TC 13 - Human-Computer Interaction - Aims and Scopes
est. 1989
AIMS
To encourage
development towards a science and a technology of human-computer interaction,
the Technical Committee will pursue the following Aims:
to encourage empirical research (using valid and reliable
methodology, with studies of the methods themselves where necessary);
to promote the use of knowledge and methods from the human
sciences in both design and evaluation of computer systems;
to promote better understanding of the relation between formal
design methods and system usability and acceptability;
to develop guidelines, models and methods by which designers may
be able to provide better human-oriented computer systems;
to co-operate with other groups, inside and
outside IFIP, so as to promote user-orientation and "humani-zation"
in system design.
SCOPE
The main
orientation is toward the users, especially the non-computer-professional
users, and how to improve the human-computer relationship for them.
Areas of study
include:
the problems people have with computers;
the impact of computers upon people in both individual and
organizational contexts;
the determinants of utility, usability and acceptability;
the appropriate allocation of tasks between computers and people;
modelling the user as an aid to better system
design;
harmonising the computer to the
characteristics and needs of the user.
While the Scope
is thus set wide, with a tendency towards general principles rather than
particular systems, it is recognised that progress
will only be achieved through both general studies to advance theoretical
understanding and specific studies on practical issues (e.g. interface design
standards, software system consistency; documentation, appropriateness of
alternative communication media, human factors guidelines for dialogue design,
the problems of integrating multi-media systems to match user needs and
organizational practices etc.).
WG13.1
- Education in HCI and HCI Curricula
est.
1990, revised 1991
AIMS
to improve HCI education at all levels of higher education;
to coordinate and unite efforts to enhance the development of HCI
curricula;
to recommend fundamental structures for curricula and course
materials and for their adaptation to the various national educational systems;
to advance international recog-nition of
qualifications in this field, and
to promote the teaching of HCI
SCOPE
The scope of
the Working Group will build upon existing work in IFIP member countries to
include:
the evaluation of the needs of industry to enhance the
qualifications of HCI, based upon societal objectives to improve the work
environment;
the collation of existing curricula, course literature and other
relevant materials developed by member societies or institutions who are
contributing to their work;
the design of recommendations and guidelines for
HCI curricula at different levels of higher education, and the adaptation of
the guidelines to the cultural situation within which the respective education
systems are based.
SIG13.1 - Interaction Design and International
Development
est. 2008
AIMS
To promote application
of interaction design research, practice and education to address the needs,
desires and aspirations of people in the developing world;
To support and develop
the research, practice and education capabilities of HCI institutions and organisations based in the developing world;
To develop links between
the HCI community in general, and IFIP TC13 in particular, with other relevant
communities involved in Development, especially IFIP WG 9.4 Computers in
Developing Countries.
WG13.2 - Methodology for User Centred System Design
est.
1992
AIMS
The principal
objective of the Working Group will be:
to foster research, dissemination of information
and good practice in the methodical application of HCI to software engineering.
This objective
decomposes into two sub-goals:
to encourage research into and development of HCI principles,
methods and techniques applied to system design and integrated with principles,
methods and tools in software engineering, and
to encourage research into human action within the
system development process and to promote knowledge transfer from such studies
into the construction of integrated HCI-SE design methods.
SCOPE
evaluation and synthesis of HCI specification and design methods;
implications of cognitive psychology for the design of
human-computer interfaces;
evaluation and study of different approaches to design delivery:
cognitive models, design rationales, task artifact cycles, engineering
principles, development methods;
methods and techniques of human factors in software engineering as
practised in industrial environments;
human behaviour in software development,
i.e. cognitive studies of software engineering;
cooperative work techniques applied to software
development.
WG13.3
- Human-Computer Interaction and Disability
est.
1992, revised 1994, 2001
AIMS
The principal
objectives of the Working Group will be:
to make HCI designers aware of the needs of people with
disabilities;
to recommend guidelines for the design of HCI to facilitate the
use of computers by people with disabilities;
to monitor the latest developments in the design of HCI and their
impact on accessibility and usability;
to encourage the development of information
systems and complementary tools which permit the adaptation of the human
interface for each specific user.
SCOPE
There
are
over 500 million people with disabilities in the world. Social exclusion and
many other problems often result from their situation. It is recognised that developments in IT/HCI can often help with
problems, for example to maximise choice and
integration. However, there is also a danger that such developments can lead to
the further exclusion of this user group if they are not designed from the
beginning with universal access as an aim.
Working Group
13.3 intends to make designers of information systems and complementary tools
aware of the needs of this group in order to encourage the development of more
appropriate tools for access and usability. As a result, systems will become
universally accessible, and the market for them will increase.
