Hypermedia and Interfaces: Design and Evaluation

Abstract

Although hypertext and hypermedia have been discussed for a number of years, it is only recently that such systems have become generally available to interface designers. A user base of thousands exists at the present time, the most widely used system being HyperCard, from Apple. Hypermedia systems differ from traditional software systems in the complexity of its domains of access, its reliance on visual presentation, and in the use of sound. These differences are beginning to revise previously held ideas and guidelines about the processes of designing and evaluating software interfaces. This session presents some of the approaches to coming to grips with this problem… a problem that will continue to grow as technological advances continue in the development of readily available hypermedia software on inexpensive hardware platforms.