Human-computer Interaction Practice Research Articles

Broadening the mind: how emerging neurotechnology is reshaping HCI and interactive system design

Abstract People are increasingly eager to know more about themselves through technology. To date, technology has primarily provided information on our physiology. Yet, with advances in wearable technology and artificial intelligence, the current advent of consumer neurotechnology will enable users to measure their cognitive activity. We see an opportunity for research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in the development of these devices. Neurotechnology offers new insights into user experiences and facilitates the development of novel methods in HCI. Researchers will be able to create innovative interactive systems based on the ability to measure cognitive activity at scale in real-world settings. In this paper, we contribute a vision of how neurotechnology will transform HCI research and practice. We discuss how neurotechnology prompts a discussion about ethics, privacy, and trust. This trend highlights HCI’s crucial role in ensuring that neurotechnology is developed and utilised in ways that truly benefit people.

Post-growth Human–Computer Interaction

Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers have increasingly been questioning computing’s engagement with unsustainable and unjust economic growth, pushing for identifying alternatives. Incorporating degrowth, post-development, and steady-state approaches, post-growth philosophy offers an alternative not rooted in growth but in improving quality of life. It recommends an equitable reduction in resource use through sensible distributive practices where fulfillment is based on values including solidarity, cooperation, care, social justice, and localized development. In this paper, we describe opportunities for HCI to take a post-growth orientation in research, design, and practice to reimagine the design of sociotechnical systems toward advancing sustainable, just, and humane futures. We aim for the critiques, concerns, and recommendations offered by post-growth to be integrated into transformative HCI practices for technology-mediated change.

Penerapan Machine Learning Untuk Menentukan Tingkat Kepuasan Tamu Hotel Dymens Menggunakan Metode Vader

In Indonesia there are several social media that provide reviews and experiences related to an inn, including Tripadvisor.com, Traveloka, Tiket.com, and many more. Over time, machine learning can replace and improve human abilities in various fields, Machine Learning has been extensively researched and used to solve various problems. Among them is to find out how the assessment and views of hotel guests regarding the services and policies set. With reviews from customers or hotel guests, we can find out how the quality of the product or service is implemented, so that an evaluation can be carried out to increase customer satisfaction. Sentiment analysis, or opinion evaluation is an active area of ​​study in the field of natural language processing that analyzes opinions, sentiments, evaluations, attitudes, and emotions through improving the processing of subjectivity in texts. Sentiment analysis is useful for a wide variety of issues of interest to human-computer interaction practices and researchers, as well as people from fields such as: sociology, marketing and advertising, psychology, eco-economics, and political science. The process of sentiment analysis is often done to find out positive, neutral or negative opinion from the public regarding a certain matter. The Valence Aware Dictionary and Sentiment Reasoner (VADER) method is a sentiment analysis method that can identify a person's emotions based on words. So that the VADER Method can be used to identify hotel guest reviews and hotel management can make decisions based on the results of these assessments or reviews

Measuring Empathy in Technical Teams to Improve the UX Quality of Innovative Technological Solutions

Developing the empathy of a technical team for target users has been a practice to innovate solutions centered on the experience they can provide to their users. However, there are few studies focused on the impact of empathy practices on solution design. In order to contribute to the study of the art regarding the construction of empathy in technical teams to improve the user experience quality in developing technical solutions, this research analyzes the effectiveness of building empathy in technical teams in a case study of the electricity sector, which was based on a process concerning validations with users. The results showed that, in the perception of a group of technicians, there was an improvement in the quality of empathy for their target users and had an impact on the team’s engagement to carry out human-computer interaction practices and, consequently, on the quality of use of the developed solution.

Application Research of Cognitive Load Theory in User Experience DesignTake the User Experience Design of Takeaway Deliverymen in Unmanned Distribution Business as an Example

Purpose: Based on the cognitive load theory to guide the design practice, taking Segway unmanned delivery business as a case to explore new ideas of intelligent hardware user experience design, in order to reduce the cognitive load of takeaway deliverymen and improve the sense of experience. Method: Through literature research, the concept and relationship between cognitive load and user experience are clarified, and then how cognitive load affects user experience is expounded. According to the three factors that influence the psychological load proposed by John Sweller and combined with the process of unmanned delivery business and the design practice of human-computer interaction, this paper analyzes which factors affect the psychological load of deliverymen and how to reduce the cognitive load through design. Result: After optimizing the design, the main factors affecting cognitive load: task complexity and cognitive cost decreased significantly. Conclusion: Reducing the cognitive load of takeaway deliverymen can effectively improve the delivery efficiency , and enhance the overall sense of user experience.

