
Usability
Engineering
The
Evolution of the
User
Users
will not stay the same. Using the system changes the users,
and as they change they will use the system in new ways. Carroll
and Rosson
[1991]
refer to this dialectic phenomenon as the
"coevolution
of tasks and artifacts." For example, spreadsheets
were initially invented as aids for calculation, but having such a
malleable
computerized medium available encouraged users to
integrate noncalculation data in a spreadsheet. Users have often
been
known to use spreadsheets for databases [Nielsen et
al. 1986],
and these and other uses have led spreadsheet vendors to include
noncalculation feature ...