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Human-Computer Interaction in the New Millenium
Reviewer's Note:
Most of the people in the book I'm reviewing could crush me beneath their heels, given I'm a lowly doctoral student in the HCI field. However, it's not a simple question of whether the collection is good or bad, but whether it will be good for the reader in their context. Besides, I can give you good inside information on lots of the authors. Like George Furnas, as cool a cat as you'll meet, gets nervous when he does magic tricks and Paul Resnick picks a mean fiddle. Yep, I got tons of dirt.
The ScenarioAnyone who has taken an HCI class has probably come across a gigantic blue paperback book called Human-Computer Interaction: Toward the Year 2000, which has acted as a de facto text in HCI classes in the past. In 1998, leaders in the HCI field realized that this book would soon be obsolete, and started organizing the players who would contribute to this worthy successor. This book is a collection of 29 articles from the lead researchers in the HCI academic research community, and it attempts to outline the research programs that will dominate the HCI field, if not for the next millennium as advertised, then at least for the next 10 years. The book is divided into seven sections:
- Models, Theories, and Frameworks
- Usability Engineering Methods and Concepts
- User Interface Software and Tools
- Groupware and Cooperative Activity
- Media and Information
- Integrating Computation and Real Environments
- HCI and Society
Each section has 3-5 articles on the section's topic. Examples of the research included:
- Terry Winograd proposes a conceptual framework for the design of interactive spaces, or more basically computing environments built into the architecture of a space and seamlessly integrated with personal context.
- Hollan, Hutchins and Kirsh follow up some of Hutchins work on distributed cognition as an HCI research area, including a call for more ethnographic studies in the area and a better understanding of how people and tools interact.
- Olson and Olson outline the problems of distant work collaboration, and outline situations in which distant work makes more sense than not.
- Terveen and Hill give a great review of work in collaborative filtering, and then outline several approaches to making recommender systems better able to return positive hits.
- Doug Schuler in one article and Paul Resnick in another argue how HCI issues go beyond desktop computing or small groups and can be applied to larger groups, including communities both online and off.
Other topics include situated computing, participatory design, new user interfaces like tangible user interfaces or gesture recognition, cognitive modelling and so on. Some common themes that emerge are the expectation that user interface needs to go beyond the desktop environment, the application of HCI principle to things other than the individual or small group, the importance of groupware and the development of a unifying theory for the field.
Really, one could write a pretty long review on any of the 29 chapters, since each one does have serious weight, as well as an innovative edge as these investigators attempt to outline directions for the next several years. Some of the articles included here have already struck a chord in this research community and have become widely cited in their draft forms, or from appearances in special journals. Each section of the book typically appeared as as journal article in Human-Computer Interactions, or were specifically solicited by John Carroll.
The Good and the BadThese are some heavy hitters. The authors list reads like my general prelims, and it takes someone like Carroll to pull together a group like this. Each of the 29 articles stands strong on its own, though one may quibble with claims here and there, yet still manage to paint a remarkably cohesive picture of the area as a whole. This book contains serious research in a single bound volume that should grace the desk of any person interested in HCI issues. It is simply unarguable that this is going to be the HCI book for the foreseeable future.
The book bears some of the problems of the field, which is that it comes from a specific set of disciplines like cognitive psychology and computer science, so may preclude applicable theories from other disciplines. That is the nature of academic boundary making, and is not the specific fault of the book. Just so you are aware of it.
And speaking of academics, some readers may be turned off by the academic edge of this book. HCI in general has always had a foot in both the university and the corporate sector, as evinced by the list of speakers at this year's ACM-SIGCHI conference, but this book tends towards the academic side. Although specific applications get mentioned here, large parts of the book may be a turn off to people like my brother-in-law who is a sysadmin and definitely not interested in new macrotheory for HCI research. Or shaving.
This book takes commitment. It is not for lily-livered pedants who want something to fill the space until the next Harry Potter book comes out. That's neither good nor bad, just fair warning. Don't expect this to be as eminently accessible as a Don Norman book. Still, like in most things the work is very worthwhile.
So What's In It For Me?
It seems that in every field there is That One Book that people will point you to as the ultimate source to quickly get a sense of what it is all about. This book plays that role for the HCI field. If you are at all interested in the state of HCI research, mostly in the U.S. of course, then this is the book you should get. Even if you are already some tricked out, super-HCI guru, there is likely to be some research in here from outside your specific area that you will get value from.
