskin’s view is that modes add unneces- Edition), also published by Addison Wesley. with the underlying cognitive process. sary complexity by increasing cognitive load On first reading, I found The Humane Accordingly, he begins with a discussion of on users, who must remember what mode is Design a bit puzzling. The initial chapters cognitive foundations. In the chapter currently active and deal with the overhead of focus on presentation of basic cognitive prin- “Cognetics and the Locus of Attention,” switching from mode to mode. Raskin suggests ciples of UI and a well-written recap of the Raskin explores the relationship between that designers employ “user-maintained” 20 User Experience Summer 2005 www.usabilityprofessionals.org modes in which the user actively maintains the textual information in the image. This trans- plans to release a prototype of the proposed mode while the operation is being completed. formed data could then be acted upon by the interface paradigm (Archy) in the near future. An example of a user-maintained mode is typ- spell-check operator. Undertaking to revise the basic interaction ing while holding down the shift key. Contrast For navigation, Raskin envisioned a para- paradigm is a daunting task and it is difficult that with the alternative of pressing the Caps digm based on panning and zooming. Imagine to see all the ramifications. Is Raskin’s vision Lock key, which creates a pure mode. Before I viewing the World Wide Web from outer space, robust, efficient, intuitive, and extensible? I purchased a keyboard that allowed me to dis- then zooming in on your company, your per- don’t know. While I don’t feel comfortable able Caps Lock, I actually pried the offending sonal computer, a particular document, a with all of Raskin’s conclusions, his vision is key off my keyboard because of the frequency paragraph, and finally, a word. Raskin called vast and his arguments are thoughtful. with which I pressed it by mistake. this metaphor “ZoomWorld”; a demonstration is Asked in a 1999 interview (see Raskin also argues for the superiority of available at www.raskincenter.org. www.mymac.com) about his most significant noun-verb interaction over verb-noun construc- professional achievements, Raskin replied tions. For example, it is generally easier to Conclusion that, “convincing Apple that it was better inter- select text and then press the delete key than Raskin believed that current GUI faces and not better hardware that it needed to press the delete key and then indicate what approaches are bloated, outdated, and incon- to stay alive after the Apple II, and creating text should be deleted. sistent and should be replaced by a new and leading the Macintosh project to imple- Raskin is skeptical of the value of customiza- paradigm. He began the design of a new par- ment that insight, are wonderful credentials to tion and of interfaces that attempt to cater to adigm with the ill-fated Canon CAT computer. have in my résumé.” both novices and experts. I do not agree with Unfortunately, this computer did not have the But for Raskin, the Macintosh was the past. this position. It seems to me that customization, commercial success that would have exposed The future was Archy. All of us in the usability although usually poorly implemented, is impor- his ideas to a wider audience. profession have something to learn from him. tant in dealing with individual differences. We To continue his work, Raskin founded the It is not necessary to agree with all of his con- know there are cognitive stylistic differences Raskin Center for Humane Interfaces. clusions to hope that his vision will have a among individuals, as well as differences in the Although his work is not complete, there are major impact on the future of HCI. types of tasks and processes that bring users to a particular application. A customizable inter- face can be extremely helpful in helping a Everything You Ever Wanted to Know software application fit real-world needs. About Gathering User Requirements Abolishing Applications Your first thought when you pick up this Raskin would probably have replied that impressive book is, “Wow, it’s heavy.” The sec- there is no need for software applications.