Design of a Hypermedia Interface Translating between Associative and Formal Representations

It is argued that in order to efficiently tackle complex problems, user and support system should intimately interact, complementing each other's weaknesses. Strengths and limitations of human intelligence, respectively computer intelligence, can be derived from the mechanism of associative, respectively “chunk-based”, memory. A good interactive interface should hence allow one to translate between associative (context-dependent) and chunk-based (formal) representations. Associative knowledge can be expressed more explicitly through hypermedia, consisting of a network of connected chunks. Different mechanisms for supporting the creation of networks are reviewed: checklists, outlining, graphic representations, search functions, ... These mechanisms can be complemented by looking for “closed” subnetworks, which define invariant, formal constraints, which can be used to guide inferences. A prototype implementation of an interactive interface, the CONCEPTORGANIZER, is sketched, and some potential applications in the areas of idea processing, knowledge elicitation, decision support, and