lessons learnt from an hci repository

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 22 (1998) 389—396

Lessons learnt from an HCI repository

Paul Wilson!,*, John Borras"! CSC UK, 279 Farnborough Rd, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7LS, UK

" DPD, Inland Revenue, 1st Floor Strand Bridge House, 138 - 142 Strand, London WC2R 1HH, UK

Abstract

This paper describes how repository concepts have been put into practice in the Inland Revenue — the UK Tax Office— which has a managed network of 45,000 MS-Windows PCs. In 1993, the organisation started to implementa comprehensive HCI Programme. An HCI Framework and a Style Guide were written, usability evaluation techniqueswere tried out, and an HCI repository implemented. The repository includes interlinked MS Windows Help Files of theHCI documents, the organisation’s Data Strategy documents and various HCI information such as usability metrics byproject, examples of completed HCI work, typical resource requirements and costs for HCI methods, standard keyboardassignments, toolbar icons, etc. The format proved so effective that it has become the recognised vehicle for many of theorganisation’s strategy documents and procedure manuals and is now accessible to several thousand staff via 30 LocalArea Networks.

The purpose of the repository is to provide standards, guidance, methods, templates, checklists, etc., to help people dotheir work more effectively; and to enable people to feedback their experiences to improve its contents. The InlandRevenue implementation indicates that it is best to start small and simple and respond to user requests for informationand functionality. However, the need to motivate people to take the time and trouble to feedback their experiences to therepository is recognised as a major cultural challenge.

Repositories can be useful to any community which undertakes purposeful activity. This includes Ergonomics/HCIspecialists within an organisation, within a country, and across the world. However, to exploit the potential ofa respository a community must adjust its organisations and intitutions; and community members must come to a newunderstanding of their role. Individuals must learn to place greater priority on working together and on feeling back theirexperiences into the improvement cycle.

Relevence to industry

The successful application of Ergonomics/HCI principles and techniques within a dynamic organisation requiresefficient knowledge sharing to avoid re-inventing the wheel and to learn from experience. This paper provides an exampleof how a widely distributed and easily accessible Repository can provide an effective knowledge sharing infrastruc-ture. ( 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Repository; HCI usability; Organisational learning

*Corresponding author.

0169-8141/98/$19.00 Copyright ( 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reservedPII S 0 1 6 9 - 8 1 4 1 ( 9 7 ) 0 0 0 9 3 - 0

1. Introduction

The Inland Revenue (IR) is the UK Tax Office. Itemploys around 55,000 peole in 800 offices. It hasmanaged a network of 1000 UNIX servers and45,000 MS Windows PCs supporting local tax offi-ces; and about 40#Local Area Networks (LANs)— some interconnected, some not — supportinga further 8000#MS Windows PCs used by policy,management and administration staff.

In 1993, Paul Wilson, a CSC consultant workingin IR’s Systems Architecture Unit, launched a 150page Framework document describing how Hu-man—Computer Interaction (HCI) issues are to beadressed. The Framework collects together all thePeople issues associated with IR computer systems,and spans technology (hardware and software),workplace (furniture, lighting etc.), support (docu-mentation, training, etc.) and people and job as-pects (such as teamworking, job design etc.). AnInterface Style Guide to support computer screendesign, was published at the same time.

Although both documents were published in thehardcopy format, they had been constructedaround two principles which require a more dy-namic format to achieve their aims:f ¹he use of templates, checklists etc. to minimise

time and manpower effort.f ¸earning by experience to promote constant im-

provement and adaptation to change.Therefore, a specification for an electronic HCI

repository was produced, but it was over a yearbefore an opportunity arose to implement it. At thebeginning of 1995, John Borras, who was respon-sible for the IR Data Strategy, decided to explorethe use of Windows Help Files for publishing thetwo Data Strategy manuals. The IR Style Guidecross-references the Data Strategy manuals for fieldlabels, date formats, etc., so it made sense to buildand distribute them as two interlinked Help Fileswith hypertext links within and between each file.No additional software was required by users toread the files because the Help software is alreadyembedded in the MS-Windows operating system.

So it was that the IR strategic information re-pository (SIR) was born. The first version con-tained six manuals, several other documents,a single Glossary and a single set of References

— equivalent to about 600 hardcopy pages in all. Itwas distributed on three 1.4 Mb disks to about 160individuals and to 15 LANs.

It was well received and authors of other IRmanuals were quick to see the potential benefits(easier and cheaper maintenance, dynamic crossreferencing to other documents, less ‘shelfware’ for-gotten in cupboards). One year later in June 1996,the 5th edition of the SIR contained 10 manualsand many other documents, equating to approxim-ately 1000 pages. Some of these items continue tobe published in hardcopy as well. The majority,however, do not and it is conservatively estimatedthat this has eliminated 143,000 pages and 1800binders/folders. This represents a real saving of atleast £55,000 because the items concerned would allhave had major re-issues by now. That figure has tobe set against SIR costs which, for the 5th editionamounted to some £9000 (£8750 people costs and£250 for disks).

