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Allen Cypher

 

260  Baker Rd.    ·    Aptos, CA 95003

SUMMARY

Substantial contributions in the research, design, and implementation of innovative end-user applications. Primary interest in creating simple interfaces for complex tasks. Interests in intelligent interfaces, customizable software, user interface design, software design, and instruction.

Looking for a position in software design or end-user programming, in research or industry, or in managing a group that produces innovative software.

EXPERIENCE

IBM Almaden Research Center, Inc., San Jose, CA, 2002-present.

            Research Staff Member -- User Experience Research.

            · End User Programming — Research and development of a Firefox extension to enable users to record, share and automate business activities. 

            · Systems Administration tools -- Conduct research to improve the productivity of Systems Administrators. 

            User Interface Designer  -- WebFountain project.

            ·  Custom Interface  -- Managed the user interface design for two versions of a custom system for a major customer of the WebFountain project. Conducted site visits, gathered requirements, wrote UI Design Spec, wrote documentation, ran training sessions.

 

Kanisa, Inc., Cupertino, CA, 2001-2002.

            Director of Tools  -- Created the Tools Group at Kanisa. Directed the development of knowledge engineering tools critical for Kanisa’s new business model.

            ·  Knowledge Map Builder  -- Wrote the MRD, use cases, design specification and user interface specification for next-generation tools used to create Kanisa systems for Kanisa's corporate customers. Previously, knowledge maps for a new customer were built over a period of several months by highly trained Kanisa knowledge engineers.  The new tools are largely automated, and are designed to enable System Integrators, with minimal training, to create a knowledge map in several weeks.

            ·  Customer Maintenance Tools  --Wrote the design specification for a new suite of tools that enables Kanisa’s corporate customers to maintain their dynamic, personalized web content. Hired contract engineers to implement the tools.

 

Stagecast Software, Inc., Redwood City, CA, 1997-2001.

            Co-founder and Chief Designer -- Designed a creativity tool and related content and instructional material.

            ·  Creator -- Co-invented Stagecast Creator, a.k.a. Cocoa and KidSim, which enables children to create their own interactive simulations, using a novel graphical programming environment. Co-designed the program and the interface. Managed all instructional products, designed the product's tutorial, taught corporate clients, supervised development of content, managed numerous contractors.

 

Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA, 1988-1997.

            Senior Scientist -- Researched and implemented systems for end-user programming.

            ·  Cocoa -- Co-invented the KidSim/Cocoa program. Programmed the first implementation. Conducted user studies over a four-year period.

            ·  Eager -- Designed and programmed an intelligent agent for assisting users.  The Eager system observes user actions and automatically generates programs to perform repetitive tasks.

            ·  Programming by Demonstration Workshop -- Organized and hosted a workshop for the major contributors to the field of Programming by Demonstration.

            ·  "Watch What I Do" --Managed 14 authors and edited a book that was published less than one year after project inception.

            ·  Managed numerous contract programmers, summer interns, and external university contracts.

 

IntelliCorp, Mountain View, CA, 1985-1988.

            Senior Project Manager -- Consulted to corporate customers. Responsible for architecting solutions, training programming teams, and implementing complete solutions.

            ·  KLA Instruments -- Project manager and chief programmer for a compiler for a parallel computer.

            ·  GM -- Architect and team programmer for a factory scheduling system.

            ·  Intel -- Architect and team programmer for a wafer fab plant scheduler.

            ·  Sperry -- Architect and chief programmer for an operating system scheduler.

            ·  Short-term consultant to HP, 3M, Mobil, BMW, Matra Space, Olivetti, Laben, Shell.

 

University of California, San Diego, 1981-1985.

            Sloan Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow and Cognitive Scientist -- Conducted research in human-computer interaction, and wrote programs to advance interface design and ease of use.

            ·  Activity Structures Project -- Managed a group of four researchers.

            ·  User Activity Study -- Modified the source code to major Unix programs (cshell, vi, mail, toolmanager) to record a history of user actions.

            ·  Notepad -- Designed and implemented a novel program for jotting down and organizing notes.

 

IBM, Boulder, CO, Summer 1977. 

            Programmer -- Chief programmer for an ink jet fax machine.

            ·  Awarded a special bonus for completing the project ahead of schedule.

            ·  Devised a high-level macro system that automated much of the code production.

EDUCATION

Yale University, New Haven, CT, 1975-1981.

            ·  Ph.D. Computer Science -- Thesis on efficient network algorithms.

            ·  Instructor -- Introductory computer programming.

            ·  Team Programmer -- CYRUS and IT programs.

 

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 1971-1975.

            ·  A.B. Mathematics.

            ·  University Scholar, 1972-1975.

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

            Russian

RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

Reviewer

         JVLC       Journal of Visual Languages and Computing

         ToCHI     Transactions of Computer-Human Interaction

         IJHCS      International Journal of Human-Computer Studies

         CHI         ACM Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

         UIST        User Interface Software and Technology

         IUI           Intelligent User Interfaces

         UBICOMP International Conference on Ubiquitous Computing

         HCC        IEEE Symposium on Human Centric Computing

         EWHCI   East-West Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

         IHC         Brazilian Symposium on Human Computer Interaction

         CSCL       Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning

 

 

Thesis Committees

            Edwin Bos, University of Nijmegen, Netherlands

            Philippe Piernot, University of Paris 5, France

 

Conference Activities

            Invited Speaker           Playground Project Workshop, Oporto, Portugal, April, 2001.

