L661 Concepts and Contemporary issues in HCI

Syllabus

S661 Concepts and Contemporary issues in HCI

Spring 2009

Time: 1:00–3:45 PM, W

Room: L 036

Instructor: Hamid Ekbia

Email: hekbia@indiana.edu

Telephone: 812 855 3251

Office: ML 15

Office Hours: 4:00-5:00 PM W/Th.

Web: http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/hekbia/S661/

Course Description

A perennial challenge that faces designers and researchers is whether and how to apply theory when understanding and designing interactive technologies. Having a theoretical grounding when conducting research and design is generally considered preferable to simply adopting a ‘seat of the pants’ approach. Not least, it can provide rigor, systematicity and a structure from which to propose, analyze and evaluate designs. However, it is also well known that it can be very difficult to apply to practical concerns. It has often been noted that there exists a gap between the various theoretical constructs and conceptual frameworks developed in the field of HCI and the actual practice of designing interactive systems. How can this gulf be overcome such that the role of theory is seen to be truly useful?

A main focus of the course is to determine which theories and constructs are appropriate for understanding the use of, informing the design of and assessing the value of information technologies. The course consists of two inter-related strands: theoretical concepts and contemporary issues. The first part provides an opportunity to learn about a range of theoretical approaches that have been developed specifically for use in HCI. Based on this understanding, students will have the opportunity to apply some of them, assessing their value in relation to the design and evaluation of particular interactive technologies. To this end, a number of hands-on practical activities will be carried out alongside reading of the relevant literature. The empirical study of particular technologies will also build on these theories. In so doing, a variety of techniques of applying theoretical ideas will be explored and their merits and disadvantages exposed.

The second part of the course will examine contemporary issues surrounding the situated use of interactive technologies. In particular, it will cover ‘hot topics’, including emotion, embodiment, interpersonal and social aspects of interaction. As with the first part, it will explore the value of emerging theoretical accounts for these kinds of phenomena in relation to their utility in informing the design of interactive systems.

Course Objectives

Students will have the opportunity to explore in-depth the following topics:

Core concepts in human-computer interaction 
Contemporary theories developed for accounting for HCI issues and user behavior 
Cognitive, affective, interpersonal and social aspects of interaction design 
The application of theoretical constructs for analyzing user behavior and system use 
A range of theory ‘transfer’ techniques for informing system design • The role and function of theory

Assignments

The course is a combination of theory and projects, with an emphasis on putting into practice what is covered in the readings. Projects will be carried out both individually and also as part of a class/group exercise. The projects that count towards your formal assessment are presented below:

1. Leading The Class (10%)

Each of you will lead one class discussion. You will select a topic from the syllabus in which you have interest. This may be the topic you wish to investigate for the term project. When this topic is covered in class, you will have the lead role in preparing and leading the discussion. If there is a topic you would like to cover that is not on the syllabus, let me know as soon as possible. If it is appropriate, I will assign you a date when you will lead the discussion.

When you lead the discussion, you should be prepared to talk about the topic and the readings, raising the questions that will serve as the basis for our discussion. You will prepare notes or an outline, and any supporting materials (such as overheads) or, for the brave, a live demonstration.

You complete this assignment by summarizing the readings (including the Additional Readings of that particular week, if any), preparing the discussion questions, leading the discussion, and turning in your materials. You will sign up for topics on January 21. This assignment is worth 10% of the final grade.

2. Technology trend report (25%) 

It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with changes in human-machine interactions and interfaces as new technologies become available at a seemingly increasing rate. For this assignment, you will select a technology trend, either focusing on a device or an interface that interests you and prepare a report on its current and future state. Here's an exemplary list to suggest possible topics. This is only a suggestive list. You may investigate other interface technologies if your interests are not represented on this list. In this case, you will clear your topic with the instructor before beginning work. You will conduct an empirical study of the same technology for Assignment #2, so make your choice with that in mind.