The 5th edition was distributed to 120 indi-viduals and 30 LANs making it available to ap-proximately 4—5000 people. This is far more thanwas possible using hardcopy which constrains dis-tribution by its cost and bulk. Hardcopy manualssent to section leaders and managers may be ac-cessible to staff in principle but are less so in prac-tice.

The overall structure of the SIR and the detailedstructure of the HCI element is shown in Fig. 1.

2. Repository concepts

Repositories come in all shapes and sizes, fromthe ancient ‘great library’ at Alexandria to the ob-ject libraries of today’s IT systems. They are all‘places where things are stored or may be found’(Fowler and Fowler, 1962). But the sort of reposi-tory this paper is describing has the followingrather specific characteristics:f it is the definitive source of informationf its purpose is to save time and effort and to

support learning by experiencef its core structure and form are centrally

managedf its contents change and improvef it exists to serve a specified community

390 P. Wilson, J. Borras / International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 22 (1998) 389—396

Fig. 1. The high level contents of the IR Strategic Information Repository (SIR).

f everybody in the community knows about it andcan access it

f anybody in the community can suggest additionsand modifications.This type of repository operates at two levels. At

the first level, people use the repository to find outthings to help them do their work. At the secondlevel, people use their experiences to improve thecontents of the repository (see Fig. 2).

This two level approach is similar to Doug En-gelbart’s ‘Bootstrap Strategy’ in which he espousesinvestment in an ‘open hyperdocument system’ tosupport collaborative knowledge development and

the continuous compounded improvement of boththe product cycle time and the improvement cycletime (Engelbart, 1992).

In enabling information to be shared and im-proved, this type of repository is acting as a vehiclefor cooperative work and group communication.Functionality of the type listed in Fig. 3, is requiredto support these activities.

The contents of this type of repository may bemany and varied. Generic type of information heldin the IR repository includes:f Policy and strategy documents such as the HCI

Framework.

P. Wilson, J. Borras / International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics 22 (1998) 389—396 391

Fig. 2. Pool and Purify — a model of the two levels of repositoryoperation.

f Plans such as lists of usability projects.f Standards and guidelines such as the IR Interface

Style Guide.f Methods and processes such as descriptions of user-

centred design and usability evaluation techniques.f ¹emplates, forms, spreadsheets and checklists

such as the HCI Checklist (see Fig. 4).f Examples of the use of particular methods/pro-

cesses and templates/checklists.f Facts and figures such as the average cost of

carrying out particular usability evaluation tech-niques; and usability metrics for particular busi-ness systems.

f Interface objects such as icons and commandbuttons; and the interfaces associated with com-posite business objects (for example, a name andaddress input routine).

2.1. HCI checklist

The checklist below can be used to identify whichHCI issues are to be taken into account in a sys-tems development.

The questions in the checklist relate to the vari-ous HCI components and quality assurance tech-niques documented in the HCI Framework. Thereference numbers to the left of the questions are ofthe type Number/Number. The Number before theslash refers to the section of the HCI Frameworkfrom which the question originates; the Numberafter the slash is a serial number to provide aunique reference number within this checklist.

To the right of each question are three scoringspaces; the first for ‘Yes’ responses; the second for‘No’ responses; and the third for ‘For Further In-vestigation’ responses. For each ‘YES’ answer, referto the relevant section of the HCI Framework forfurther guidance on how to tackle the topic.

3. Implementation considerations

Experience at the Inland Revenue indicates thatthere are many issues to address when implemen-ting this type of repository. Some are describedbelow:f Initial scope: The IR repository has changed be-

yond all recognition since its first publication.Requests to include new material keep coming inas more and more people perceive its advant-ages. Functionality has been added as usage hasexposed the requirements (for example, in the 5thversion an index facility for the whole of thecontents was provided), and the presentationand layout has been changed to make it easier touse. This process of development is an integralpart of the target community exploring what itneeds. Therefore, potential repository implemen-tors would be well advised to start small andsimple rather than trying to include all possiblematerial and to provide all possible functionalityfrom day 1.

f ¹echnology: The IR repository started by usingWindows Help software because it was cheapand easy, and could be delivered on IR’s existingtechnology. These characteristics have resultedin Windows Help software being widely usedthroughout the business world. For example,a version of the CSC Corporate Systems Devel-opment Methodology, Catalyst, was imple-mented as a Windows Help File (Ohnemus,


Fig. 3. Cooperative work and group communication requirements for a repository.

