Claude Ghaoui – Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction

Автор: Claude Ghaoui
Название книги: Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Научно-популярная литература
Страницы: 757
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

This encyclopedia covers a wide range of Human Computer Interaction related topics such as concepts, design, usability, evaluation, innovations, and applications of HCI in organizations around the globe. It includes contributions from advisors from around the world as well as real life experiences and cases of HCI.

Human computer interaction (HCI) evolved as a recognized discipline that attracts innovation and creativity.
For the last 25 years, it inspired new solutions, especially for the benefit of the user as a human being, making
the user the focal point that technology should serve rather than the other way around. The advent of the
Internet, combined with the rapidly falling prices and increasing capability of personal computers, among
other things, made the 1990s a period of very rapid change in technology. This has major implications on HCI
research and advances, where peoples’ demands and expectations as users of technology increased.
There is currently no agreement upon definition of the range of topics which form the area of humancomputer
interaction. Based on the definition given by the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human
Interaction Curriculum Development, which is also repeated in most HCI literature, the following is
considered as an acceptable definition:
Human-computer interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation
of interactive computing systems for human use in a social context, and with the study of major
phenomena surrounding them.
A significant number of major corporations and academic institutions now study HCI. Many computer
users today would argue that computer makers are still not paying enough attention to making their products
“usable”. HCI is undoubtedly a multi-disciplinary subject, which draws on disciplines such as psychology,
cognitive science, ergonomics, sociology, engineering, business, graphic design, technical writing, and, most
importantly, computer science and system design/software engineering.
As a discipline, HCI is relatively young. Throughout the history of civilization, technological innovations
were motivated by fundamental human aspirations and by problems arising from human-computer interactions.
Design, usability and interaction are recognised as the core issues in HCI.
Today, profound changes are taking place that touch all aspects of our society: changes in work, home,
business, communication, science, technology, and engineering. These changes, as they involve humans,
cannot but influence the future of HCI since they relate to how people interact with technology in an
increasingly dynamic and complex world. This makes it even more essential for HCI to play a vital role in
shaping the future.
Therefore, preparing an encyclopedia of HCI that can contribute to the further development of science
and its applications, requires not only providing basic information on this subject, but also tackling problems
that involve HCI issues in a wider sense, for example, by addressing HCI in and for various applications, that
is, e-learning, health informatics, and many others.
CHALLENGES, CONTENT AND ORGANISATION
The following are some challenges in the HCI field, which were taken into consideration when compiling this
encyclopedia:
• HCI is continually evolving with the fast change in technology and its cost. We, therefore, covered basic
concepts/issues and also new advances in the field.
• The need to strike a balance between covering theory, methods/models, applications, experiences, and
research. The balance was sought to provide a rich scientific and technical resource from different
perspectives.
• The most important purpose of an encyclopedia in a particular discipline is to be a basic reference work
for readers who need information on subjects in which they are not experts. The implication of “basic”
is that an encyclopedia, while it should attempt to be comprehensive in breadth of coverage, cannot
be comprehensive in the depth with which it treats most topics. What constitutes breadth of coverage
is always a difficult question, and it is especially so for HCI, a relatively new discipline that has evolved
over the past three decades and is still changing rapidly.
• An encyclopedia should, however, direct the reader to information at a deeper level, as this
encyclopedia does through bibliographic references, indexed keywords, and so forth.
• This encyclopedia differs from other similar related references in that it covers core HCI topics/issues
(that we see in most standard HCI books) as well as the use of HCI in various applications and recent
advances and research. Thus the choice of specific topics for this encyclopedia has required our
judgment of what is important. While there may be disagreement about the inclusion or exclusion of
certain topics, we hope and believe that this selection is useful to a wide spectrum of readers. There
are numerous articles that integrate the subject matter and put it into perspective. Overall, the
encyclopedia is a general reference to HCI, its applications, and directions.
In order to meet these challenges, we invited professionals and researchers from many relevant fields
and expertise to contribute. The resulting articles that appear in this volume were selected through a doubleblind
review process followed by rounds of revision prior to acceptance. Treatment of certain topics is not
exclusive according to a given school or approach, and you will find a number of topics tackled from different
perspectives with differing approaches. A field as dynamic as HCI will benefit from discussions, different
opinions, and, wherever possible, a consensus.
An encyclopedia traditionally presents definitive articles that describe well-established and accepted
concepts or events. While we have avoided the speculative extreme, this volume includes a number of entries
that may be closer to the “experimental” end of the spectrum than the “well-established” end. The need to
do so is driven by the dynamics of the discipline and the desire, not only to include the established, but also
to provide a resource for those who are pursuing the experimental. Each author has provided a list of key
terms and definitions deemed essential to the topic of his or her article. Rather than aggregate and filter these
terms to produce a single “encyclopedic” definition, we have preferred instead to let the authors stand by
their definition and allow each reader to interpret and understand each article according to the specific
terminology used by its author(s).
Physically, the articles are printed in alphabetical order by their titles. This decision was made based on
the overall requirements of Idea Group Reference’s complete series of reference encyclopedias. The
articles are varied, covering the following main themes: 1) Foundation (e.g., human, computer, interaction,
paradigms); 2) Design Process (e.g., design basics, design rules and guidelines, HCI in software development,
implementation, evaluation, accessible design, user support); 3) Theories (e.g., cognitive models, social
context and organisation, collaboration and group work, communication); 4) Analysis (e.g., task analysis,
dialogue/interaction specification, modelling); and 5) HCI in various applications (e.g., e-learning, health
informatics, multimedia, Web technology, ubiquitous computing, mobile computing).
This encyclopedia serves to inform practitioners, educators, students, researchers, and all who have an
interest in the HCI field. Also, it is a useful resource for those not directly involved with HCI, but who want
to understand some aspects of HCI in the domain they work in, for the benefit of “users”. It may be used
as a general reference, research reference, and also to support courses in education (undergraduate or
postgraduate).
CONCLUSION
Human computer interaction will continue to strongly influence technology and its use in our every day life.
In order to help develop more “usable” technology that is “human/user-centred”, we need to understand what
HCI can offer on these fronts: theoretical, procedural, social, managerial, and technical.
The process of editing this encyclopedia and the interaction with international scholars have been most
enjoyable. This book is truly an international endeavour. It includes 109 entries and contributions by
internationally-talented authors from around the world, who brought invaluable insights, experiences, and
expertise, with varied and most interesting cultural perspectives in HCI and its related disciplines.
It is my sincere hope that this volume serves not only as a reference to HCI professionals and researchers,
but also as a resource for those working in various fields, where HCI can make significant contributions and
improvements.
Claude Ghaoui
Liverpool John Moores University, UK