Alice: Lessons Learned from Building a 3D System for Novices
journal contribution
posted on 1999-01-01, 00:00 authored by Matthew Conway, Steve Audia, Tommy Burnette, Dennis Cosgrove, Kevin Christiansen, Rob Deline, Jim Durbin, Rich Gossweiler, Shuichi Koga, Chris Long, Beth Mallory, Steve Miale, Kristen Monkaitis, James Patton, Jeff Pierce, Randy Pausch, Joe Shochet, David Staack, Brian Sterns, Richard Stoakley, Chris Sturgill, John Viega, Jeff WhiteWe present lessons learned from developing Alice, a 3D
graphics programming environment designed for
undergraduates with no 3D graphics or programming
experience. Alice is a Windows 95/NT tool for describing the
time-based and interactive behavior of 3D objects, not a
CAD tool for creating object geometry. Our observations and
conclusions come from formal and informal observations of
hundreds of users. Primary results include the use of LOGOstyle
egocentric coordinate systems, the use of arbitrary
objects as lightweight coordinate systems, the launching of
implicit threads of execution, extensive function overloading
for a small set of commands, the careful choice of command
names, and the ubiquitous use of animation and undo.