New Devices and Techniques to Meet User Requirements for Scientific Application
In addition to merely providing the best quality or most efficient application for users of computer systems, designers at corporations such as Microsoft and programmers within such systems Java as are striving to enhance the capabilities of their application systems with the aim of making even innovative features in these systems user-friendly to even the most techno-phobic users of new scientific systems and applications. "One of the standard bugbears is the persistent belief...that difficulty is a virtue in itself, even a sign of intelligence.' (Girvan, 2002) Grasping this concept is a critical aspect of computing as modern technology becomes increasingly integrated into daily business life. "Users may need guidance as they work with unfamiliar software," thus the use of easy to read menus and clear instruction manuals in the point and click 'help' applications are simply the first step in creating less intimidating face for modern technology. (Girvan, 2002)
Windows pioneered the development of the palettes and pull-down menus used for quick access to common symbols and operations....
(Girvan, 2005) Automation of as many systems as possible within an application makes it easier for users to concentrate on aspects of the application that cannot be rendered without the use of supervision. The ability for a calculator application to run without supervision under the control of the batch management system can be configured so that it deploys a command line option for taking input from a file or assumes a default response. This feature can be found in computer applications designed with offline operations in mind, including Visual Basic® script (VBScript), JavaScript, Perl, all of which can be used on a Windows-based cluster. (High Performance Computing FAQ, 2005)
"Functional friendliness" as a concept is also important when making scientific applications less intimidating to potential users. In other words, providing explanatory prompts for users when certain systems are deployed, such as available 'drag and drop' controls and the display or visual prompting of likely intermediate steps in the application. Hypertext help browsers eliminate the…
