A bibliography of Cognitive Dimensions papers

We have tried to make this list as inclusive as possible. There will also be a list of selected readings in due course.

Last update: September 2008

Additions and corrections should be sent to Alan.Blackwell@cl.cam.ac.uk. Please mention the CD Bibliography in your message.


 

Blackwell, A.F. (2000). Dealing with new Cognitive Dimensions. Paper presented at Workshop on Cognitive Dimensions: Strengthening the Cognitive Dimensions Research Community. University of Hertfordshire, 8 December 2000. Lists the current set of candidates for new cognitive dimensions, and discusses the criteria that we use for defining new dimensions.

Blackwell, A.F. (2003). Cognitive dimensions of tangible programming techniques. In Proc. First Joint Conference of EASE & PPIG, pp. 391-405.

Blackwell, A.F. (2006). Ten years of cognitive dimensions in visual languages and computing. Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 17(4), 285-287.

Blackwell, A.F. (2008). Cognitive Dimensions of Notations: Understanding the Ergonomics of Diagram Use. Invited tutorial at Diagrams 2008.

Blackwell, A.F. & Green, T.R.G. (2000). A Cognitive Dimensions questionnaire optimised for users. In A.F. Blackwell & E. Bilotta (Eds.) Proceedings of the Twelth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group, 137-152.

Blackwell, A.F., Green, T.R.G. & Nunn, D.J.E. (2000). Cognitive Dimensions and musical notation systems. Paper presented at ICMC 2000, Berlin: Workshop on Notation and Music Information Retrieval in the Computer Age.

Blackwell, A.F., Britton, C., Cox, A. Green, T.R.G., Gurr, C.A., Kadoda, G.F., Kutar, M., Loomes, M., Nehaniv, C.L., Petre, M., Roast, C., Roes, C., Wong, A. and Young, R.M. (2001). Cognitive Dimensions of Notations: Design tools for cognitive technology. In M. Beynon, C.L. Nehaniv, and K. Dautenhahn (Eds.) Cognitive Technology 2001 (LNAI 2117). Springer-Verlag, pp. 325-341.

Blackwell, A.F. & Green, T.R.G. (1999). Investment of attention as an analytic approach to Cognitive Dimensions. In T. Green, R. Abdullah & P. Brna (Eds.) Collected Papers of the 11th Annual Workshop of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group (PPIG-11), pp. 24-35.

Blackwell, A.F., Burnett, M.M. and Peyton Jones, S. (2004). Champagne Prototyping: A research technique for early evaluation of complex end-user programming systems. In Proceedings of IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing (VL/HCC04), pp. 47-54.

Blackwell, A. and Collins, N. (2005). The programming language as a musical instrument. In Proceedings of PPIG 2005, pp. 120-130.

Blackwell, A.F. and Green, T.R.G. (2003). Notational systems - the Cognitive Dimensions of Notations framework. In J.M. Carroll (Ed.) HCI Models, Theories and Frameworks: Toward a multidisciplinary science. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, 103-134.

Blackwell, A.F., Whitley, K.N., Good, J. and Petre, M. (2001). Cognitive factors in programming with diagrams. Artificial Intelligence Review 15(1), 95-113.

Bobkowska , A. (2003). Cognitive Dimensions questionnaire applied to visual languages evaluation -- a case study. In Proceedings of the First Joint Conference of EASE & PPIG (PPIG 15).

Bresciani, S., Blackwell, A.F. and Eppler, M. (2008). A Collaborative Dimensions Framework: Understanding the mediating role of conceptual visualizations in collaborative knowledge work. Proc. 41st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICCS 08), pp. 180-189.

Bresciani, S., Blackwell, A.F. and Eppler, M. (2008). Choosing visualisations for collaborative work and meetings: A guide to usability dimensions. Darwin College Research Reports DCRR-007, available online at www.dar.cam.ac.uk/dcrr/

Britton, C., and Kutar, M. (2001). Cognitive Dimensions Profiles: A Cautionary Tale. In G. Kadoda (Ed.) Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group.

Britton, C. and Jones, S. (1999) The untrained eye: how languages for software specification support understanding in untrained users HCI Volume 14 (1) (1999) 191-244

Britton, C., Jones, S., Kutar, M., Loomes, M. and Robinson, B. (2000) Evaluating the intelligibility of diagrammatic languages used in the specification of software. Proc. Diagrams 2000, Springer-Verlag, pp. 376-391.

Britton, C., Jones, S. and Lam, W. (1998) Separating the system interface from its internal state: an alternative structure for Z specifications, Proc. of Formal Aspects of Human Computer Interaction, BCS-FACS Workshop. Sheffield: Sheffield Hallam University, pp. 87-102. ISBN 0-86339-7948.

