xiii, 425 pages, wraps, illustrations, notes, references, index. Minor

xiii, 425 pages, wraps, illustrations, notes, references, index. Minor sticker residue on rear cover. Cutting through a raft of technical data, Thomas Landauer explains and illustrates why computers are in trouble and why massive outlays for computing since 1973 have not resulted in comparable productivity payoffs. He marshals overwhelming evidence that computers rarely improve the efficiency of the information work they are designed for because they are too hard to use and do too little that is sufficiently useful. Landauer proposes that emerging techniques for user-centered development can turn the situation around-through task analysis, iterative design, trial use, and evaluation, computer systems can be made into powerful tools for the service economy.