Focal points for a more user-centred agile development

The integration of user-centred design and Agile development is becoming increasingly common in companies and appears promising. However it may also present some critical points, or communication breakdowns, such as a variable interpretation of user involvement, a mismatch in the value of documentation and a misalignment in iterations. We refine these themes, emerging from both literature and previous fieldwork, by analysing a case study performed in an IT company that adopts both software engineering approaches, and we further extend the framework with a new theme related to task ownership. We argue that communication breakdowns can become focal points to drive action and decision for establishing an organisational context acknowledging the value of user involvement: to this end, we suggest the adoption of design thinking and the active engagement of the customer in embracing its values

Ethical encounters with autonomous agents

Anthropomorphic agents with increasing levels of autonomy are being used in a growing number of applications. This is especially evident in games where characters are designed with human likeness both in appearance and behaviour, with a level of autonomy that allows them to surprise and engage the player. However, with these autonomous system there is the possibility that non-intended behaviours may emerge, exposing the user to potentially ethically questionable encounters. In this position paper we argue for further protections against such glitches through the implementation of artificial ethics-based behavioural safeguards. We begin by outlining the background and specific challenges of this emerging field, before proposing a direction for future research. We conclude with a call to action, arguing that significant cross-disciplinary research, and engagement from the HCI community is required in this area

Co-designing for common values:creating hybrid spaces to nurture autonomous cooperation

This paper concerns the development of digitally-mediated technologies that value social cooperation as a common good rather than as a source of revenue and accumulation. The paper discusses the activities that shaped a European participatory design project which aims to develop a digital space that promotes and facilitates the ‘Commonfare’, a complementary approach to social welfare. The paper provides and discusses concrete examples of design artifacts to address a key question about the role of co- and participatory design in developing hybrid spaces that nurture sharing and autonomous cooperation: how can co-design practices promote alternatives to the commodification of digitally-mediated cooperation? The paper argues for a need to focus on relational, social, political and ethical values, and highlights the potential power of co- and participatory design processes to achieve this. In summary, the paper proposes that only by re-asserting the centrality of shared values and capacities, rather than individual needs or problems, co-design can reposition itself thereby encouraging autonomous cooperation

People’s Republic of Bolzano or how digital artifacts can be adversarial to misinformation

Design scholars have been focusing more of their attention to public controversial “things”, through the focus on “making public things” or on the “formation of publics” in relation to design projects. With this in mind, this paper describes a design case contrasting and challenging the main media narrative through the production of digital artifacts. The design intervention we describe, aimed at counteracting the racist stereotyping which targets the local Chinese community of Bolzano. The project People’s Republic of Bolzano reshapes the identity of the local Chinese community through digital media, in order to restore more transparent and balanced information, allowing a broader audience to inform itself on such a complex and multifaceted issue. This small project is part of an emergent phenomenon to counterbalance misrepresentation, in this case over the issue of migration

VALUTARE I SISTEMI FLESSIBILI: UN APPROCCIO GLOBALE ALLA HCI

1995/1996VIII Ciclo1966Versione digitalizzata della tesi di dottorato cartacea

The Influence of Coauthorship in the Interpretation of Multimodal Interfaces

This paper presents a model to codesign interpretively flexible artefacts. We present the case study of Beatfield, a multimodal system that allows users to control audiovisual material by means of tangible interaction. The design of the system was coauthored by individuals with different background and interests to encourage a range of difference interpretations. The capability of Beatfield to foster multiple interpretations was evaluated in a qualitative study with 21 participants. Elaborating on the outcome of this study, we present a new design model that can be used to stimulate heterogeneous interpretations of interactive artefacts

Using affect to evaluate user engagement

User Experience (UX) emerged beyond the traditional views of usability to account for users' emotional response to the aesthetics of an interactive product. This paper outlines the first of a series of studies on User Engagement (UE), a subset of UX, which focuses upon the quality of the within session interactive experience. The aim of this study is to explore affect through the responses to interactive features and how this impacts upon user judgment. Initial findings indicate that websites with more interactive features generate enhanced positive affect within session, which may predominate over a longer term, thus impacting on the overall user experience

La Psicologia della HCI

Sommario Questo lavoro presenta alcune riflessioni sul contributo della psicologia alla progettazione di sistemi informatici. Attraverso la ricostruzione storica del ruolo delle scienze umane nella HCI, si vuole dimostrare la necessità dello sviluppo di una specifica psicologia della HCI, una disciplina di confine in cui confluisca parte dell'apparato teorico e metodologico della psicologia cognitiva, sociale e applicata. L'attuale stadio tecnologico che si concentra sullo sviluppo di sistemi intelligenti e flessibili presuppone infatti conoscenze psicologiche evolute che richiedono di superare le tradizionali barriere fra le varie aree di studio del comportamento umano. HCI: Una disciplina dinamica La prima sensazione di un ricercatore che si avvicina al settore della Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) è probabilmente un misto di stupore e smarrimento. La piacevole sorpresa deriva dalla straordinaria quantità di materiale bibliografico, congressi e siti internet attualmente disponibili su un'area di ricerca così giovane. Il piacere della scoperta di tanta vitalità scientifica è però presto affiancato dalla difficoltà di selezione e fruizione del materiale. Il settore è infatti caratterizzato da un profondo disordine, prezzo forse inevitabile di una tanto rapida evoluzione. Una delle maggiori sorgenti di confusione deriva da una generalizzata instabilità terminologica che riflette ed esaspera il mancato accordo sulla definizione di oggetto e metodologie di studio. Pur ammettendo che questo quadro possa essere considerato normale nei momenti di fondazione di nuove discipline, all'interno della HCI risulta esasperato. Ciò è principalmente dovuto alla natura dinamica della disciplina. La HCI nasce dal progresso informatico al preciso scopo di fornirgli linfa vitale. In questo loop ogni potenziamento della componente tecnologica implica necessariamente un allargamento dell'oggetto di studio. Si pensi, ad esempio, all'avvento della tecnologia delle reti, che ha esteso il dominio di studio dall'analisi dell'interazione fra un computer e un utente, all'analisi dell'interazione fra più computer e più utenti Negli anni, l'oggetto di analisi della HCI si è andato modificando lungo il continuum vincolatoflessibil

Stupid computer! Abuse and social identities

Abstract. This paper presents a preliminary analysis of verbal abuse in spontaneous human-chatterbot conversations. An ethnographic study suggested that abuse is pervasive and may reflect an asymmetrical power distribution, where the user is the master, and the chatterbot the slave. We propose that verbal aggression in this setting may be a social norm applied by users to differentiate themselves from the machine in what can be regarded as a form of interspecies conflict. The findings stress the importance of naturalistic, ethnographic studies to uncover social dynamics of virtual relationships