The changing face of human-computer interaction in the age of ubiquitous computing

HCI is reinventing itself. No longer only about being user centered, it has set its sights on pastures new, embracing a much broader and far-reaching set of interests. From emotional, eco-friendly, embodied experiences to context, constructivism and culture, HCI research is changing apace: from what it looks at, the lenses it uses and what it has to offer. Part of this is as a reaction to what is happening in the world; ubiquitous technologies are proliferating and transforming how we live our lives. We are becoming more connected and more dependent on technology. The home, the crèche, outdoors, public places and even the human body are now being experimented with as potential places to embed computational devices, even to the extent of invading previously private and taboo aspects of our lives. In this paper, I examine the diversity of lifestyle and technological transformations in our midst and outline some 'difficult' questions these raise together with alternative directions for HCI research and practice

The future of enterprise groupware applications

This paper provides a review of groupware technology and products. The purpose of this review is to investigate the appropriateness of current groupware technology as the basis for future enterprise systems and evaluate its role in realising, the currently emerging, Virtual Enterprise model for business organisation. It also identifies in which way current technological phenomena will transform groupware technology and will drive the development of the enterprise systems of the future

Innovation for an inclusive future

This workshop will focus on setting the agenda for research, practice and policy in support of inclusive design for third generation computer-based products. The next generation of technology represents an unprecedented opportunity to improve the quality of life for groups of users who have previously faced exclusion, such as those with impairments and older citizens. At the same time it risks creating a greater digital divide and further exclusion. How we approach design for this new generation will determine whether or not the third wave will provide positive advances towards an inclusive digital world. We therefore need to put forward both a rationale for inclusive design and provide pointers towards technical development and design practice in support of inclusion. It is our belief that there is not only a strong moral case for design for inclusion but also significant commercial incentive, which may be key to persuading influential players to focus on inclusion. Therefore one of our key objectives is to describe and promote the advantages of designing ‘in from the edges’ of the user population rather than designing for a notional ‘average’ user

Authenticity and the 'Authentic City'

In this paper, I argue that the benefits that smart cities purport to provide cohere poorly with a number of our shared phenomenological intuitions about the relationships(s) between authentic experience and technologised society. While many of these intuitions are, strictly speaking, pseudo-problems, they deserve our attention. These issues will only grow more pressing as our ‘dumb cities’, already so opaque to experience, give way to hyper-technologised ‘smart cities’. However, it is possible to design our way out of these pseudo-problems. Assuming we accept my argument that the distinction between authenticity and the device paradigm is premised upon a certain kind of category error, there is no categorical or definitional reason why it is not possible for urbanised, technologised spaces to feel authentic, whether by virtue of their aesthetic properties, or because they facilitate ‘authentic’ behaviour. Indeed, I argue that ‘inauthenticity’ is an aesthetic rather than an ontological category (much like ‘ugliness’, or ‘boring-ness’), with feelings of inauthenticity serving as evidence of a basic failure of design. Redressing these failures of design requires that we adopt a novel approach to the design and use of technical objects. Consequently, in the concluding analysis of the chapter I outline how the feeling of authenticity can be invoked in the smart city and, consequently, how these failures of design can be avoided.<br/

A bibliometric study of human–computer interaction research activity in the Nordic-Baltic Eight countries

Human–computer interaction (HCI) has become an important area for designers and developers worldwide, and research activities set in national cultural contexts addressing local challenges are often needed in industry and academia. This study explored HCI research in the Nordic-Baltic countries using bibliometric methods. The results show that the activity varies greatly across the region with activities dominated by Finland, Sweden, and Denmark, even when adjusting for differences in population size and GDP. Research output variations were larger for the top-tier conferences compared to entry-tier conferences and journals. Locally hosted conferences were associated with local increases in research activity. HCI research longevity appears to be an indicator of research maturity and quantity. HCI researchers typically collaborated either with colleagues within the same institution or with researchers from countries outside the Nordic-Baltic region such as US and the UK. There was less collaboration between national and Nordic-Baltic partners. Collaboration appeared especially prevalent for top-tier conference papers. Top-tier conference papers were also more frequently cited than regional-tier and entry-tier conferences, yet journal articles were cited the most. One implication of this study is that the HCI research activity gaps across the Nordic-Baltic countries should be narrowed by increasing the activity in countries with low research outputs. To achieve this, first-time authors could receive guidance through collaborations with experienced authors in the same institution or other labs around the world. More conferences could also be hosted locally. Furthermore, journals may be more effective than conferences if the goal is to accumulate citations.publishedVersio