This is not a book for someone who has to do a usability test for the boss next week and needs to know how to conduct one. Nor will this book tell you how to make your website look really cool. What it will do is give you incredible insight into the history and future of an exceedingly interesting field of endeavor.
Cliff is a doctoral student at the University of Michigan School of Information, studying in their Human-Computer Interaction program. He plans to be a contributing author in the next version of this book. You can purchase the Human-Computer Interaction in the New Millenium from bn.com. Want to see your own review here? Just read the book review guidelines, then use Slashdot's handy submission form.
Why don't they write a book on Human-Human interaction for Computer Science students ;-)?
I think the debate really comes down to the simple question -- will computers be integrated into existing appliances, or are they really considered as their own class of appliance?
The answer to the above question will mold the ideas of how computers are made. To some degree you can see this train of thought happening on both sides already. IE, Apple's styling suggests the computer as its own appliance. It's friendly, but obviously its own class of household machine. But it's made to integrate into the household environment (in other words, their computers don't look ugly).
On the other hand, you have the ideas of appliances like the Maytag Neptune, for instance. The on-board computer can solve any of your stain dilemmas, but lacks the capabilities of a full-blown desktop computer.
In the end I think the school of thought which advocates molding the computer to more traditional appliances will ultimately become a niche market, and the computer will remain as its own appliance, with the learning curve becoming less sharp as interface design is advanced.
-- We live in a world where lemonade is artificial and soap has real lemon.
Arthur C. Clarke wrote a book on this subject didn't he?
Or is it the other way around when us humans get to incorporate computers into our minds, this subject area will be kept on being researched but not by many because of the dearth of knowledge yet available.
BTW, where is the mind located? I seem to remember in Philosophy we had a long discussion on this question.
Return the bells of Balangiga.
But computers haven't been around for a thousand years yet!
I'm out of my tree just now but please feel free to leave a banana.
Alice is primarily a scripting and prototyping environment for 3D object behavior, not a 3D modeler, so Alice is much more like LOGO than AutoCAD. By writing simple scripts, Alice users can control object appearance and behavior, and while the scripts are executing, objects respond to user input via mouse and keyboard.
I see an opportunity here for a free (as in speech) version. It could go a long way in the acceptance of Linux at the elementary school level.
I'm kind of surprised they said you probably won't see it in your local bookstore. Do people still go to the bookstore? I only go there looking at the bargain books. I found the book by the ISBN on Amazon.com here HCI Book.
It's easy to stand out when the general level of competence is so low.
I bet this book doesn't cover the dirtier side of future Human-Computer Interaction ;)
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Today's Top Deals
Since the site's slashdotted, here's what I was able to pull off a Google cache.
Human-Computer Interaction in the New Millenium Technology
Long-time reviewer clampe writes with this piece on Human-Computer Interaction in the New Millenium. This is not a book you're likely to find at the corner bookshop, but if you're serious about keeping track of goings-on in the field of HCI, Cliff argues this one is worth seeking out.
Reviewer's Note:
Most of the people in the book I'm reviewing could crush me beneath their heels, given I'm a lowly doctoral student in the HCI field. However, it's not a simple question of whether the collection is good or bad, but whether it will be good for the reader in their context. Besides, I can give you good inside information on lots of the authors. Like George Furnas, as cool a cat as you'll meet, gets nervous when he does magic tricks and Paul Resnick picks a mean fiddle. Yep, I got tons of dirt.
The Scenario
Anyone who has taken an HCI class has probably come across a gigantic blue paperback book called Human-Computer Interaction: Toward the Year 2000, which has acted as a de facto text in HCI classes in the past. In 1998, leaders in the HCI field realized that this book would soon be obsolete, and started organizing the players who would contribute to this worthy successor. This book is a collection of 29 articles from the lead researchers in the HCI academic research community, and it attempts to outline the research programs that will dominate the HCI field, if not for the next millennium as advertised, then at least for the next 10 years. The book is divided into seven sections:
Models, Theories, and Frameworks
Usability Engineering Methods and Concepts
User Interface Software and Tools
Groupware and Cooperative Activity
Media and Information
Integrating Computation and Real Environments
HCI and Society
Each section has 3-5 articles on the section's topic. Examples of the research included:
Terry Winograd proposes a conceptual framework for the design of interactive spaces, or more basically computing environments built into the architecture of a space and seamlessly integrated with personal context.
