Electronic publishing: The predicament of occasional users in the editorial process

The editorial process of electronic publishing including text entry, editing and editorial review, is a source of particular problems for the occasional user. This issue was studied as part of the project Electronic Publishing at the University of CalgThe editorial process of electronic publishing including text entry, editing and editorial review, is a source of particular problems for the occasional user. This issue was studied as part of the project Electronic Publishing at the University of Calgary. 4497 man‐machine actions were evaluated and user performance over five months was monitored with number of actions per error serving as performance indicator. It appears that the relative progress of users expressed as number of actions per error is affected by the amount (both in terms of frequency of use and number of actions) of use and that absolute values of performance are influenced by motivation, temperament and aptitude for specific tasks. Actions have been measured against the sum total of both comprehension and random errors; it has been found that at the level of total errors around 7% casual users attained the proficiency of steady users. The phenomenon of errors caused by abstraction has received special attention demonstrated on the “cut‐and‐paste” function, and six measures are suggested to aid in the human information processing Involv function, and six measures are suggested to aid in the human information processing Involved.