GUI	Remote Presence	Software Agents
Ubicomp	Remote manipulation	Virtual reality
Location-based services (e.g., GPS)	Touch interfaces	Augmented reality
Embedded Computing	Human-Robot Interaction	Smart homes

The purpose of a technology trend report is to provide your readers with an introduction to the technology, a sense of the current state of the art (or of the problem), and your informed opinion about the possible futures for the technology. Therefore, in your report, be sure to cover the following:

· Describe the technology and, if possible, include pictures. What are its main features?

· What is it intended to do? How does it work?

· How usable is it? What are its strengths and limitations?

· What are the intended contexts of use?

· How well is it doing? What are the projections for its future? What do you think about the product's future?

On February 18 or 25, you will present your technology trend report in class. Sign up for the presentation time on February 11. Your presentation will be web-based, using web pages, Powerpoint saved as HTML or some other appropriate presentation software. When you present, you may also use notes, an outline, and any supporting materials, although you should be using your report as your primary source material. The presentation will be ~20 minutes in length.

The technology report essay will be due on February 25. This assignment will be discussed in class on January 14. You will email your proposed paper topic to the instructor by January 25 and will receive email confirmation by January 28. The assignment will be worth 20% of the final grade.

3. Empirical Study (25%) 

You will conduct an empirical study on an artifact that represents the technology that you selected for Assignment 2. The empirical study could either be cognitive or ethnographic in nature. We will discuss the details of these in class throughout the semester.

You will write a 3000-word report on your findings and analysis of the study. This essay is due March 11.

4. Project Report and Presentation

This assignment requires you to develop and apply a framework for assessing the HCI topic of your choice and analyzing the empirical study of Assignment 3 through that framework. It includes (i) writing up a research paper on the empirical study, and (ii) to present it verbally as a presentation. More details on this project will be presented in class.

On April 29, you will present your term project in class. Presentation times will be assigned on April 22. The presentation will be ~20 minutes in length. The assignment is due on May 2 and will be worth 30% of the final grade, 25% for the essay and 5% for the presentation.

4. Discussion and class participation (10%) 

Reflecting on and discussing the arguments presented in papers is an important part of understanding. A central part of the course is for you to show evidence of having read the papers and also the ability to reflect and critique the issues presented in them. It would also involves your prior preparation for the hands-on activities by thinking about them in advance.

Required Book

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. (Plans and Situated Actions, 2^nd edition). New York: Cambridge University Press.

In addition to the book, other readings are assigned according to schedule below. Unless otherwise mentioned, these readings will be available on Ereserve: http://ereserves.indiana.edu/eres/coursepass.aspx?cid=2971

Additional Books

The following are potentially useful sources that will be in reserve at the library.

Baecker, R. et al (1995) Readings in Human-Computer Interaction. Second Edition. Morgan-Kaufmann.

Carroll, J.M. (2002) (ed) Human-Computer Interaction in the New Millennium. Addison-Wesley Publishing ISBN 0-201-70447-1

Carroll, J. (2003) (ed) HCI Models, Theories, & Frameworks: Toward a Multidisciplinary Science.

Dourish, P. (2001) Where the Action Is: The Foundations of Embodied Interaction. MIT Press ISBN 0-262-04196-0

Ekbia, H. R. (2008). Artificial Dreams: The Quest for Non-Biological Intelligence. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Green, W. S. and Jordan, P. W. (2001). Pleasure With Products: Beyond Usability, Taylor & Francis ISBN 0-41523704-1

Greenbaum, J and Kyng, M. (1991). Design at Work: Cooperative design of computer systems. LEA, New Jersey.

Laurel, B. (1990). (ed) The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design. Addison Wesley: Wokingham.

McCarthy, J. and Wright, P. (2004) Technology as Experience. MIT.

Norman, D. (1988). The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books: New York.

Norman, D. (1992) Turn Signals are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass.

Norman, D. (1993) Things That Make Us Smart, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass.

Norman, D. and Draper, S. (eds) (1986). User-Centred System Design. LEA: Hillsdale.