            Invited Keynote          IHC'2000 Workshop on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Gramado, Brazil, October 2000.

            Invited Keynote          Psychology of Programming Workshop, Milton Keynes, UK, January 1998.

            Invited Keynote          OzCHI Conference, Hamilton, New Zealand, November 1996.

            Co-organizer               East-West HCI Conference, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, 1992-1995.

            Co-organizer               Symposium on Automating Tasks for Users, Stanford, CA, 1996.

            Invited Speaker           Workshop on Intelligent Design Assistance, Denver, CO, 1995.

            Invited Speaker           Symposium on Interactive Story Systems, Stanford, CA, 1995.

            Invited Panelist            Children's Interactive Media Festival, Los Angeles, CA, 1995.

PATENTS

            Copperman, M., Cypher, A., Fratkina, R., Fritzke, W., Huffman, S., Lynch, D., Mahendra, S., Venkatsubramanyan, S., Waterman, S., and Angel, M. "Efficient and Cost Effective Content Provider for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Other Applications", filed January 2002.

            Cypher, A., Smith, D.C. & Spohrer, J. "Extensible Simulation System and Graphical Programming Method", Patent Number 5,566,295, October 1996.

PUBLICATIONS

Many of these publications are available on the web. 

See www.acypher.com/Publications

 

DiGiano, C., Kahn, K., Cypher, A. and Smith, D.C. "Integrating Learning Supports into the Design of Visual Programming Systems". Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 12(5), December 2001, pp. 501-524.

Smith, D.C., Cypher, A. and Tesler, L. "Novice Programming Comes of Age" In Lieberman H., ed. Your Wish Is My Command, Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, February 2001.

Smith, D.C., Cypher, A. and Tesler, L. "Novice Programming Comes of Age" In Communications of the ACM, 43(3), March 2000, pp. 75-81.

Smith, David C., and Cypher, Allen. "Making Programming Easier for Children". In Druin A., ed. The Design of Children's Technology, Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, 1999, pp. 201-222.

Heger, N., Cypher, A. and Smith, D.C. "Cocoa at the Visual Programming Challenge '97." In Journal of Visual Languages and Computing, 1998.

Smith, D.C., Cypher, A. and Schmucker, K. "Making Programming Easier for Children," Interactions, ACM, 3(5), Sept.-Oct. 1996, pp.58-67.

Cypher, Allen and Smith, David C. "KidSim: End User Programming of Simulations." In Proceedings of CHI, 1995 (Denver, May 7-11). ACM, New York, 1995, pp. 27-34.

Smith, David C., and Cypher, Allen. "KidSim: Child Constructible Simulations." In Proceedings of the Imagina '95 Conference, Monte-Carlo, February 1995, pp. 87-99.

Smith, D.C., Cypher, A. & Spohrer, J. "KidSim: Programming Agents Without a Programming Language." In Communications of the ACM, 37(7), July 1994, pp. 54-67.

Cypher, Allen. "Eager: Programming Repetitive Tasks by Example." In Baecker, Grudin, Buxton, and Greenberg, eds., Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: Toward the Year 2000, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 1995, pp. 804-810.

Kvavik, K., Karimi, S., Cypher, A., and Mayhew, D. "User-Centered Processes and Evaluation in Product Development." In Interactions , volume 1.3, Association for Computing Machinery, New York, July, 1994, pp. 65-71.

Cypher, Allen. "The Practical Use of Macro Recording: A Case Study." In Human-Computer Interaction: Third International Conference, EWHCI'93, Moscow, Russia. Lecture Notes in Computer Science 753. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1993. pp. 327-333.

Cypher, Allen, ed. "Watch What I Do: Programming by Demonstration," MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993.

Cypher, Allen. "Bringing Programming to End Users." In Cypher A, ed. Watch What I Do: Programming by Demonstration, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993, pp. 1-11.

Cypher, Allen. "Eager: Programming Repetitive Tasks by Demonstration." In Cypher A, ed. Watch What I Do: Programming by Demonstration, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993, pp. 205-217.

Cypher, Allen. "Characterizing PBD Systems." In Cypher A, ed. Watch What I Do: Programming by Demonstration, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993, pp. 467-484.

Cypher, Allen. "Customizing Application Programs." In Proceedings of the Moscow International Workshop on Human-Computer Interaction (Moscow, August 5-8), ICSTI, Moscow, 1991. pp. 152-157.

Myers B., Cypher A., Maulsby D., Smith D., and Shneiderman B. "Demonstrational Interfaces: Coming Soon?" in Proceedings of SIGCHI'91: Human Factors in Computing Systems. New Orleans, LA. April 28-May 2, 1991. pp. 393-396.