Experience-Based Constructionism as a Basis for HCI Education: A Case Study

As new technologies constantly change what we understand as a computer, Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) educators need to stay updated and prepare their students to work with an ever-growing number of socio-technical situations. This phenomenon constitutes a challenge for HCI syllabuses and practices, demanding diversified approaches to HCI education. In this article, we articulate Papert’s constructionism with Dewey’s theory of experience to propose an experience-based constructionism approach to practices in HCI education. We illustrate our approach in a case study with 55 computing undergraduate students engaged in the design and construction of open-ended, physical interactive artworks. Nine interactive artifacts were created. The students have shown an effective experience with our approach, reporting an expanded view of HCI, and demonstrating competence in appropriating new methods and instruments, suggesting the effectiveness of our approach to HCI education. Results of this work may encourage other HCI educators and practitioners to experience the proposed approach in their specific contexts.

User‐centered approaches in software development processes: Qualitative research into the practice of Hungarian companies

AbstractIntegrating user‐centered approaches into development processes is one of the main challenges nowadays that derives from different objectives of software engineering (SE) and human‐computer interaction (HCI) fields. For SE experts, the main goal is quality code creation, whereas for HCI professionals, it is the continuous product interaction with the users. The major question is what tools and timings can be used together to achieve these goals effectively. Therefore, this article provides comparative, exploratory, and qualitative research about possible solutions on how practitioners transfer HCI values and practices to SE processes. The current practice of software companies was studied by conducting interviews on a sample of 13 Hungarian Information Technology companies to explore the SE processes in respect of several dimensions (applied development models, the integrity of user‐centered methods, and the user experience [UX] maturity). According to preliminary expectations, the development processes of the various companies proceed in different steps; nevertheless, they can be well grouped together based on the UX methods applied. The results representing the various user‐centered processes can be considered useful for future decision makers of software companies worldwide.

Understanding HCI Practices and Challenges of Experiment Reporting with Brain Signals: Towards Reproducibility and Reuse

In human-computer interaction (HCI), there has been a push towards open science, but to date, this has not happened consistently for HCI research utilizing brain signals due to unclear guidelines to support reuse and reproduction. To understand existing practices in the field, this paper examines 110 publications, exploring domains, applications, modalities, mental states and processes, and more. This analysis reveals variance in how authors report experiments, which creates challenges to understand, reproduce, and build on that research. It then describes an overarching experiment model that provides a formal structure for reporting HCI research with brain signals, including definitions, terminology, categories, and examples for each aspect. Multiple distinct reporting styles were identified through factor analysis and tied to different types of research. The paper concludes with recommendations and discusses future challenges. This creates actionable items from the abstract model and empirical observations to make HCI research with brain signals more reproducible and reusable.

Technology-Mediated Experiences and Social Context: Relevant Needs in Private Vs. Public Interaction and the Importance of Others for Positive Affect.

Technologies, such as smartphones or wearables, take a central role in our daily lives. Making their use meaningful and enjoyable requires a better understanding of the prerequisites and underpinnings of positive experiences with such technologies. So far, a focus had been on the users themselves, that is, their individual goals, desires, feelings, and acceptance. However, technology is often used in a social context, observed by others or even used in interaction with others, and thus shapes social dynamics considerably. In the present paper, we start from the notion that meaningful and/or enjoyable experiences (i.e., wellbeing) are a major outcome of technology use. We investigate how these experiences are further shaped by social context, such as potential spectators. More specifically, we gathered private (while being alone) and public (while other people are present) positive experiences with technology and compared need fulfillment and affective experience. In addition, we asked participants to imagine a change in context (from private to public or public to private) and to report the impact of this change on experience. Results support the idea of particular social needs, such as relatedness and popularity, which are especially relevant and better fulfilled in public than in private contexts. Moreover, our findings show that participants experience less positive affect when imaginatively removing the present others from a formerly public interaction, i.e., when they imagine performing the same interaction but without the other people present. Overall, this underlines the importance of social context for Human-Computer Interaction practice and research. Practical implications relate to product development, e.g., designing interactive technologies that can adapt to context (changes) or allow for context-sensitive interaction sets. We discuss limitations related to the experimental exploration of social context, such as the method of data collection, as well as potential alternatives to address those limitations, such as diary studies.

“Let’s Talk about Gender” – Development of a Card Deck on (Gender) Sensitivity in HCI Research and Practice Based on a Contrasting Literature Review

Abstract Funding bodies in Western societies increasingly require researchers to address gender in their proposals – though often exclusively framed around binary notions. With oppressive power structures being prevalent and persuasive, these seep into current practices of Computer Science and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research. However, current curricula rarely provide actors in this space with grounded guidance on gender issues tied to their inquiries. Hence, developing an increased awareness of our societal responsibility towards equity can be challenging without an appropriate starting point. Drawing on a close reading of select literature discussing gender sensitivity in HCI research, we derived practical guidance in the form of recommendations for the design, proposal, conduct and presentation of research. Based on these recommendations, we then present the design of a card deck and initial tests thereof at ditact women’s IT summer university. Our analysis offers a starting point for HCI students and interested researchers to explore questions and issues around gender and to identify how gender relates to their research. This sensitisation may aid them in further reflecting on how they might better account for gendered implications of their work.

