Designer tools for hypertext authoring

Abstract

Hypertext authors lack experience. In fact, the whole business of designing and producing hypertext systems is still a relatively new discipline. Creating hypertexts is complex because of the richness of interconnectivity that exists among nodes and links in hypertexts. As such, the demands placed on hypertext authors in authoring hypertexts cannot be underestimated. Hypertext authors have to perform many balancing acts: (1) ensure that the design and structure of the hypertext system is 'best' according to its function; (2) ensure that all the nodes and links created in the hypertext database correspond directly to the windows and links in the display screen so that there should be no redundant/missing links or nodes; and (3) incorporate good design guidelines for screen and information display, dialogue design, navigation aids and online assistance. Hypertext authors don't make good hypermedia documents because it is difficult to do so. They are faced with a vast range of potential structures and an astronomically large number of choices when creating a hypertext document. Just as users are often 'lost' while navigating in hypertexts, so are hypertext authors themselves in authoring hypertext systems! Could it be possible that because hypertext authors themselves are 'lost' in the process of designing and authoring hypertext systems, they inadvertently contribute to poorly designed hypertext systems, which in turn leads to users often being lost in 'hyperspace'? If so, how can authors then be helped in designing well-structured hypertext systems?.