Topical Index: Human Factors/User Interface

This page provides a topical index to material on this website covering human interactions with broadband services, devices and applications.

Articles are listed ordered by date of the newsletter they appeared in—newest to oldest.

Choice vs. Simplicity: Can We Have Both? (BBHR 10/31/2004)

• In “the old days” we all knew what a telephone looked like and how to get service for it; there weren’t a lot of choices. As industries collide and the choices for communicating with someone by voice at a distance proliferate, it’s becoming increasingly complex for consumers to figure out what to buy, whom to buy it from and where it will work. Convergence may mean that an increasing number of devices transmit over IP, but it certainly doesn’t spell simplicity for the consumer. Will we face up to the challenge?

In Praise of Broadband Homes for Real People (BBHR 7/15/2003)

• With our everyday lives becoming ever more dependent on technology, we're great fans of companies that devote resources to design products so they can be used by "real people". We've found only a few places doing such work and want to sing their praises. Please tell us about ones we're missing so we can point to more of them.

Re-booting Your TV and Other Hazards of Modern Life (BBHR 11/6/2002)

• What you get when you combine a computer with a TV set-top: a computer. What a surprise!

Computerized Complexity: Frustrations of Everyday Life (BBHR 5/23/2002)

• Replacing her car radio got Sandy thinking about how computer technology can make simple things difficult and frustrate consumers.

Understanding Users - AT&T Broadband Explores Web Tablets (BBHR 9/26/2001)

It Takes More Than Technology - Web Tablets at MediaOne Labs (BBHR 5/4/2000)

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