Hollan, Hutchins and Kirsh follow up some of Hutchins work on distributed cognition as an HCI research area, including a call for more ethnographic studies in the area and a better understanding of how people and tools interact.
Olson and Olson outline the problems of distant work collaboration, and outline situations in which distant work makes more sense than not.
Terveen and Hill give a great review of work in collaborative filtering, and then outline several approaches to making recommender systems better able to return positive hits.
Doug Schuler in one article and Paul Resnick in another argue how HCI issues go beyond desktop computing or small groups and can be applied to larger groups, including communities both online and off.
Other topics include situated computing, participatory design, new user interfaces like tangible user interfaces or gesture recognition, cognitive modelling and so on. Some common themes that emerge are the expectation that user interface needs to go beyond the desktop environment, the application of HCI principle to things other than the individual or small group, the importance of groupware and the development of a unifying theory for the field.
Really, one could write a pretty long review on any of the 29 chapters, since each one does have serious weight, as well as an innovative edge as these investigators attempt to outline directions for the next several years. Some of the articles included here have already struck a chord in this research community and have become widely cited in their draft forms, or from appearances in special journals. Each section of the book typically appeared as as journal article in Human-Computer Interactions, or were specifically solicited by John Carroll.
The Good and the Bad
These are some heavy hitters. The authors list reads like my general prelims, and it takes someone like Carroll to pull together a group like this. Each of the 29 articles stands strong on its own, though one may quibble with claims here and there, yet still manage to paint a remarkably cohesive picture of the area as a whole. This book contains serious research in a single bound volume that should grace the desk of any person interested in HCI issues. It is simply unarguable that this is going to be the HCI book for the foreseeable future.
The book bears some of the problems of the field, which is that it comes from a specific set of disciplines like cognitive psychology and computer science, so may preclude applicable theories from other disciplines. That is the nature of academic boundary making, and is not the specific fault of the book. Just so you are aware of it.
And speaking of academics, some readers may be turned off by the academic edge of this book. HCI in general has always had a foot in both the university and the corporate sector, as evinced by the list of speakers at this year's ACM-SIGCHI conference, but this book tends towards the academic side. Although specific applications get mentioned here, large parts of the book may be a turn off to people like my brother-in-law who is a sysadmin and definitely not interested in new macrotheory for HCI research. Or shaving.
This book takes commitment. It is not for lily-livered pedants who want something to fill the space until the next Harry Potter book comes out. That's neither good nor bad, just fair warning. Don't expect this to be as eminently accessible as a Don Norman book. Still, like in most things the work is very worthwhile.
So What's In It For Me?
It seems that in every field there is That One Book that people will point you to as the ultimate source to quickly get a sense of what it is all about. This book plays that role for the HCI field. If you are at all interested in the state of HCI research, mostly in the U.S. of course, then this is the book you should get. Even if you are already some tricked out, super-HCI guru, there is likely to be some research in here from outside your specific area that you will get value from.
This is not a book for someone who has to do a usability test for the boss next week and needs to know how to conduct one. Nor will this book tell you how to make your website look really cool. What it will do is give you incredible insight into the history and future of an exceedingly interesting field of endeavor.
Have fun: Join D.N.A. (National Dyslexics Association)
The problem with computing appliances right now is that human-factors engineering has been largely neglected by the computer industry over the past few years. Most computer suppliers have focused on lowering costs, rather than pushing the envelope on hardware design and really improving usability. At the same time, software usability improvements have been slowed by the lock-in of WIMP imposed by Windows and other systems, which have frozen UI state-of-the-art at 1984 levels.
If you are interested in the evolution of appliances, this summary in MIT Technology Review provides an interesting glimpse of how handheld computing could evolve in the future. It questions the assumption that cell-phone Web browsers and pen-based computing will be the dominant paradigms, betting instead on thumb keyboards and portable hard drives. Some interesting market statistics are revealed, such as that 52 percent of households in the 25 largest urban markets in the United States have cell phones (compared to more than 75 percent in some European countries such as Iceland and Finland), and that worldwide sales of digital organizers were 12 million units, while digital camera sales were 6.4 million units last year (3 million MP3 players are expected to be sold this year). These kinds of numbers show that a breakthrough for computing appliances may be near.
Nooface
In Search of the Post-PC Interface
I read already some of the articles b4 the book was published (search in google for the personal pages of the authors of the different articles). The problem with HCI is that the most of the research in methods, theories are not practical at all for someone that "might" want just to produce an usable product/interface/etc. The book is only interesting if your interest are theories to make more theories, not any practical stuff.