The Influence of Display Parameters and Display Devices over Spatial Ability Test Answers in Virtual Reality Environments

This manuscript analyzes the influence of display parameters and display devices over the spatial skills of the users in virtual reality environments. For this, the authors of this manuscript developed a virtual reality application which tests the spatial skills of the users. 240 students used an LG desktop display and 61 students used the Gear VR for the tests. Statistical data are generated when the users do the tests and the following factors are logged by the application and evaluated in this manuscript: virtual camera type, virtual camera field of view, virtual camera rotation, contrast ratio parameters, the existence of shadows and the device used. The probabilities of correct answers were analyzed based on these factors by logistic regression (logit) analysis method. The influences and interactions of all factors were analyzed. The perspective camera, lighter contrast ratio, no or large camera rotations and the use of the Gear VR greatly and positively influenced the probability of correct answers on the tests. Therefore, for the assessment of spatial ability in virtual reality, the use of these parameters and device present the optimal user-centric human–computer interaction practice.

Engaging Feminist Solidarity for Comparative Research, Design, and Practice

Research in the fields of Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is increasingly embracing and moving across borders. While universalism in such research is widely rejected, sole focus on the "particular'' is also commonly critiqued. Kentaro Toyama unpacks this tension, calling for balance via "deliberate efforts to understand the interplay of human universals and cultural differences, and how it pertains to design.'' In this paper, one such deliberate effort, we introduce the notion of feminist solidarity---as theorized by Chandra Mohanty---for drawing connections across borders in CSCW and HCI research, design, and practice. To enable contributions in these fields to cross cultures and geographies in productive ways, we draw attention to commonalities in the struggles and processes of resistance operating in different contexts of study. To do this, we present lessons learned from conducting three comparative studies in six contexts, which were located across various borders. The primary contribution of our analysis is to leverage a feminist solidarity-based approach towards extending conversations on comparative, transnational, and feminist CSCW and HCI research, design, and practice. Our focus remains on resource-constrained regions across the world, in both the Global North and South.

Introduction to Human-Building Interaction (HBI)

Buildings and urban spaces increasingly incorporate artificial intelligence and new forms of interactivity, raising a wide span of research questions about the future of human experiences with, and within, built environments. We call this emerging area Human-Building Interaction (HBI) and introduce it as an interdisciplinary domain of research interfacing Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with Architecture and Urban Design. HBI seeks to examine the involvement of HCI in studying and steering the evolution of built environments. Therefore, we need to ask foundational questions such as the following: what are the specific attributes of built environments that HCI researchers should take into account when shifting attention and scale from “artefacts” to “environments”? Are architecture and interaction design methods and processes compatible? Concretely, how can a team of interaction designers bring their tools to an architectural project, and collaborate with other stakeholders? Can and will architecture change the theory and practice of HCI? Furthermore, research in HBI should produce knowledge and practical guidelines by experimenting novel design instances that combine architecture and digital interaction. The primary aim of this article is to specify the mission, vision, and scope of research in HBI. As the introductory article to the TOCHI special issue, it also provides a summary of published manuscripts and describes their collective contribution to the development of this field.

Theory, Practice and Policy: An Inquiry into the Uptake of HCI Practices in the Software Industry of a Developing Country

ABSTRACTWith almost four decades of existence as a community, human–computer interaction (HCI) practice has yet to diffuse into a large range of software industries globally. A review of existing literature suggests that the diffusion of HCI practices in software organizations lacks theoretical guidance. Although many studies have tried to facilitate HCI uptake by the software industry, there are scarce studies that consider HCI practices as innovations that software organizations could or should adopt. Furthermore, there appears to be a lack of structure in the facilitation of HCI methodological development within the specialized emerging regions field such as Sub-Saharan Africa. In order to address this gap, an exploratory investigation regarding the state of uptake of HCI practices in Nigeria is conducted. The aim of this article is to improve our understanding regarding the state of HCI uptake in developing countries and the challenges prevailing. The findings show that HCI practice still remains within its infancy stage in most software companies. Universities are also lacking the required knowledge transfer of HCI to the students, and in effect themselves contributing to the lack of HCI skills in industry. Furthermore, government policies are in need of refinement and end-users’ involvement in software development is not prioritized.

