The DOI matches its Crossref record; 2 of the 2 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Training wheels in a user interface
Open accessAbstract
New users of high-function application systems can become frustrated and confused by the errors they make in the early stages of learning. A training interface for a commercial word processor was designed to make typical and troublesome error states “unreachable,” thus eliminating the sources of some new-user learning problems. Creating a training environment from the basic function of the system itself afforded substantially faster learning coupled with better learning achievement and better performance on a comprehension post-test. A control group spent almost a quarter of their time recovering from the error states that the training interface blocked off. We speculate on how this training strategy might be refined, and more generally, on how function should be organized in a user interface.
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“Carroll and Carrithers [1984] exploited this effect with their Training Wheels interfaces, which intentionally reduced the number of commands displayed.”
From Supporting Novice to Expert Transitions in User Interfaces (2015) · cites this paper as Carroll and Carrithers [1984]
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“The original concept involved hiding advanced interface controls; allowing users to make fewer initial errors and learn the system more effectively [15].”
From Progressive Disclosure: When, Why, and How Do Users Want Algorithmic Transparency Information? (2020) · cites this paper as [15]
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“The original concept involved hiding advanced interface controls; allowing users to make fewer initial errors and learn the system more effectively [14].”
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“Progressive disclosure has a long history in UI research, dating back to the Xerox Star and early word processing systems [14,61,74].”
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“This enhanced understanding of core concepts gives them a framework that later helps them integrate the complexities of the advanced features [6,15].”
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“However, empirical studies examining progressive disclosure show that people learn better when they are initially limited to a smaller set of core features.”
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Cites
Learning to use word processors
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Metadata
- Authors
- Carroll, J. M., & Carrithers, C.
- Affiliations
- IBM (United States) (US)
- Columbia University (US)
- ORCID
- Carroll, John M.
- Venue
- Communications of the ACM
- Published
- 1984-08
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 800-806
- ISSN
- 0001-0782 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-7317
- OpenAlex
- W114843461
- Cited by
- 345
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 57 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 12.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Communications of the ACM (publishedVersion)
- Ablex Publishing Corp. eBooks
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Usability and User Interface Design
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Visual and Cognitive Learning Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Human Resource Development and Performance Evaluation
- Keywords
- user interface design, novice users, user learning, error states, word processing software, user understanding
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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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