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News Release - September 25, 2012

HCII Paper of 2002 Named "Most Influential"

The IEEE Symposium on Visual Languages and Human-Centric Computing has recognized a 2002 paper on usable programming systems co-authored by Brad A. Myers, professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, and two of his students, as the joint winner of the Most Influential Paper of one decade ago.

The paper describes the Computer Science Department PhD thesis work of John Pane, who is now a senior scientist at RAND Corp. in Pittsburgh, where he studies the use of technology in education. The other co-author, Leah (Miller) O’Brien, was an undergraduate computer science major who now works in pharmaceutical IT.

The widely cited article, "Using HCI techniques to design a more usable programming system," focuses on the process used to develop a programming system for children. Basing their work on studies of the way people think about solving problems, they were able to design a language and system that was easier to learn. Since then, many people have incorporated some of the novel features into their own languages and systems or have applied the technique of figuring out how people think about problems in other domains.

Sharing the Most Influential Paper award is an article from David Harel and his colleagues at the Weizmann Institute of Science regarding the use of the statecharts visual programming language. The awards will be presented at the VL/HCC Symposium in Innsbruck, Austria, Sept. 30-Oct. 4. The symposium is the premier international forum for research on how computation can be made easier to express, manipulate, and understand.

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Contact:

Byron Spice
412-268-9068
bspice@cs.cmu.edu

The easy-to-learn programming system described in the award-winning paper.
David Harel of the Weizmann Institute of Science and Brad Myers of the CMU Human-Computer Interaction Institute were awarded "Most Influential Paper" awards at the VL/HCC 2012 conference in Innsbruck, Austria on October 2, 2012.
About Carnegie Mellon: Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mix of programs in engineering, computer science, robotics, business, public policy, fine arts and the humanities. More than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students receive an education characterized by its focus on creating and implementing solutions for real problems, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovation. A small student-to-faculty ratio provides an opportunity for close interaction between students and professors. While technology is pervasive on its 144-acre Pittsburgh campus, Carnegie Mellon is also distinctive among leading research universities for the world-renowned programs in its College of Fine Arts. A global university, Carnegie Mellon has campuses in Silicon Valley, Calif., and Qatar, and programs in Asia, Australia and Europe. For more, see www.cmu.edu.