HCI theories (or CHI..whatever) tend to be quite controversial, as each researcher tries to push their area (distributed cognitition, activity theory, ethnographic studies, ethnomedology, user centered design, participatory design....) rather than move the field as a whole. I noticed lately that most of the HCI methods try to isolate the hci researchers that actually know about computers (programmers), don't giving them importance as they argue that they are lack of knowledge in the users usablility problem. Most hci methods consist on more or less complex flowchart where the programmer is labelled as "code monkey, please program this for us". Of course that the hci research can't prove anything they say.......
Anyway, the first rule to make usable interfaces is to break the rules (apple user interface design course...)
Little box cubicles are not the answer, neither are $1000 chairs with a Bio-desk. If the corps would invest a little more they would not be paying so much in workman's comp.
You obviously don't know much about history - or Microsoft release schedules, for that matter. Microsoft is expected to release the new Millenium any day now, although it is currently projected to coincide with the tricentenial of American Independance - no offence, you limey bastard. And to continue this history lesson...
a porwareformerflyknownas GNU. In lay terms, this means that DOS was Truly Useful Nevertheless Expedient Simply because GNU was still 5 years from conception, and then had another 10 years until birth. Note the uncanny foresight exhibited by the framers of DOS, that is another reason why DOS was chosen as the against upon which millienia pass. Sure, some of the Revisionist Microsoft Slime are trying to rechristen the term "AD" to "CE", but they are just corrupt leaders following a false profit... CE is an unholy scourge on the humble name of Microsoft. You'll see, some said "95" was the mark of the beast, but the truth is, that mark is found on the palm.
Why do you think that formal dates are written with "AD" appended? It is an acronymn, for "After DOS", the most significant event in out computing history. Sure, many communists will argue that AS stands for some variation of Anal Domination, or Annoying Damage - but they are not to be trusted. They are the same peple who claim that GNU is the first recursive acronym for a computing system, when it is obvious that DOS stands for DOS Operating System.
Furthermore, it is also the first mutually recursive set of acronyms, HURD be damned : DISK Operating System; DOS Is Super K-rad; where that instance of DOS stands for DOS OPERATING System; DOS Only Sucks Over Periods Exceeding Rational Time Intervals Notunlikethetimerequiredfortheactualreleaseofthev
Actually, that part is a little unclear, the ancient scriptures didn't translate too clearly. Basically, it is along the lines of the "Palm was does cast out, and with a Handspring, the US-R, all 3Com into our midst, where what once has been, no longer will Be, nay, but Be shall rise again, open the Gates, yay Open Be OS shall pluck the Apple from the Bush, bruise the Gnu smite the daemon and the penguin will hide in the shadows..." It really gets hard to follow from here. Maybe you should take this post more seriously. Some say that within this Millenium, 2000 AD CE NT, lies the end of DOS as we know it. Evil Daemons are rising from the Dark Ages of computing. Global warming from overclocking is causing the polar icecaps to melt, causing all of the penguins to spread out with their own distribution, spreading an epidemic of viral licenses which are making megalithic corporations vulnerable to free radicals in the system. Our only hope is to buy vitamin XP, and pray so that we may be preyed upon, and allowed into the Company of Heaven's Gate's good graces. Amen.
Marvellous! :-)
I'm out of my tree just now but please feel free to leave a banana.
If the reviewer would have gone into detail about a couple of individual articles (of the 29) in the book, a lot of us newbies would get a much better picture of what to expect in the book. Five of the articles were given a very brief one-sentence description, which doesn't help as much. I'm sure there must have been one or two articles the reviewer found exceptionally good. He should tell us about them.
Disclaimer: I'm not trying to be a troll here. The review did stimulate enough interest for me in that I'll probably end up purchasing the book.
www.asktog.com
... did a lot of work for Apple in the early years. He wrote a great book "Tog on Interface"
Bruce Tognazini
I just hope in the new millennium we all learn how to spell it.
What we need is more context information. The computer needs to start understanding what we are saying. Something more than blind keyword searches.
We also need more in the way of information anywhere Where I can as my phone, my pda, my computer, my refrigerator 'what do I need to do now' or 'make sure I buy more beer' and have it do the right thing.