1995). However IR’s current version of the SIR isvery much a tactical pilot and other technologiesare being explored for the eventual full-scale im-plementation. Possibilities include Web facilitieswithin an Intranet; Adobe Acrobat PortableDocument Format (PDF); and Microsoft Ex-change.

f Distribution: Up till now IR has distributed itsrepository on floppy disks to individuals and toLAN system administrators. For the next ver-sion, however, it is planned to distribute viaE-mail. A set-up program makes it easy for re-cipients to install parts or all of its contents whena new release arrives. The eventual aim, however,is to have a fully networked repository which canbe updated on-line.

f People costs: Authors need spend only a littleextra time to ensure that their documents arewritten in line with the IR’s screen writing guide.Completed documents are submitted to an In-formation Management Group which employs1.5 staff for roughly 75% of their time. Theirresponsibilities range from embedding new man-uals into the repository, to seeking out Examplesand ‘Facts and Figures’. IR has found that ittakes 2 — 3 mandays effort to translate the elec-tronic form of a typical manual into a WindowsHelp File. However, each new repository itemadds to the complexity and increases the impor-tance of testing all the hypertext links. IR setsaside up to a week before the issue of a newversion for this testing activity.


Fig. 4. HCI Checklist.

f ºpdating: The IR repository is currently updatedwhen a significant new addition is made or whensufficient minor changes have accumulated. Inpractice, this has meant a new version beingissued about every two months. If the repositorywere fully on-line, however, updates could beissued immediately, new material has been in-corporated and tested.

f Motivating people to deposit their experiences: Toachieve its aims, the repository must be constant-ly supplied with people’s experiences and im-provement suggestions. Until people get used tothis idea and feel they will benefit from doing so,they are unlikely to find the time to do what isseen as an overhead activity. What is required isa major cultural shift. IR has recognised this


Fig. 4. (Continued)

need and is exploring what cultural change initi-atives might be feasible and effective.

4. Putting repositories to use

Repositories can be useful to any communitywhich undertakes purposeful activity. They can be

useful to groups within an organisation, to wholeorganisations, to groups cutting across many or-ganisations, to groups within a country, and togroups across the world.

Embryo repositories abound. Databases ofshared information, Lotus Notes databases, Micro-soft Exchange folders, and an enormous variety ofWeb-based facilities all possess some repository


characteristics. But to be a true ‘bootstrap’ reposi-tory requires a goal-based focus and the two levelapproach to making people’s work more produc-tive and to improving the repository contents. Thetransformation from embryonic form to bootstrapform is not simply a matter of reorganising theinformation and the way it is maintained; it in-volves the whole community coming to a new un-derstanding of the way it operates. Individualsmust place greater priority on working togetherand on feeding back their experiences into the im-provement cycles. The community must structureits organisation and institutions to enable its mem-bers to contribute in this way.

Within organisations, ergonomics/HCI reposito-ries can be used to reuse expertise. For example,Henninger et al. (1995) describe a prototype systemin which designers can describe user requirementsand be presented with associated guidelines andrelevant ‘usability examples’ — instances of similarinterfaces that have been built. Taking this onestage further, repositories which collect informa-tion about the cost of doing usability evaluations orof providing ergonomic input to the design process,can focus efforts on improving methods and reduc-ing costs. By collecting information about benefitsas well, the methods which provide best value formoney could be identified over time.

But it is within countries and across the world,where the greatest potential lies for the use of re-positories by Ergonomists and HCI specialists.Each day vast amounts of new experience is beinggained in our worldwide community, but much of itis never publicised. Even the material that is pub-lished just contributes to our individual informa-tion overloads. Do we as a community need tofocus on faster, more effective self-improvement?Do we want to? If we answer yes to both thosequestions, then Internet Web-based technology

surely offers us the best chance ever of doing some-thing about it.

5. Conclusions

The increasing pace of change has forced organ-isations to increase the speed of knowledge acquisi-tion, distribution and exploitation. An integral partof this process is sharing experiences and improv-ing the collective wisdom. Technology can help, butcan only be effective if people understand, and acton, their new role in acquiring and improvingknowledge for the common good. Repositories canbe the focal point of this new corporate endeavour.They hold the same promise for national andworldwide communities of interest.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Inland Revenuefor permission to publish much of the informationcontained within this paper.

References

Engelbart., 1992. A comprehensive strategy for bootstrappingorganisations into the 21st century, Brochure for a SeminarHeld on 24—26 March. Stanford University.

Fowler, H.W., Fowler, F.G., 1962. The Pocket Oxford Diction-ary. 4th ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Henninger, S., Haynes, K., Reith, M.W., 1995. A framework fordeveloping experience-based usability guidelines. In: Olson,G.M., Shuon, S. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 1995 Symposiumon designing interactive systems. University of Michigan,Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. ACM, New York.

Ohnemus, K., 1995. Implementing a large scale windows helpsystem: critical success factors and lessons learned. In: Pro-ceedings of the 1995 ACM SIGDOC conference. Savannah,GA, USA.


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