Rogers, Y., Preece, J. and Sharp, H. (2007) Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. 2^nd Edition. Wiley

Winograd, T. and Flores, F. (1986). Understanding Computers and Cognition. Addison Wesley: Wokingham.

Winograd, T. (1996) Bringing Design to Software. Addison-Wesley, ACM Press, New York.

Schedule

Week 1. 01/14/09: An introduction to core concepts: the interface, interaction, the user and usability

This class will cover a brief history and some of the core concepts of HCI relating to users and technology use. These include the notions of the interface, interactivity and interaction. Traditional ways of characterizing these aspects of the relationship between technology and users will also be examined in terms of various usability aspects.

Required reading:

Harrison, et al. (2007) The Three Paradigms of HCI.

Grudin, J. (1990) interface. In Proceedings of CSCW’90, ACM: NY. p. 269-278 (ISBN 0-89791-402-3).

Ekbia, H.R. (draft). Thoughts on Human-Computer Interaction.

Additional reading: 

Bannon, L. (1990) From Human Factors to Human Actors. In Greenbaum, J. and Kyng, M. (eds.) Design at Work . Hillsdale, NJ. Also available at: http://www.ul.ie/~idc/library/papersreports/LiamBannon/LBArticl.html

Grudin, J. (1990) The Computer reaches out: The historic continuity of interface design. In Proceedings of CHI’90 Conference, Addison Wesley. p.261-268 (ISBN 0-201-50932-6)

Norman, D. (1988/2002) The Psychology of Everyday Things. Basic Books. ch 1

Spool, J. (2004) The cost of frustration. http://www.uie.com/articles/cost_of_frustration/

Week 2. 01/21/09: Conceptualizing the user experience beyond usability

Recently, there has been much discussion about the limited notions surrounding usability. The notion of the user experience has begun gathering momentum, providing a more encompassing account of how people interact and use technologies. This class will cover some of this new ground, looking at the range of concepts that have emerged.

Required reading:

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. pp. 1–32 (Intro + Ch. 1, 2, 3)

Forlizzi, J. and Battarbee, K. (2004) Understanding Experience in Interactive Systems. DIS04 Conference Proceedings, Cambridge, MA, August 2004, 261-268. Available from here

Wright, P. and McCarthy, J. (2003) The Experience Framework. Download from: http://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/~pcw/

Additional reading: 

Lamb, R. & Kling, R. (2003). Reconceptualizing users as social actors in information systems research. MIS Quarterly, 27(2), 197-235.

Alben, L. (1996) Quality of experience: defining the criteria for effective interaction design. Interactions, 3.3 May+june, ACM, p11.

Battarbee, K. (2003) Co-experience: the social user experience. In Proc. CHI 2003, ACM. 730-731.

Websites: User Experience Design http://semanticstudios.com/publications/semantics/000029.php

Measuring the user experience http://www.sitepoint.com/article/quantify-user-experience

Week 3. 01/28/09: Cognitive models and theories in HCI

HCI emerged as an interdisciplinary field where cognitive psychology was a central player. There have been several approaches to applying different types of theory to understanding user-system behavior and informing system design. In the next two classes we will look at a range of the ‘traditional’ cognitive approaches and assess their value in terms of their contribution to HCI.

Required reading:

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Ch.4

Ekbia, H. R. (2008). Artificial Dreams: The Quest for Non-Biological Intelligence. Ch.1: The Origins of AI. Cambridge University Press.

Levinson, S. (2006). Cognition at the heart of interaction. Discourse Studies

Additional Reading:

Norman, D.(1988) Ch 2. The psychology of Everyday Actions <ereserve>

Hutchins, E. et al, Direct manipulation interfaces. In Norman, D. and Draper, S. (eds) (1986). User-Centered System Design. LEA: Hillsdale. Chapter 5, 87-124

John, B. Information Processing and Skilled Behavior. Carroll, J (2003) Ed. HCI Models, Theories, & Frameworks: Toward a Multidisciplinary Science Chapter 4. 55-101.