Specifically the scope of WG13.3 will include the following activities:
coordination and exchange of information with other relevant
bodies;
collaboration with institutions interested in this field of HCI
and disability;
focussed HCI orientation to
enable people with disabilities to use information systems and complementary
tools for positive advantage.
WG13.4
- (joint with WG2.7; see TC2)
est. 1975, revised 1987, 1991
WG13.5
- Human Error, Safety and System Development
est. 1998
AIMS
This working
group aims to support practitioners, regulators and researchers to develop
leading edge techniques in hazard analysis and the safety engineering of
computer-based systems. Particular emphasis will be on the role of human error
both in the development and in the operation of complex processes and on
techniques that can be easily integrated into existing system engineering
practices. Specifically, the aims are:
to provide a framework for studying human factors that relate to
systems failure;
to provide a forum for practitioners, regulators and researchers
interested in the ‘human contribution’ to major accidents and
incidents;
to identify leading edge techniques for the development of
safety-critical interactive systems and integrate them with existing systems
engineering techniques;
to support and guide international accreditation
activities in the area of safety-critical systems.
SCOPE
To build on
existing work in IFIP member countries in the following areas:
techniques for analysing human,
managerial and organisational factors that relate to
the occurrence of accidents;
the integration of human factors concerns into risk analysis and
assessment;
the integration of human factors concerns into systems engineering
techniques for safety-critical systems development;
the ergonomics of human-computer interaction with safety-critical
applications;
the role of human error both in the development and
in the operation of complex processes.
WG13.6
- Human-Work Interaction Design
est. 2005
AIMS
The aims of the
HWID working group are:
To encourage empirical studies and conceptualisations
of the interaction among humans, their variegated social contexts and the
technology they use both within and across these contexts.
Promote the use of knowledge, concepts, methods and
techniques that enables user studies to procure a better apprehension of the
complex interplay between individual, social and organisational
contexts and thereby a better understanding of how and why people work in the
ways they do.
Promote a better understanding of the relationship between
work-domain based empirical studies and iterative design of prototypes and new
technologies.
Establish a network of researchers, practitioners and
domain/subject matter experts working within this field.
Thus on an
overall level the working group aims at establishing relationships between
extensive empirical work-domain studies and HCI design.
SCOPE
A Human-Work
Interaction Design group (HWID) will provide the basis for an improved
cross-disciplinary co-operation and mutual inspiration among researchers, but
it will also lead to a number of new research initiatives and developments, as
well as to an increased awareness of HWID in existing HCI educations.
Complexity will be a key notion in the working group,
it is not a priori defined or limited to any particular domains. A main target of
the work group is the analysis of and the design for the variety of complex
work and life contexts found in different business.
Technology is changing human life and work contexts in numerous, multi-faceted
ways:
Interfaces between collaborating individuals; advanced
communication networks
Small and large-scale distributed systems
Multimedia and embedded technologies
Mobile technologies and advanced "intelligent" robots
With this evolution, toward new ways of working, has followed an
intensive demand for techniques and technologies that address
contemporary issues connected to:
Communication, collaboration, and problem solving
Large information spaces, variability, discretion, learning, and
information seeking
This evolution
toward new ways of working and living must be embraced as a challenge to
current knowledge and practice and one, moreover, which presents exciting new
opportunities in:
Epistemology, with knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation,
management and knowledge sharing
The symbiosis of users and contexts of use, between work and
life-quality and with both professional and individual development.
It is a
challenge to design applications that support users of technology in complex
and emergent organisational and work contexts, and
thus opportunities exist to focus on methods, theories, tools, techniques and
prototype design on an experimental basis.
Under these circumstances, the primary question is less whether we choose to
study the use of a particular computer application or prefer, instead, to
conduct bottom up empirical experiments of work contexts. The new problem is
how we can understand, conceptualise and design for
the complex and emergent contexts in which human life and work are now
embroiled. This problem calls for cross disciplinary, empirical and theoretical
approaches that focus on Human-Work Interaction Design, meaning that the
technology itself and particularly the design and use of technologies mediates
the interaction between humans and specific work contexts.
WG13.7
– Human -
Computer Interaction & Visualization (HCIV)
est. 2008
AIMS
To establish a study and research program that will combine both
scientific work and practical applications in the fields of Human –
Computer Interaction and Visualization.
To promote the development of “effective”
visualizations that benefit from the capabilities and functionalities of the
human visual system, e.g. visual perception and other cognitive abilities.
To promote the development of practical applications, e.g. in
engineering, which benefit from the newly developed concepts and which provide
the necessary fields for evaluation.
To integrate several additional aspects of further research areas,
such as Scientific Visualization, Data mining, Information Design, Computer
Graphics, Cognition Sciences, Perception Theory, or Psychology, into this
approach.
Thus
the WG will provide a creative work environment for performing innovative
research at the interface between Human – Computer Interaction and
Visualization.