Can a kitchen teach languages? Linking theory and practice in the design of context-aware language learning environments

Smart learning environments offer rich opportunities for language learners. In particular, context-aware systems which allow learners’ progress to be sensed within and across an activity, enable instructed language learning to move beyond the traditional confines of the classroom walls. In this paper we present the European Kitchen, a real-world task-based environment for cooking and language learning. In doing so, we demonstrate how specific design decisions, in the development of this longer-term iterative design project, conjoin Human Computer Interaction practice and learning theory for situated language learning. We also show how this approach is combined with Conversation Analysis, which is used as a tool to measure the impact of these decisions on the interactions taking place in and with the kitchen. Our work reveals that in order to design for and evaluate effective and meaningful language learning, there should be more balance between technologically-driven theory and theory driven research which has a strong pedagogical foundation. Our work has implications for a transferable, interdisciplinary model of task-based, situated learning which can be applied and adapted to different skill and knowledge sets.

A critical, creative UX community

Research and practice in human-computer interaction (HCI) are now in their fourth decade. After a first decade focused on modeling and guidance, professional practices associated with HCI have focu...

Integrating human–computer interaction and business practices for mixed reality systems design: a case study

The software engineering and human–computer interaction (HCI) communities do not use the same methods, models and languages. This problem is more significant when they intend to work together to develop interactive applications, especially mixed reality systems; merging real and virtual worlds. In this context, it is necessary to develop a method for integrating software engineering and HCI practices and allowing an efficient collaboration between experts from different cultures of development. Essential principles and approaches are presented here to design mixed reality systems. The interaction specifications are integrated along the business process evolution to take into account the mixed reality interactions. Models and approaches are developed to highlight the relationships between business and interaction spaces. The proposed method is detailed and applied on a case study. The method is evaluated in a quantitative study using questionnaires involving designers, programmers and users. The evaluation, essentially, concerns the ease of use of the method and its effectiveness. It is concluded that the proposed method enables specialists from both domains to collaborate and synchronise their activities for integrating mixed reality features in the information systems design. Some improvements envisaged for the proposed work are presented.

Lowering the line of visibility: incidental users in service encounters

Recent economic and technological developments have led to the emergence of the services industry and to the important role that information technology (IT) plays in it. The emergence of IT-based services, which has merged people's roles as customers and users, calls for closer collaboration between the domains of human–computer interaction (HCI) and services science. This article offers three contributions within this context. First, we elaborate on the concept of the ‘incidental user’ – a person involved as a customer in a service encounter that includes exchange of information with an IT system, often mediated by a service representative who is the main user of the system. Second, we suggest that two key design aspects – sharing information with incidental users and increasing their control over the interaction – can improve the service provided by the organisation to its customers. We propose a theoretical model that describes the consequences of such design decisions on the incidental user and on the service encounter. Specifically, we propose that these decisions improve the effectiveness of the service encounter and customers’ trust in the service-providing organisation. Finally, we suggest and demonstrate design solutions that expand the range of information exchanged between the service representative and the customer – by sharing information and/or by extending the level of interaction available to the customer. By applying established HCI practices and theories, and considering new design solutions, designers of service encounter environments can improve the customer's service experience and the service provider's effectiveness.

A Review of Affective Design towards Video Games

Over the past decade, gaming has become a mainstream form of entertainment. It is one of the fastest growing forms of entertainment and has become a big business, easily rivaling the film industry in terms of consumer spending. However, due to the rapid growth of technology and competitiveness in the industry, game designers are increasingly faced with the challenge of making their games attractive and engaging to its intended users. Over the years, practitioners and researchers in the human-computer interaction (HCI) community have placed a lot of effort in developing processes and methods for use in interdisciplinary fields. An effective user-centered gaming interface plays an important role in the gaming industry and provides valuable contribution in the HCI practice. This is because it supports the mental communication and emotional response of its audiences that is the gamers, thus improving the interaction modes between the user and product. Hence, designing games in a manner that provides the same user experience to all players, irrespective of player motivation, experience or skill is becoming the focus of modern game research. This paper will attempt to address and review the literature on affective design elements, principles and methodologies that are suitable for the video games industry.

The Application of Modern Educational Technology in Modern Industrial Training

For the sake of upgrading students’ skills, this article interprets respectively the specific application of modern educational technologies from the four phases in modern industrial training: cognition, imitation, skills integration and refining. In the cognitive and directional phase, the training is aiming at inspiring learning motivation, understanding skills as well as the difficulty ,gist, points of attention and the process of operation, in case errors occur. In the imitative stage, operating process should be made clear. Students should imitate teachers’ operation so that the right visual image of standard operation will be transformed into students’ own skills. In the integrative phase, according to the general operating process, all basic operations will be integrated together through the industrial training. Finally, in the skills refining stage, the modern educational technology will be introduced to realize the consistent Human-Computer Interaction practice to improve operation and teaching effect.