This paper reports on a study that investigated the status and anticipated development of e-Business activity. A prime aim of the study was to increase understanding of the human and organizational issues that arise with e-Business, and the extent to which these are currently addressed. An expert panel method was used, which involved interviewing 70 leading practitioners of, and experts in, e-Business in the UK. The findings identify the distinguishing novel features of e-Business, highlight the key issues it raises, and provide evidence of current uptake and impacts. The findings include ideas on good practice. The study emphasizes the importance of taking a holistic, sociotechnical view of the complex set of interrelated changes involved in e-Business.

The essential purpose of drama, whether it is theatre, film or television, is to evoke subjective experience in its audience. The advent of interactive digital television opens up many new possibilities for the structure and presentation of drama and the way in which people may engage with it. However, the design of interactive, computer-based environments requires theoretical and practical bases that are largely new to the dramatic arts. This paper describes research which is exploring the convergence of ideas and design models from a range of traditional sources including HCl, psychology, the performing arts and media production for this new media form. It starts by reevaluating two traditional dramatic paradigms, Stanislavski's Realism and Brecht's objectivity, and contrasts them with Boal's spect-actor paradigm in which audiences become direct participants in the drama. Although existing technology cannot enable a faithful computer based implementation of the spect-actor paradigm, the model may be approachable in various ways and thus provides a useful goal for designers of interactive drama. The realities of designing and producing interactive drama are illustrated with a practical example. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the work for the design of interactive drama.

Underlying our approach to the development of a Multimedia Learning Environment (MLE) is the proposition that conventional learning needs analysis, for Computer-Based Learning does not address the richness of delivery possible with MLEs. We propose that knowledge-engineering techniques (from the field of Artificial Intelligence) can provide a richer understanding of the domain, thus enabling a better MLE to be produced. The knowledge-engineering approach we have used, outlined in this paper, involved acquiring knowledge from a range of sources, then analysing this knowledge so that individual knowledge items could be categorized according to identified underlying knowledge-representation paradigms which each imply their own, most suitable, presentation style. This knowledge engineering analysis was then used to select an instructional model capable of conveying all the acquired types of knowledge in their paradigmatic styles, and detailed and adaptable enough to be implemented on a computer. The chosen model, the Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (CAM), was explicitly used as the basis for the architecture of the MLE.DOI:10.1080/0968776950030105

This paper reports on an approach to intelligent design aiding in electronic engineering that differs from both (a) conventional CAD approaches aimed at developing draughting tools to assist with low-level circuit design and simulation, and (b) expert system approaches aimed at automating features of the electronic design process. By contrast, the system that we are developing is designed to work cooperatively with engineers, facilitating their thought processes and helping optimise the designs produced, particularly in the early, high-level stages of design. To develop such a system clearly requires an understanding of the cognitive processes involved in design which can only be achieved by systematic psychological studies. Accordingly, the research described here has involved a collaboration between experimental psychologists, computer scientists and electronic engineers who have been jointly engaged in the development of the prototype design aid which we call the Plymouth Engineer’ s Design Assistant (PEDA). The primary aim of the psychological work has been to develop a model of the design process. The model that we have derived to date has strongly influenced the construction of the PEDA both in its functionality and in the specification of the user interface. A designer is able to interact with the system via a direct manipulation interface which offers a drawing board metaphor. Any part of the evolving hierarchical design representation can be accessed and the functionality that is supported ranges from mathematical functions to specific electronic components. Multiple versions of all or part of the design are maintained by the PEDA, and a history of design steps and decisions establishes a model of the designer’ s use of the tool. Within this paper we also discuss some future directions of our work.