Cypher. Allen. "Eager: Programming Repetitive Tasks by Example." Technical Video Program of the SIGCHI '91 conference, New Orleans, LA, April 27 - May 2, 1991. SIGGRAPH Video Review, Issues 63&64, no. 8.

Cypher, Allen. "Eager: Programming Repetitive Tasks by Example." In Proceedings of CHI, 1991 (New Orleans, April 28 - May 2). ACM, New York, 1991, pp. 33-39.

Cypher, Allen and Stelzner, Marilyn. "Graphical Knowledge-based Model Editors." In Sullivan, Joseph and Tyler, Sherman eds., Intelligent User Interfaces, Addison-Wesley, 1991, pp. 403-420.

Cypher, Allen. "Managing the Mundane." In Laurel B. ed., The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design, Addison-Wesley, 1990, pp. 155-160.

Karimi, Shifteh and Cypher, Allen. "Eager: A User Study," ATG Human Interface Group Technical Report 89-09, Apple Computer, Cupertino, CA, 1989.

Cypher, Allen. "The Structure of Users' Activities." In Norman D. and Draper S. eds., User Centered System Design, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, New Jersey, 1986, pp. 243-263.

Bannon L., Cypher A., Greenspan S., and Monty M. "Evaluation and Analysis of User's Activity Organization." In Proceedings of CHI, 1983 (Boston, December). ACM, New York, 1983. pp. 54-57.

Cypher, Allen. "An approach to the k paths problem." In Conference Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing, 1980 (Los Angeles, April). ACM, New York, 1980. pp. 211-217.

SELECTED  PRESENTATIONS

Panel              "Thinking Like a Kid," North Bay Multimedia Association, Exploratorium, San Francisco, CA,  January 2001.

Seminar         "Bringing Programming to Non-programmers," Pontifícia Universidade Católica PUC-Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 2000.

Panel              "Is ActiMates Barney Ethical?" CHI, Pittsburgh, PA,  May 1999.

Participant     End User Programming Workshop, CHI, Pittsburgh, PA,  May 1999.

Seminar         "Visual Interactive Simulations,"  Seminar on People, Computers, and Design, Stanford University, April 1999.

Participant     Visualization and Modeling Workshop, CILT, San Jose, CA,  April 1999.

Talk                "Stagecast Creator: Kids Creating Software," Interval Research, Palo Alto, CA, March 1999.

Talk                "Visualization Modeling for Kids," Asilomar Mathematics Conference, Asilomar, CA, December 1998.

Panel              "Designing Tutorials for Children," BayCHI-KIDS, Palo Alto, CA, November 1998.

Seminar         "Cocoa: Children as game-makers," Multimedia, Interfaces, & Graphics Seminar, University of California, Berkeley, April 1998.

Talk                "Cocoa as a Visual Language," Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, February, 1998.

Participant     Visualization and Modeling Workshop, CILT, Berkeley, CA,  January 1998.

Talk                "Cocoa's solution to the Visual Programming Challenge '97," Visual Languages '97, Capri, Italy, September 1997.

Participant     "Model Building in Science Learning" Workshop, Boulder, CO, June 1997.

Panel              "Kids, Computers and Creativity," CHI, Atlanta, GA, March 1997.

Talk                "Cocoa," Child's Play Workshop, Boulder, CO, August 1996.

Panel              "Designing Interfaces for Children," BayCHI, Palo Alto, CA, March 1996.

Demo             "KidSim: End User Programming of Simulations," CHI, Denver, CO, May 1995.

Talk                "KidSim," Child's Play Workshop, Boulder, CO, May 1995.

Seminar         "KidSim: End User Programming of Simulations," People, Computers, and Design Seminar, Stanford University, May 1995.

Seminar         "Visual Programming in KidSim," Visual Languages Seminar, Stanford, CA, May 1995.

Lecture           "KidSim," Interactive Agents course, Stanford University, February 1995.

Lecture           "Programming by Demonstration," Interface Agents course, Stanford University, November 1993.

Seminar         "Eager: Programming Repetitive Tasks by Example,"  People, Computers, and Design Seminar, Stanford University, October 1991.

Seminar         "Eager: Automating Repetitive Activities," Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford, CA, September 1991.

Talk                "Customizing Application Programs," Workshop on HCI, Moscow, USSR, August 1991.

Panel              "Demonstrational Interfaces: Coming Soon?" CHI, New Orleans, LA, April 1991.

Demo             "Eager: Programming Repetitive Tasks by Example," CHI, New Orleans, LA, April 1991.

Panel              "AI and Simulation," AAAI, Seattle, WA, July 1987.

Panel              "Delivering Knowledge-Based Applications," Rocky Mountain Conference on AI, Boulder, CO, June 1987.

Panel              "Intelligent Interfaces," CHI, Toronto, Ontario, April 1987.

Lecture           "AI in Manufacturing," Univ. of California, Berkeley, April 1987.

Talk                "Tools for Brainstorming," Intelligent Information Systems Workshop, Breckenridge, CO, February 1987.

Tutorial          "Designing User Interfaces for Expert Systems," IEEE Conference on Artificial Intelligence Applications, Orlando, FL, February 1987.