Buckingham-Shum, S. and Hammond, N. (1994) Argumentation-based design rationale: what use at what cost? International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 40 (4), 603-652. Includes a cognitive dimensions analysis of visual tools for design rationale

Burnett, M., Cao, N., and Atwood, J. (2000) Time in grid-oriented VPLs: just another dimension? In (no editors listed) 2000 IEEE International Symposium on Visual Languages (VL2000), Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society, pp 137-144

Clarke, S. (2001). Evaluating a new programming language. In G. Kadoda (Ed.) Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group, 275-289.

Clarke, S. & C.Becker (2003). Using the cognitive dimensions framework to measure the usability of a class library. In Proceedings of the First Joint Conference of EASE & PPIG (PPIG 15).

Collins, T. & Fung, P. (1999). Evaluating Hank, a cognitive modelling language for psychologists. Collected papers of PPIG-11 Annual Workshop.

Cox, K. (2000) Cognitive Dimensions of use cases: feedback from a student questionnaire In A.F. Blackwell & E. Bilotta (Eds.) Proceedings of the Twelth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group

Dagit, J., Lawrance, J., Neumann, C. Burnett, M., Metoyer, R. and Adams, S. (2006). Using cognitive dimensions: Advice from the trenches. Journal of Visual Languages & Computing 17(4), 302-327

Dearden, A. (2006). Designing as a conversation with digital materials. Design Studies 27(3), 399-421. (Special issue on Digital Design).

Dearden, A., J. Siddiqi & A. Naghsh (2003). Using cognitive dimensions to compare prototyping techniques. In Proceedings of the First Joint Conference of EASE & PPIG (PPIG 15).

Delahunta, S., McGregor, W. and Blackwell, A.F. (2004). Transactables. Performance Research 9(2), 67-72.

Edge, D. and Blackwell, A.F. (2006). Correlates of the cognitive dimensions for tangible user interface. Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 17(4), 366-394.

Fincher, S. (2002). Patterns for HCI and Cognitive Dimensions: Two Halves of the Same Story? In J. Kuljis, L. Baldwin and R. Scoble (Eds), Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group, pp. 156-172.

Gilmore, D. J. (1991) Visibility: a dimensional analysis. In D. Diaper and N. V. Hammond (Eds.) People and Computers VI. Cambridge University Press.

Green, T. R. G. (1989). Cognitive dimensions of notations. In People and Computers V, A Sutcliffe and L Macaulay (Ed.) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge., pp. 443-460. The original paper

Green, T. R. G. (1990) The cognitive dimension of viscosity: a sticky problem for HCI. In D. Diaper, D. Gilmore, G. Cockton and B. Shackel (Eds.) Human-Computer Interaction — INTERACT ’90. Elsevier.

Green, T. R. G. (1991) Describing information artefacts with cognitive dimensions and structure maps. In D. Diaper and N. V. Hammond (Eds.) Proceedings of "HCI’91: Usability Now", Annual Conference of BCS Human-Computer Interaction Group. Cambridge University Press.

Green. T. R. G., Winder, R., Gilmore, D. J., Davies, S. P. and Hendry, D. (1992) Designing a cognitive browser for object-oriented programming. Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour Quarterly, Issue 81, 17-20.

Green, T. R. G. (1996) The visual vision and human cognition. Invited talk at Visual Languages '96, Boulder, Colorado. Abstract only appears in: Proceedings of 1996 IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages. Eds: W. Citrin and M. Burnett. Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Society Press, 1996. Adapts much of the content of Green and Petre (1996) for web presentation

Green, T. R. G. & Petre, M. (1996) Usability analysis of visual programming environments: a 'cognitive dimensions' framework. J. Visual Languages and Computing, 7, 131-174. A lengthy analysis of selected visual programming languages: the most extensive presentation so far in print

Green, T. R. G. & Benyon, D. (1996) The skull beneath the skin: entity-relationship models of information artifacts. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 44(6) 801-828 Goes a little way to formalising the dimensions in terms of extended entity-relationship models

Green, T.R.G. and Blackwell, A.F. (1996). Ironies of abstraction. In Proceedings 3rd International Conference on Thinking. British Psychological Society.

Green, T.R.G. and Blackwell, A.F. (1998). Design for usability using Cognitive Dimensions. Tutorial session at British Computer Society conference on Human Computer Interaction HCI'98.