Week 4. 02/04/09: Mental models: Why they became such a popular concept in HCI

The concept of mental models was popular in HCI in the late ‘80s and early 90s. This class will examine how and why this phenomenon arose and how useful the concept has been for (i) understanding user experience and (ii) informing system design.

Required reading:

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Ch.5

Payne, S. Users’ mental models: the very ideas. (2003) Mental Models In Carroll, J (2003) Ed. HCI Models, Theories, & Frameworks: Toward a Multidisciplinary Science Chapter 6, 136-156.

Poole, E., Le Dantec, C.A., Eagan, J., and Edwards, W.K. (). Reflecting on the Invisible: Understanding End-User Perceptions of Ubiquitous Computing.Ubicomp2008.

Additional reading: 

McDaniel, S. (2003). What's your idea of a mental model? boxesandarrows.com. Download here.

Rogers, Y., Rutherford, A. and Bibby, P. (1992) Models in the Mind. Academic Press.

Week 5. 02/11/09: Situated Actions

Required reading:

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Ch.6

Garfinkle, H. (1972). Remarks on ethnomethodology. In J. Gummperz and D. Hymes (eds.) Directions in sociolinguistics: The enthnography of communication, 301-324. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Lynch, M., Livingston, E. and Garfinkel, H (1983). Temporal order in laboratory work. In K. Knorr and M. Mulkay (eds.) Science observed (pp. 205-238). London: Sage

Button, G. and Dourish., P. (1996) Technomethodology: Paradoxes and possibilities. Obtainable from http://www.acm.org/sigchi/chi96/proceedings/papers/Button/jpd_txt.htm

Additional reading: 

Norman, D. (1993) The Power of Representation. In Things That Make Us Smart. Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass. Ch 3, 43-76.

Week 6. 02/18/09: Communicative Resources

Required reading:

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Ch.7

Gumperz, John. (1982). The linguistic bases of communicative competence. In D. Tannen (ed.)., Georgetown University roundtable on language and linguistics: Analyzing discourse: Text and talk, 323-334. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.

Schegloff, E. (1982). Discourse as an interactional achievement: Some uses of “uh huh” and other things that come between sentences. In D. Tannen (ed.), Georgetown University roundtable on language and linguistics: Analyzing discourse and talk (pp. 71-93). Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press.

Additional reading: 

Schegloff, E. (1972) Sequencing in conversational openings. In G. Gumperz andD. Hymes (eds.), Directions in sociolinguistics: the ethnography of communication (pp.346-380). New York: Academic Press

Assignment: Technology trend presentations

Week 7. 02/25/09 Methods

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Ch.8

Lynch, M. (1991). Ordinary and scientific measurement as ethnomethodological phenomenon. In G. Button (ed.), Ethnomethodology and the human sciences, 77-108. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Lynch, M., Livingston, E. and Garfinkel, H (1983). Temporal order in laboratory work. In K. Knorr and M. Mulkay (eds.) Science observed (pp. 205-238). London: Sage

Simonsen, J. and Kensing, F. (1997). Using Ethnography in Contextual Design. Communications of the ACM, 40(7): 82-88

Assignment: Technology trend presentations

Week 8. 03/04/09: Human-Machine Communication

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Ch.9, 10, 11

Grice, H.P. (1975). Logic and conversation. In P. Cole and J. Morgan (eds.), Syntax and semantics: Vol 3. Speech acts, 41-58. New York: Academic Press.

Additional reading: 

Green, T. and Blackwell, A. (1998) Cognitive dimensions of informational artifacts: A tutorial. www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~afb21/CognitiveDimensions/ CDtutorial.pdf

Blackwell, A.F. and Green, T.R.G. (2003). Notational systems - the Cognitive Dimensions of Notations framework. In J.M. Carroll (Ed.) HCI Models, Theories and Frameworks: Toward a multidisciplinary science. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, 103-134.

Week 9. 03/11/09: Distributed Cognition

One of the criticisms of cognitive theories in HCI is that they are based exclusively on processes occurring inside people’s head, while not taking into account how people use external representations and other forms of cognitive artifacts in their everyday and working lives. An alternative approach to studying cognition is to examine the role played by external representations and cognitive artifacts in conjunction with putative internal cognitive processes. Norman and Hutchins are well known for their pioneering work in this area.

