Abstract
One of the main problems facing computer scientists is how to design systems and software that are easy to use by non-expert computer users. In this talk, we will examine a number of intrinsic strength and limitations of human users. For example the human strengths include people's ability to communicate using speech and natural language, tolerate errorful ambiguous and imprecise inputs, exploit vast amounts of knowledge, learn from the environment, and respond in real time. The human limitations include peoples tendency to make errors, be forgetful, become impatient, get confused, want to collaborate and be lazy. In this talk, we examine the shortcomings of current systems in their attempt to create so-called user friendly interfaces, and what needs to be done to significantly improve the ease of use.