Green, T. R. G. (1999) Building and manipulating complex information structures: Issues in Prolog programming. In P. Brna, B. du Boulay and H. Pain (Eds.), Learning to Build and Comprehend Complex Information Structures: Prolog as a Case Study. Stamford, CT: Ablex, 1999.

Green, T.R.G., Blandford, A.E., Church, L., Roast, C.R. and Clarke, S. (2006). Cognitive dimensions: Achievements, new directions, and open questions Journal of Visual Languages and Computing 17(4), 328-365

Green, T.R.G. (2000)Instructions and descriptions: some cognitive aspects of programming and similar activities. Invited paper, in Di Gesù, V., Levialdi, S. and Tarantino, L., (Eds.) Proceedings of Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces (AVI 2000). New York: ACM Press, pp 21-28.

Green, T.R.G. (2006). Aims, achievements, agenda - where CDs stand now. Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 17(4), 285-394.

Hendry, D. G. and Green, T. R. G. (1994) Creating, comprehending, and explaining spreadsheets: a cognitive interpretation of what discretionary users think of the spreadsheet model. Int. J. Human-Computer Studies, 40(6), 1033-1065. Includes a cognitive dimensions analysis of spreadsheet pros and cons

Hendry, D. G. and Green, T. R. G. (1993) CogMap: a visual description language for spreadsheets. Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 4(1), 35-54 (special issue on cognitive aspects of visual languages) How to improve spreadsheets, according to cognitive dimensions analysis (particularly with regard to ‘role-expressiveness’, not explored here)

Hendry, D. G. and Harper, D. J. (1997) An informal information-seeking environment. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 48(11):1036-1048. Considers information seeking as opportunistic design of queries, to which cognitive dimensions can be applied, and relates usability of systems to the ease of forming and modifying the queries.

Jones, S. and Scaife, M. (2000) Animated diagrams: An investigation into the cognitive effects of using animation to illustrate dynamic processes. Proc. Diagrams 2000, Springer-Verlag, pp. 231-244.

Kadoda, G. (2000) A Cognitive Dimensions view of the differences between designers and users of theorem proving assistants. . In A.F. Blackwell & E. Bilotta (Eds.) Proceedings of the Twelth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group

Kutar, M., Britton, C. and Wilson, J. (2000) Cognitive Dimensions: An experience report. In A.F. Blackwell & E. Bilotta (Eds.) Proceedings of the Twelth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group

Kutar, M., Britton, C. and Barker, T. (2002). A Comparison of Empirical Study and Cognitive Dimensions Analysis in the Evaluation of UML Diagrams. In J. Kuljis, L. Baldwin and R. Scoble (Eds), Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group, pp. 1-14

Lavery, D., Cockton, G., and Atkinson, M. (1996). Cognitive Dimensions: Usability Evaluation Materials, Technical Report TR-1996-17, University of Glasgow. Part of a study comparing effectiveness of different evaluation methods; need t contact the author for full details

Modugno, F. M., Green, T. R. G. and Myers, B. (1994) Visual programming in a visual domain: a case study of cognitive dimensions. In G. Cockton, S. W. Draper and G. R. S. Weir (Eds) People and Computers IX: Proc. BCS HCI Conference. Cambridge University Press. Analyses a programming-by-demonstration environment, leading to a redesign

Oberlander, J. (1996). Grice for graphics: pragmatic implicature in network diagrams. Information Design Journal, 8(6), 163-179.

Pane, J. F. and B. A. Myers (1996). Usability issues in the design of novice programming systems. Pittsburgh, PA, Carnegie Mellon University. Tech report CMU-CS-96-132.

Petre, M. (2006). Cognitive dimensions "beyond the notation" Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 17(4), 292-301.

Petre, M. and Green, T. R. G. (1990) Where to draw the line with text: some claims by logic designers about graphics in notation. In D. Diaper, D. Gilmore, G. Cockton and B. Shackel (Eds.) Human-Computer Interaction — INTERACT ’90. Elsevier.

Petre, M. and Green, T. R. G. (1992) Requirements of graphical notations for professional users: electronics CAD systems as a case study. Le Travail Humain, 55(1), 47-70

Roast, C. R. (2001) A proposal for yet another dimension - the case for Tunability. PPIG Newsletter, July 2001.

Roast, C. R. (1998) Modelling unwarranted commitment in information artefacts. In Chatty S. and Dewan P. (eds.), Engineering for Human-Computer Interaction, pp 77-90, Kluwer Academic Press.

Roast, C. R. (1997): Formally Comparing and Informing Notation Design. In: Thimbleby, Harold, O'Conaill, Brid, Thomas, Peter J. (ed.): Proceedings of the Twelfth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers XII. August, 1997, Bristol, England, UK. p.315-336.