Required reading:

Hollins, J., Hutchins, E. and Kirsh, D. (2000) Distributed Cognition: Towards a new foundation of HCI. TOCHI, 7, 174-196.

Wright, P., Fields, B. and Harrison, M. (2000) Analyzing human-computer interaction as distributed cognition: the resources model. Human-Computer Interaction, 15, 1-41. Available here

Perry, M. (2003) Distributed cognition. In J.M. Carroll (Ed.) HCI Models, Theories and Frameworks: Toward a multidisciplinary science. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, 194-233.

Additional reading 

Rogers, Y. (2004) An updated introduction to Distributed Cognition. To appear in the Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. 2^nd Edition. Available from http://www.slis.indiana.edu/faculty/yrogers/publications.html

Rogers, Y. and Ellis, J. (1994) Distributed Cognition: an alternative framework for analysing and explaining collaborative working. Journal of Information Technology, 9 (2). Available from www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/users/papers

Hands-on activity: Working in groups of two we will carry out a distributed cognition analysis using an adapted version of Wright’s Resource model.

Week 10. 03/18/09 Spring Break

Week 11. 03/25/09 Activity theory

There have been a number of other theoretical approaches that have been imported into HCI as a way of understanding people’s use of technologies in everyday practice. Three approaches that have received considerable attention over the last 10 years are distributed cognition, Activity theory and the situated action approach. Nardi’s paper (1996) provides a critique of the three approaches, comparing and contrasting their merits and differences. In this class we will begin by reading her paper and then examining in more detail the Activity Theory approach.

Required reading:

Nardi, Bonnie. "Context and Consciousness: Activity Theory and Human-Computer Interactions." ACM Interactions, October 1995.

Kuutti, K. (1996). Activity Theory as a potential framework for human-computer interaction. research. In Nardi, B. (ed), Context and Consciousness. Chapter 2, 17-44.

Additional reading: 

Halverson, C. (2002) Activity theory and distributed cognition, CSCW, 11, 243-267. Obtainable from: http://www.isr.uci.edu/~jpd/classes/ics234bs03/

For a set of short overviews on Activity Theory see: http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/act_dff.html http://www.acm.org/interactions/vol2no4/depts/book.htm

A web resource on Activity Theory can also be found at http://carbon.cudenver.edu/~mryder/itc_data/activity.html

Week 12. 04/01/09: New approaches to HCI: Affective and interpersonal aspects

In this class, we will examine other ways of conceptualizing HCI in terms of affective and interpersonal aspects. We will look at the nature of these aspects together with the theories and frameworks that have been proposed for explaining them.

Required reading:

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Ch.12

Heath, C., Svensson, M., Hindmarsh, J., Luff, P., & Vom Lehn, D. (2002). Configuring awareness. Computer-supported cooperative work 11: 317-347.

Robertson, T. (2002). The public availability of actions and artefacts. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work 11: 299-316

Additional reading  

Norman, D. Emotion and design. Chapter 1. Attractive things work better. (Paper can be downloaded from his website)

Fogg, B.J. (2003) Persuasive Technology.

Jordan (2002) Designing pleasurable products.

Hands-on activity: Designing a pleasurable user experience 

The focus of this activity is to consider how to design a pleasurable user experience, based on a particular ‘user experience’ framework.

Week 13. 04/08/09: New approaches to HCI: social and embodied interaction

In this class, we move on to consider new ways of conceptualizing the user experience, in terms of social and embodied aspects.

Required reading:

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Ch.13

Paul Dourish (2001) Where the Action Is: The foundations of embodied interaction. MIT Press. Pages ch 5 (also draft overview paper available, called “Embodied Interaction: Exploring the Foundations of a New Approach to HCI” ). <ereserve>

Hoff, T., Oritsland, T. and Bjorkli, C. (2002) Exploring the embodied-mind approach to user experience. Proc of Nordchi, ACM. 271-278. <ereserve>

Week 14. 04/15/09: New approaches to HCI: Leftfield of conventional wisdom

In this class we will examine how cultural ethnography and ambiguity can be used to make the familiar unfamiliar and strange.