Studying technology use as social practice: the untapped potential of ethnography

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) in healthcare are often introduced with expectations of higher-quality, more efficient, and safer care. Many fail to meet these expectations. We argue here that the well-documented failures of ICTs in healthcare are partly attributable to the philosophical foundations of much health informatics research. Positivistic assumptions underpinning the design, implementation and evaluation of ICTs (in particular the notion that technology X has an impact which can be measured and reproduced in new settings), and the deterministic experimental and quasi-experimental study designs which follow from these assumptions, have inherent limitations when ICTs are part of complex social practices involving multiple human actors. We suggest that while experimental and quasi-experimental studies have an important place in health informatics research overall, ethnography is the preferred methodological approach for studying ICTs introduced into complex social systems. But for ethnographic approaches to be accepted and used to their full potential, many in the health informatics community will need to revisit their philosophical assumptions about what counts as research rigor

Cinema-going trajectories in the digital age

The activity of cinema-going constantly evolves and gradually integrates the use of digital data and platforms to become more engaging for the audiences. Combining methods from the fields of Human Computer Interaction and Film Studies, we conducted two workshops seeking to understand cinema audiences’ digital practices and explore how the contemporary cinema-going experience is shaped in the digital age. Our findings suggest that going to the movies constitutes a trajectory during which cinemagoers interact with multiple digital platforms. At the same time, depending on their choices, they construct unique digital identities that represent a set of online behaviours and rituals that cinemagoers adopt before, while and after cinema-going. To inform the design of new, engaging cinemagoing experiences, this research establishes a preliminary map of contemporary cinema-going including digital data and platforms. We then discuss how audiences perceive the potential improvement of the experience and how that would lead to the construction of digital identities

Percepção de estudantes de psicologia sobre a informática em sua formação profissional

Neste artigo analisa-se uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, cujo objetivo era explorar a percepção de 45 alunos de psicologia de diferentes universidades da cidade de Santiago do Chile, sobre a incorporação da informática como apoio para a aprendizagem em sua formação profissional. A informação foi coletada através de entrevistas semiestruturadas e analisou-se mediante o processo de codificação da Teoría Fundamentada. Os resultados mostram como categorias principais, o conhecimento da informática, a valoração da informática, e os fatores que obstaculizam o uso desta. Da codificação seletiva se desprende uma alta valoração da informática como ferramenta econômica e cômoda, mas também se observa uma alta reticência dos alunos diante de sua utilização no trabalho profissional tradicional do psicólogo. Encontraram-se fatores pessoais e institucionais nos que se baseia a valoração, a motivação e o nível de conhecimento dos estudantes diante do uso de ferramentas informáticas.This paper analyses a qualitative research aimed to exploring the perception of 45 psychology students from different universities in Santiago de Chile, about incorporating information systems to support learning in their professional training. Data were collected through semi structured interviews and their analysis was based on Grounded Theory's coding process. Results show that the major categories are computer knowledge, appreciation of computers and factors that hinder their use. From the selective coding a positive evaluation emerges of information systems as an economic and useful tool. However, there is also a high reluctance on the part of the students regarding the use of such tools in the psychologist' traditional professional work. Personal and organizational factors were found as bases for students' assessment, motivation and level of knowledge facing the use of these tools.En este artículo se analiza una investigación de naturaleza cualitativa, cuyo objetivo era explorar la percepción de 45 alumnos de psicología de diferentes universidades de la ciudad de Santiago de Chile, sobre la incorporación de la informática como apoyo para el aprendizaje en su formación profesional. La información se recolectó a través de entrevistas semiestructuradas y se analizó mediante el proceso de codificación de la Teoría Fundamentada. Los resultados muestran como categorías principales, el conocimiento de la informática, la valoración de la informática, y los factores que obstaculizan el uso de ésta. De la codificación selectiva se desprende una alta valoración de la informática como herramienta económica y cómoda, pero también se observa una alta reticencia de los alumnos frente a su utilización en el trabajo profesional tradicional del psicólogo. Se encontraron factores personales e institucionales en los cuales se fundamenta la valoración, la motivación y el nivel de conocimiento de los estudiantes frente al uso de herramientas informáticas