Roast, C. R. (2002). Dimension Driven Re-Design - Applying Systematic Dimensional Analysis. In J. Kuljis, L. Baldwin and R. Scoble (Eds), Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group, pp. 173-185.

Roast, C., Dearden, A. and Khazaei, B. (2004). Enhancing contextual analysis to support the design of development tools. Proceedings of the Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers IXX HCI 2004, Springer-Verlag

Roast, C. R. and M. B. Özcan. (1997) Cognitive dimensions applied to modifiability within an integrated prototyping environment. In R. Osborn and B. Khazaei, editors, The Psychology of Programming, PPIG97 Workshop Proceedings, pages 17-30. Computing Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University,

Roast, C. R. and Siddiqi, J. I. (1996) Formally assessing software modifiability. In C. R. Roast and J. I. Siddiqi, editors. BCS-FACS Workshop on Formal Aspects of the Human Computer Interface, Sheffield Hallam University, 10-12 September 1996, Electronic Workshops in Computing. Springer-Verlag, 1996.

Roast, C. R. and Siddiqi, J. I. (1996) The formal examination of cognitive dimensions. In A. Blandford and H. Thimbleby, editors, HCI96 Industry Day & Adjunct Proceedings, pages 150-156, 1996.

Roast, C. R. and Siddiqi, J. I. (1996) Relating knock-on viscosity to software modifiability. Proceedings of OZCHI 96, Hamilton, New Zealand, pages 222-227, 1996

Roast, C. R. and Siddiqi, J. I. (2000) Formal comparisons of program modification. In VL-2000, Proc. of 2000 IEEE International Symposium on Visual Languages, Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society, 2000. pp

Shum, S. (1991). Cognitive dimensions of design rationale. In D. Diaper and N. V. Hammond, (Eds.) People and Computers VI: Proceedings of HCI'91, 331-344. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Simos, M. & Blackwell, A. F. (1998). Pruning the tree of trees: The evaluation of notations for domain modelling. In J. Domingue & P. Mulholland (Eds.), Proceedings of the 10th Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group, pp. 92-99. This discusses the more abstract requirements of notations used in the field of Domain Modelling, and considers how theories of metaphor in notation, as well as Green's Cognitive Dimensions, can be used to analyse them.

Stacey, M. K. (1995) Distorting design: unevenness as a cognitive dimension of design tools. In G. Allen, J. Wilkinson & P. Wright (eds.), Adjunct Proceedings of HCI'95. Huddersfield: University of Huddersfield School of Computing and Mathematics, 1995. Proposes a new dimension

Triffitt, E. and Khazaei, B. (2002). A Study of Usability of Z Formalism Based on Cognitive Dimensions. In J. Kuljis, L. Baldwin and R. Scoble (Eds), Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group, pp. 15-28

Tukiainen, M. (2001). Evaluation of the Cognitive Dimensions Questionnaire and Some Thoughts about the Cognitive Dimensions of Spreadsheet Calculation. In G. Kadoda (Ed.) Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Psychology of Programming Interest Group, 291-301.

Tweedie, L. (1995) Interactive visualisation artefacts: how can abstractions inform design? In Kirby, M. A. R., Dix, A. J. and Finlay, J. E. (Eds.), People and Computers X, Proc. HCI’95 Conference. Cambridge University Press. Proposes an approach derived from cognitive dimensions specialised for interactive visualisation tools

Whitley, K.N. & Blackwell, A.F. (in press). Visual programming in the wild: a survey of LabVIEW programmers. To appear in Journal of Visual Languages and Computing. Real programmers were surveyed to find out what aspects of a visual language affected its usability, and the responses were related to CDs.

Wilde, N. P. (1996) Using cognitive dimensions in the classroom as a discussion tool for visual language design. Electronic Proceedings CHI 96, Eds R. Bilger, S. Guest, M. Tauber. How real are the cognitive dimensions? Do they help teaching?

Wood, C. C. (1993) A cognitive dimensional analysis of idea sketches. Cognitive Science Research Paper 275, School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences, University of Sussex. The cognitive dimensions framework was used to interpret a study of collaborative idea sketching, giving a cohesive and comprehensive characterisation of the pertinent properties of idea sketches, as gathered from interviews and observation with 128 academics.

Yang, S., Burnett, M. M., DeKoven, E. and Zloof, M. (1997) Representation design benchmarks: a design-time aid for VPL navigable static representations. Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 8 (5/6), 563-599. Describes simple but effective metrics for selected dimensions, leading to redesign of two different languages.