User preferences for task-specific vs. generic application software

We conducted an ethnographic study to investigate the use of generic vs. task-specific application software by people who create and maintain presentation slides. Sixteen people were interviewed to determine how they prepare slides; what software they use; and how well the software supports various aspects of the task. The informants varied in how central slide preparation was to their jobs. The study was motivated by our beliefs that: 1) some software programs are task-generic, intended for use in a wide variety of tasks, while others are task-specific, intended to support very specific tasks; 2) taskspecific software is preferable, but is often not used because of cost, learning effort, or lack of availability; and 3) people who infrequently perform a task tend to use generic tools, while people who frequently perform a task tend to use task-specific tools. Our findings suggest that the truth is more complex: 1) task-specificity/genericness is not a simple continuum; 2) a task canno...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1994
• Where: CHI
• Authors: Bonnie A. Nardi, Jeff A. Johnson
• Keywords: Central Slide Preparation, CHI 1994, Human Computer Interaction, Task Tend, Task-specific Application Software