Required reading:

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Ch.14

Bell, G., Blythe, M. and Sengers, P. (2005) Making by making strange: Defamiliarization and the design of domestic technologies, ACM Transaction on Computer-Human Interaction, 12 (2) 149-173. Available from the ACM digital library.

Gaver, B., Beaver, J. and Benford, S. (2003) Ambiguity as a resource for design. CHI’03 Proceedings. 233-240. Available at the ACM digital library

Week 15. 04/22/09: Rethinking the Foundations

In this class will focus on social theory as it applies to design. Although the relationship between sociology and design is a bit tortured and underestimated for that matter, there are useful insights to be drawn.

Required reading:

Suchman, L. A. (2007). Human-Machine Reconfigurations. Ch.15

Agre, P. (2001). Changing Places: Contexts of Awareness in Computing. Human-Computer Interaction 16(2-4): 177–192. Download here.

Mantovani, G. (1996). Social Context in HCI: A New Framework for Mental Models, Cooperation, and Communication. Cognitive Science (20): 237-269

Forlizzi, J. (2007). Product Ecologies: Understanding the Context of Use Surrounding Products. Chapters 2 and 3. Ph.D. Dissertation. CMU. Download here.

Additional Reading

Hong, J. I., Ng, J. D., Lederer, S., and Landay, J. A. (2004). Privacy risk models for designing privacy-sensitive ubiquitous computing systems. Proceedings of the 2004 conference on Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods, and Techniques, 91-100.

http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1013115.1013129

Ling, K, Beenen, G., Ludford, P., Wang, X., Chang, K., Li, X., et al. (2005). Using social psychology to motivate contributions to online communities. Journal of Computer-mediated communication, 10(4). [Online]

Week 16. 04/29/09: Final Project Presentations

HCI Resources on the Web

A diversity of HCI resources can now be found on the web. To get started have a look at the starters section in: http://www.id-book.com/

Also look at the HCI portal: http://usableweb.org/

Another portal of HCI sites is: http://www.hal.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~pasqual/hci.html

Other Useful HCI Sites

From the UK, is the BCS HCI site (http://www.bcs-hci.org.uk/), which provides a good definition and from the USA is SIGCHI (http://sigchi.org/)

The BCS HCI group also has an affiliated usability site with the latest news on it:

http://www.usabilitynews.com/

The SIGCHI site has its online HCI magazine interactions http://www.acm.org/interactions/

Gary Perlman has over the years has compiled a range of HCI resources (http://www.hcibib.org/) and links. Includes definitions, recommended readings, articles on usability, HCI glossary, and most frequently cited authors.

HCI-index (http://degraaff.org/hci/) provides a range of pointers, including ‘what’s new in HCI’ (and kept up-to-date)

Mikael Ericsson from Sweden developed a portal of HCI resources (http://www.ida.liu.se/labs/aslab/groups/um/hci/), including ‘hot stuff’, such as PhD theses. Sadly not updated since 1998, but still a good archive of stuff.

Food for Thought

A great site to visit to find examples of bad design is called ‘Bad human factor design’ (http://www.baddesigns.com/). It provides a wonderful scrapbook of illustrated examples of things that are hard to use because they do not follow interaction design principles. It is put together by Michael J. Darnell and has won various awards.

Boxes and Arrows (http://www.boxesandarrows.com/) has some great articles on interaction design, interface design, information architecture and seeks to provoke thought and push boundaries.

Sound Bites

Tog’s AskTog column (http://www.asktog.com/), Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox (http://useit.com/alertbox/) and Jared Spool (http://www.uie.com/articles/) provide regularly updated ‘soundbites’ on their websites, which are well archived. Have a look at Tog’s first principles article (http://www.asktog.com/basics/firstPrinciples.html), which provides an extensive set of design principles.