Danny
I confess that HCI does not hold much interest for me personally but I would like to see a very simple "popular science" treatment of what types of HCIs are being considered for future generations. Not completely content-free but something very basic that would communicate to the public that HCI is an active field of research and that they shouldn't expect that tomorrow's UI will look anything like today's. The public at large thinks that the way we interact with computers today is representative of how we will tomorrow as well and so parents are forking over big bucks to make sure their kids get "computer training". It always breaks my heart whenever I see one of those news stories where they interview some low-income single-mother-of-three who is wasting good money on computer classes for her 10 year old kids. She makes the sacrifice because she thinks she's giving her kids a head-start on the supposedly-valuable computer skills they'll need to compete in the job market. What she doesn't realize is that by the time her kids enter the workforce, most of the stuff her kids learned will be obsolete.
A book that makes parents think twice about the value of modern-day computer "training" and applicability to future systems is seriously needed, in my view.
GMD
watch this
OSX now has an OpenGL based pure 3d file browsing interface, available here. http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/macwarriors/eoh2k2/3dosx/
It's curently at version 1.5, and even has a "These" system for adding your own look and feel. I think this may be a large step in interaction between computers and the users, if nothing else it's eye candy.
Okay folks, it's been what, two years now since 2000 hit. I don't care whether the new millennium hit in 2000 or 2001, but please, DOUBLE N!
MillenNium.
Hell, even the bn.com link has it with two n's.
I guess I'll have to read the book to find out what they mean by HCI and society...I wonder if this takes into account the internet and the advent of human-computer-human interaction (HCHI). This is rarely debated when we consider that they way we interact with the computer, can also shape the way we interact with other people.
If you somehow limit someone's sense of self or ability to make themselves known in a real and or personal way via the lacking in a good interface perhaps it can be said that you thereby limit this person's ability to communicate with another.
Most scientific studies on human computer interfaces have avoided the very real facts about human beings in society. That is, that we believe ourselves to be different IRL and in social contexts we perpetuate these differences in a clear and noticeable way which we are very aware of. It is said of the internet, that there is a total lack of identity and that there is just text on the screen, but when we think of the original users and perpetuaters of the internet and the way things are arranged, whe can sometimes see that this is more like a homogeneous situation, and not so much obscure.
Its the developers of the internet that are shaping the ways we interact, and many times this is a unifacited design that is based on how they interact with their computer.
You may downplay the sense of self online and say that you can pretend to be anyone and be anything, but you still have to take into account that although you may be pretending, you are doing so from within the mindset of your real life self...please don't try and tell me that you somehow become detached from your lifetime memory and experience, and become a totally different person, as I'll find that hard to believe.
...by the very nature of the privacy of the internet you can see how the question of my identity can change your opinion of my opinion...seeing as how you probably don't know me outside this post:)
I recommend people read Race and Gender Online, and Wired Women if they would like to see insight into this rarely researched phenomena...yes, at times they might seem like they're complaining;)
Nothing ever gets worked out by leaving it be...
--"It's Bradford Company, slash your last name, dot your first name"
all your base; are belong to us....
--fetch daddy's blue fright wig, i must be handsome when i release my rage
Everything else is video game fluff. Batch processing forces you to THINK and get it right the first time. This realtime interactive crap is responsible for all the lousy 'trial-and-error' code we have to live with today.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
This is a field? Where can I get more info on this? I may have just found my calling. Thank you /.!
Anway, a plug for some ideas I wrote up a few weeks ago: The Voice/Hand Motion Interface.
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Manifesto for the Peoples of the Third Millennium
Dr. Jurek Kirakowski is king of this field forget the rest.
The list isn't for HCI students (who should be familiar with the authors). It's for developers and designers who want to apply HCI/User Experience/Information Architecture concepts in their ongoing projects, and want an onramp.
Even the most applicable scholarly research (things that could live outside a lab today) are often written (as most academic papers are) for academic recognition - which is fine in a publish or perish world, but makes it hard for that research to be appreciated by folks without an academic bent.
I have asked Jef Raskin about the proposed new features of the GUI in my Kaos [BSD] operating system, he wants some stupid CLI inside all applications.
This may sound reasonable to certain slashdot readers, but it's a mongrel of an idea: does anyone need to type in caps to execute commands while working in any program?
He would prefer an unituitive multiple command sequence to a seperate GUI window.
- Kaos games and encryption systems developer
If your arguement was true, then I should not have learned about computers when I was 4 and just waited until I went to university.
The problem is, how would you know what to do if you weren't used to what computers can do?
So please tell me, who is more competant: the person who has used computers all their life, or the recent graduate in computer science?
- Kaos games and encryption systems developer