Displaying Statistical Information — Ergonomic Considerations

Abstract

Newspapers tell us that we live in a computer era, or information era. Computers have invaded everybody’s life, in their function as information processors rather than in their older role of powerful calculators. Storing information has become cheap and simple. A century ago each transaction or observation was written down with pen and ink; now a sensor traced along an optical mark, a magnetic card inserted into a slot, or a finger touching the appropriate section of a personal computer screen suffices to register it in some computer memory. Advanced computer technology and the human need for more information have stimulated each other into an information explosion — this formulation avoids the tricky question of which caused which.