About Ruth
Ruth has a PhD in computer science. Sometimes she is a university lecturer and at other times she is a consultant.-
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Category Archives: Design
Getting your hands on Apple’s iPhone
Another Apple marketing frenzy has led to the UK bracing itself for the launch of the iPhone tomorrow. The Carphone Warehouse is expecting large queues and Scotland Yard are warning customers to hide their new handsets so that they don’t … Continue reading
Posted in Design, Tech News, Technical
Tagged apple, bill buxton, direct manipulation, hand gestures, human-computer interaction, I/O, iphone, multi-touch, steve jobs, usability, user experience
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Why task analysis doesn’t do it for me
Like every self-respecting human-computer interaction (HCI) lecturer, I introduce task analysis or the technique of analysing how people perform a task or job, to my students a couple of weeks into a given course. Each time I am aware that … Continue reading
Codebreaking: Humans are the weakest link
People are the weakest link in all computer systems. We hear about the best cryptography money can buy: integrity checking, sender/receiver identity authentication, digital signatures, and then someone leaves a list of passwords on a post-it note stuck above a … Continue reading
Posted in Design
Tagged analysis, artificial intelligence, bletchley, code breakers, cognitive science, computers, cryptography, Design, enigma, herivel, phishing, rejewski, security, support, technology, usability
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Human-computer interaction: Can you see what it is yet?
The recent furore over the 2012 Olympics Logo reminds me of how people react to the user interfaces they find on everything they interact with, from websites to washing machines. If an interface, like a logo, is well-designed, no one … Continue reading
Visualisation: Information is power – just avoid drowning in data
(The Great Fire of London map at the British Library website) In the 1530s when Henry VIII realised that dissolving the monastries would get him much needed assets, he commissioned a map of London, paying particular attention to ‘lawless’ Southwark. … Continue reading