Four Different Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction
by John Kammersgaard

The notion of perspectives is fundamental to the design of computer systems. The developers, for instance, speak of views of the system held by different parties of interest. In an attempt to utilise perspectives to bring forward a more complete view on HCI, Kammersgaard introduces the systems perspective, the dialogue partner perspective, the tool perspective and the media perspective. He thinks that we have put too much faith in the systems perspective. We need broader views to be able to take all relevant aspects into consideration.

From the systems perspective the system is looked upon from a bird's eye view. The relevance of a task can only be expressed on the organisational level. All interaction is seen as transmission of data between human and automatic components. The goal is to make transmission as fast and correct as possible. This leads to goals of standardising and discipline.

The dialogue partner perspective has been brought to attention through the artificial intelligence research. It focuses the use of computers within an individual context. There is no need for domain-specific design models, the computer can always be seen as acting like a human being in a communication process. The goal becomes to make communication as similar as possible to human-human interaction. There exists a strong opposition against this view but most researchers agree that there is a lot to learn by studying human interaction. This perspective should only be used for certain special purposes and always in combination with other perspectives.

Viewed from the tool perspective, the computer becomes a tool box providing utensils that can help the user in accomplishing a task. The user possesses all the knowledge and should have full control over the tools. The user knows which tools that are needed and the designer knows how to make them. Therefore the user should lead the development process with the designer as an expert resource. The purpose of the system is not to take over some part of work but to function as a powerful tool for the user. The tool should ideally disappear from the user's conscience in the same way a hammer is used without conscious reflection by a carpenter. The strength of the tool perspective is that the knowledge of the user is properly utilised. One weakness is that it is hard to reach general conclusions by applying this perspective, so research has to take place within the same domain as it is later applied.

Finally the media perspective can be applied. Then the computer is seen as a medium through which humans communicate with each other. The focus is on use within a collective context. Two types of communication is of interest. The communication within groups of users and the one-way communication from the designer to the users. Research from the media perspective is scarce. It concentrates on language and semiotics. According to Kammersgaard it is the focus on usage of language in the use of computers that is the main strength of this perspective.