Ben Shneiderman

Flowcharts have been a part of computer programming since the introduction of computers in the 1940s.

Ben Shneiderman (born August 21, 1947) is an American computer scientist, a Distinguished University Professor in the University of Maryland Department of Computer Science, which is part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences at the University of Maryland, College Park, and the founding director (1983-2000) of the University of Maryland Human-Computer Interaction Lab.

He conducted fundamental research in the field of human–computer interaction, developing new ideas, methods, and tools such as the direct manipulation interface, and his eight rules of design.

In 1947 Goldstein and von Neumann [7] presented a system of describing processes using operation, assertion, and alternative boxes.

They felt that "coding begins with the drawing of flow diagram."

Prior to coding, the algorithm had been identified and understood.

The flowchart represented a high level definition of the solution to be implemented on a machine.

Although they were working only with numerical algorithms, they proposed a programming methodology which has since become standard practice in the computer programming field.

Furthermore, Shneiderman had conducted experiments which suggested that flowcharts were not helpful for writing, understanding, or modifying computer programs.

Born in New York, Shneiderman, attended the Bronx High School of Science, and received a BS in Mathematics and Physics from the City College of New York in 1968.

Shneiderman started his academic career at the State University of New York at Farmingdale in 1968 as instructor at the Department of Data Processing.

In the last year before his graduation he was an instructor at the Department of Computer Science of Stony Brook University (then called State University of New York at Stony Brook).

In the 1970s Shneiderman continued to study programmers, and the use of flow charts.

He then went on to study at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he received an MS in Computer Science in 1972 and graduated with a PhD in 1973.

In 1973 he was appointed assistant professor at the Indiana University, Department of Computer Science.

In the 1973 article "Flowchart techniques for structured programming" presented at a 1973 SIGPLAN meeting Isaac Nassi and Shneiderman argued:

"With the advent of structured programming and GOTO-less programming a method is needed to model computation in simply ordered structures, each representing a complete thought possibly defined in terms of other thoughts as yet undefined. A model is needed which prevents unrestricted transfers of control and has a control structure closer to languages amenable to structured programming. We present an attempt at such a model."

The new model technique for structured programming they presented has become known as the Nassi–Shneiderman diagram; a graphical representation of the design of structured software.

In 1976 he moved to the University of Maryland.

In the 1977 article "Experimental investigations of the utility of detailed flowcharts in programming" Shneiderman et al. summarized the origin and status quo of flowcharts in computer programming:

At the end of their 1977 paper, Shneiderman et al. concluded:

"Although our original intention was to ascertain under which conditions detailed flowcharts were most helpful, our repeated negative results have led us to a more skeptical opinion of the utility of detailed flowcharts under modern programming conditions. We repeatedly selected problems and tried to create test conditions which would favor the flowchart groups, but found no statistically significant differences between the flowchart and non-flowchart groups. In some cases the mean scores for the non-flowchart groups even surpassed the means for the flowchart groups. We conjecture that detailed flowcharts are merely a redundant presentation of the information contained in the programming language statements. The flowcharts may even be at a disadvantage because they are not as complete (omitting declarations, statement labels, and input/output formats) and require many more pages than do the concise programming language statements."

He started out as assistant professor in its Department of Information Systems Management, and became associate professor in 1979.

In 1983 he moved to its Department of Computer Science as associate professor, and was promoted to full professor in 1989.

In 1983 he was the Founding Director of its Human-Computer Interaction Lab, which he directed until 2000.

In 1986, he published the first edition (now on its sixth edition) of his book "Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction".

Included in this book is his most popular list of "Eight Golden Rules of Interface Design", which read:

These guidelines are frequently taught in courses on Human-Computer Interaction.

He received Honorary Doctorates from the University of Guelph (Canada) in 1995, the University of Castile-La Mancha (Spain) in 2010, Stony Brook University in 2015, the University of Melbourne in 2017, Swansea University (in Wales, UK) in 2018, and the University of Pretoria (in South Africa) in 2018.

Shneiderman resides in Bethesda, Maryland.

He is the nephew of photographer David Seymour.

Shneiderman was inducted as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery in 1997, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2001, a Member of the National Academy of Engineering in 2010, an IEEE Fellow in 2012, and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2015.

He is an ACM CHI Academy Member and received their Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.

In 2002 his book Leonardo's Laptop: Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies was Winner of an IEEE-USA Award for Distinguished Contributions Furthering Public Understanding of the Profession.

In 2003, Ben Bederson and Shneiderman coauthored the book "The Craft of Information Visualization: Readings and Reflections".

Included in Chapter 8: Theories for Understanding Information Visualization in this book are five goals of theories for HCI practitioners and researchers, which read:

He received the IEEE Visualization Career Award in 2012 and was inducted into the IEEE VIS Academy in 2019.

In 2021 he received the InfoVis Conference Test of Time Award with co-authors Ben Bederson and Martin M. Wattenberg.

His 2016 book, The New ABCs of Research: Achieving Breakthrough Collaborations, encourages applied and basic research to be combined.

In 2019, he published Encounters with HCI Pioneers: A Personal History and Photo Journal, and Human-Centered AI in 2022.