Catherine Plaisant
Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory
University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies

Computerized medical records pose tremendous problems to system developers. Infrastructure and privacy issues need to be resolved before physicians can even start using the records. Non-intrusive hardware is required for physicians to do their work (e.g. interview patients) away from their desk. But all the efforts to solve these problems will only succeed if appropriate attention is also given to the user interface design. Long lists to scroll, clumsy searches, endless menus and lengthy dialogs will lead to user rejection. But techniques are being developed to summarize, filter and present large amounts of information, leading us to believe that rapid access to needed data is possible with careful design.

In our past project for the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services we have developed a new technique called Life-Lines to visualize personal history records. We are now working with IBM Watson Research Center to extend the technique to medical records. LifeLines provides a general visualization environment for personal histories.

A one screen overview of the record using timelines provides direct access to the data. For a patient record, medical problems, hospitalization and medications can be represented as horizontal lines, while icons represent discrete events such as physician consultations, progress notes or tests. Line color and thickness can illustrate relationships or significance. Rescaling tools and filters allow users to focus on part of the information, revealing more details.

LifeLines can: 1) reduce the chances of missing information, 2) facilitate the spotting of anomalies and trends 3) streamline the access to details (as LifeLines act as large menus) and 4) remain simple and tailorable to various applications.

The Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL), founded in 1983, is an interdisciplinary effort within the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (transferred Summer 1996 from the Center for Automation Research). The main participants are faculty, staff, and students from the Department of Computer Science, Department of Psychology, and College of Library and Information Services at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD.

HCIL members do interdisciplinary research on theory and design of interactive systems that enable users to perform tasks, learn skills, and communicate in a predictable atmosphere of competence, control, and satisfaction. When the user interface is well-designed, users should not only be performing rapidly and with low error rates, but they should also experience a sense of accomplishment and a positive regard for the interface designer.

We have developed theories, built systems, and conducted experiments in hypertext/hypermedia, touchscreens, menu selection, public access systems, layout appropriateness, remote direct manipulation, consistency, and home automation. Our 1993 book "Sparks of Innovation in Human-Computer Interaction" (Ablex Publishers, Norwood, NJ) is a collection of 25 papers on these topics from our first ten years. Our annual video reports (1991-1997) and Symposium & Open House also help tell the story of our research results.

Further information and more than 110 technical reports are available at our web site: http://www.cs.umd.edu/projects/hcil