From critiquing to representational talkback: Computer support for revealing features in design

Computational critiquing mechanisms support designers in refining a partial design solution in an alternating cycle of reflection and action. This pap er argues that critiquing mechanisms can support designers not only in refi ning a partial solution, but also in gaining a better understanding of the problem. We further argue that different types of critiquing are possible, ranging from conventional rule-based messages to an implicit type of critiq uing based on the notion of ''representational talkback'' - representations that can reveal to the user otherwise implicit features of a design. We su pport these claims with user studies of three types of design support syste ms: KID, IAM-EMMA,and ARI. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All right s reserved.