Designing information system user interface with the cognitive approach

Abstract

The authors discuss the cognitive approach to designing easy-to-use intuitive user interface to access institutional information resources in comfortable working modes. In designing interfaces, the goals and tasks of users as information consumers must be prevalent. The authors propose to apply the cognitive approach to designing user interface which takes into consideration user’s cognitive activity and his/her cognitive processes in their interaction with an information system. This approach enables expeditious and friendly human-computer interaction. The authors suggest to use human-computer interaction models and to apply cognitive ergonomics methods for designing ergonomical user interfaces. They demonstrate that modern information technologies, while offering new possibilities, put forward new requirements to designing human-computer interaction with information systems and STI complexes. The authors provide the case study of Research Institution Publication Performance Control System. Plotting of user job profile, or the multiaspect description of activities (including cognitive) in interaction with the information system, is discussed.