Why does the spreadsheet work

1
Why does the spreadsheet work and how can we
improve it?A user interface perspective on the
foundations of spreadsheets.

• Alan BlackwellComputer LaboratoryCambridge
  University

2
Outline

• Why the spreadsheet was invented
• Which features were critical to success
• HCI research in spreadsheet use
• Where next?
• Grounds for critique of current products
• Possible product futures
• Possible futures for spreadsheet users

3
Timescale of UI Evolution

• 1940sScientific instruments

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Timescale of UI Evolution

• 1940sScientific instruments
• 1950sMathematical tools

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Timescale of UI Evolution

• 1940sScientific instruments
• 1950sMathematical tools
• 1960sData files records

6
Timescale of UI Evolution

• 1940sScientific instruments
• 1950sMathematical tools
• 1960sData files records
• 1970sCommand languages

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Timescale of UI Evolution

• 1940sScientific instruments
• 1950sMathematical tools
• 1960sData files records
• 1970sCommand languages
• 1980sBitmapped screens, direct manipulation

8
Modern UI Essentials

• Drawing
• e.g. Sketchpad 1963

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Modern UI Essentials

• Drawing
• e.g. Sketchpad 1963
• Presentation
• e.g. NLS 1968
• (also hypertext, online collaboration )

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Modern UI Essentials

• Drawing
• e.g. Sketchpad 1963
• Presentation
• e.g. NLS 1968
• (also hypertext, online collaboration )
• Word Processing
• e.g. Bravo 1973-77

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Inventing the Spreadsheet (1978)

• Bricklins concept
• electronic blackboard
• closest to NLS collaboration tools?
• Frankstons optimisation
• fast, compact responsive
• Fylstras market
• individual ownership and control via PCs

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Outline

• Why the spreadsheet was invented
• Which features were critical to success
• HCI research in spreadsheet use
• Where next?
• Grounds for critique of current products
• Possible product futures
• Possible futures for spreadsheet users

13
From Apple II to IBM PC / MS-DOS

• PC Functionally equivalent to the Apple II
• (no mouse, no bitmapped display)
• Business software emphasis
• simple databases
• word processing
• Lotus 1-2-3 replaced VisiCalc, included charts
  and plots (as well as some database and text
  formatting)

14
Direct manipulation

• Original Mac applications were creative
• writing, drawing, painting
• derived from Kays vision of creative machine
• Business market developments
• desktop publishing created business market
• Apple asked Microsoft to develop a SS
• Excel
• offered direct manipulation benefits of the Mac
• point and click, menus, windows, prompts

15
The Spreadsheet Metaphor

• HCI textbooks propose metaphor as starting point
  for UI design.
• But there is little evidence that the paper SS
  ever influenced the development of SS software.
• Most benefits historically derived from UI
  features of other software categories.

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Outline

• Why the spreadsheet was invented
• Which features were critical to success
• HCI research in spreadsheet use
• Where next?
• Grounds for critique of current products
• Possible product futures
• Possible futures for spreadsheet users

17
Experimental extensions

• UI builder functions (Myers)
• Navigation aids (Rao Card)
• Debugging aids (Burnett et. al.)
• Typing and inference (Erwig)
• Gesture interfaces (Wolf, Burnett)
• Approximation, graphics (Lewis)
• Multi-user support (various)
• Tutoring and help systems (various)
• Voice interfaces (various)

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Spreadsheets in end-user context

• Bonnie Nardi, A Small Matter of Programming (MIT
  Press 1993) notes
• SSs are immediately useful for real tasks
• SSs support direct manipulation
• SSs have limited control constructs
• SSs lead to collaborative communities
• But SSs are
• Not automatically easy to learn (Hendry Green)
• Liable to contain errors (Panko, others)

19
Mental models of spreadsheets

• The users mental model is critical in HCI
• But hard to say what goes on inside a
  programmers head!
• Saarilouma Sajaniemi (1989) showed SS users
  employ visual images
• Navarro Prieto (1998) found visual images help SS
  users understood dataflow
• Petre Blackwell (2000) note that many
  programmers report experiencing images

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Some theoretical design principles

• Cognitive Dimensions of Notations
• Discussion vocabulary for significant design
  attributes and tradeoffs
• (see Green Petre in JVLC 1996, Blackwell
  Green in Carroll, ed. 2003.)
• Surprise, Explain, Reward
• Weve built it, but will they come?
• (see Robertson et. al., CHI 2004)
• See also Blackwells Attention Investment theory
  of abstraction use

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Outline

• Why the spreadsheet was invented
• Which features were critical to success
• HCI research in spreadsheet use
• Where next?
• Grounds for critique of current products
• Possible product futures
• Possible futures for spreadsheet users

22
Lessons from history research

• Account for collaboration
• Be fast and responsive
• Empower individuals
• Provide a flat, imageable world
• Support direct manipulation
• Do current products retain these benefits?

23
Outline

• Why the spreadsheet was invented
• Which features were critical to success
• HCI research in spreadsheet use
• Where next?
• Grounds for critique of current products
• Possible product futures
• Possible futures for spreadsheet users

24
Features are not the answer

• Applications are developed in SSs because of
  their low entry cost, seldom on engineering
  grounds.
• 57 of 5500 SSs had no formulas
• Can SS functions be partitioned into developer
  and end-user sets?
• How would the transition be managed?
• Can we provide engineering benefits to end users?
  
• EUSES, e.g. Burnett, Erwig, Blackwell

25
Outline

• Why the spreadsheet was invented
• Which features were critical to success
• HCI research in spreadsheet use
• Where next?
• Grounds for critique of current products
• Possible product futures
• Possible futures for spreadsheet users

26
User simplification

• If the SS has been moving away from its roots,
  can users (or organisations) return?
• Templates
• Process definitions
• Reduced-feature standards
• Adapt open-source products
• Any more options? (DISCUSS!)