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Vol.28 No.1, January 1996
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Vol.28 No.1, January 1996 |
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CHI Workshops are small gatherings of eight to twenty people all with an active interest and experience in the topic. In a sense, a workshop is an extended panel session with no audience. Like panelists, the participants in workshops are selected by the organizers for their experience and expertise on the topic. Also like panels, the organizers provide the structure but the participants do most of the work. Unlike panels, workshops are intended to be working sessions: all who attend a workshop are expected to contribute to the final outcome. A workshop can be productive in a number of public and not so public ways. Workshops frequently lead to publications, such as an edited book or special issue of a journal (and always in a report published in the SIGCHI Bulletin). Less publicly, workshops are frequently credited with bringing leading-edge researchers or special communities of practitioners together and assisting in the establishment of new networks. Workshops have served as a forum where people involved with ideas, technologies, and theories that are "not-yet-ready-for-prime-time" can define terms, develop taxonomies, thrash out differences, and otherwise seek to determine if what they have is new and different or merely an interesting, but passing, fancy.
CHI '96 offers fifteen workshops covering a wide range of HCI topics. Workshops will be held before the conference, on Sunday April 14 and Monday April 15. If you are interested in a topic contact the workshop organizers (do not contact the Workshop Committee!). The organizers will respond to your query by providing more detailed information on the workshop and specifications for how to apply (a typical requirement is a 2-3 page position paper demonstrating your interest or expertise in the topic). Most workshops require pre-conference activity by individual participants.
All correspondence should be with the organizers of the workshop in which you are interested. Application materials for all workshops must be sent directly to the work shop organizers and must be received by February 16, 1996. Submitters will be notified of their selection by March 11, 1996. Fees are $50 for a 1-day workshop and $100 for a 11/2-day or 2-day workshop. You must register for workshops when you register for CHI. Make sure to fill out the special workshops registration form and include the fee in your payment.
Manipulation in Virtual Environments
Christine L. MacKenzie, Simon Fraser University
Kellogg S. Booth, University of British Columbia
Human-computer interaction issues with graphical and haptic user interfaces are becoming increasingly important for research and development of virtual and augmented computer environments. People from many disciplines have become interested in means for grasping and manipulating physical, virtual, and augmented objects in virtual environments. These user interfaces and interactions may apply in teleoperation, augmented environments, or virtual reality settings.
In keeping with the conference theme of Common Ground, our theme will be Searching for Common Ground in Manipulation of Virtual Environments. Regardless of the scale and conditions of the environment to be manipulated, there are elemental problems in action selection, task and trajectory planning, obstacle avoidance, grasping, object characteristics, task constraints, physical laws, mechanics of manipulation, contacts and compliance, co-ordinate transformations, representation, and rendering.
The goals of this workshop are:
Among those working with manipulation of virtual objects, we seek participants from different disciplines, geographic locations, approaches, and work settings. Participants should provide a one paragraph biographical sketch and a 2-page participation statement on the challenges they face in their work on manipulation in virtual environments. The statement should include questions for they would like to discuss. Statements will be used for participant selection and will be distributed to other participants.
This one-day workshop is limited to 20 participants.
Contact
Christine L. MacKenzie
Simon Fraser University
School of Kinesiology
Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6, Canada
Email: christine_mackenzie@sfu.ca
Phone: +1 604-291-3004
Fax: +1 604-291-3040
Ian McClelland -- Philips International
Bronwen Taylor -- Philips International
Bill Hefley -- Carnegie-Mellon University
The human computer interaction (HCI) community has a long association with the development of user centred design principles (UCD) and usability engineering, but how far is industry integrating UCD principles into their product design processes in practice?
The application of digital technologies, which is continually breaking into new spheres of use, presents a challenging development. Business environments are rapidly evolving; new markets, new market players, new types of products, and new user groups are all raising different issues for the computer industry. As the "usability issue" is applied to product areas beyond traditional HCI, how much are the principles commonly advocated in need of adaptation?
The workshop will examine these issues and seek to identify:
We invite participants from:
Those interested should send a 2-3 page position statement covering:
This information will be circulated to all participants in advance of the workshop.
This one day workshop is limited to 20 participants.
Contact:
Bronwen Taylor
Philips Corporate Design
PO Box 218,
5600 MD Eindhoven
Netherlands
Email: c896415@nlccmail.snads.
philips.nl
Phone: +31 402 73 30 76
Fax: +31 402 73 49 59
Batya Friedman, Colby College
Helen Nissenbaum, Princeton University
In this workshop we are concerned with understanding the relationship between user autonomy, the user interface, and computer system design. By autonomy we mean the capability to act on the basis of one's own decisions; to be guided by one's own reasons, desires, and goals. When actions are unduly constrained or restricted then autonomy may be diminished or violated. Consider a case in point: Imagine a video-conferencing system that contains a camera with no on/off switch; such a system provides no ready means for the user to control when images of the user are being recorded and broadcast. This example highlights the importance for users to have control over their technology.
In the workshop, we draw on the organizers' background and participants' research and design experiences (1) to identify designs and abuses of user autonomy in computer systems and (2) to generate design principles for protecting user autonomy.
Participants with diverse backgrounds and design experiences are desired, including but not limited to researchers, practitioners, designers, and educators. Interested individuals should send a brief letter describing their interest in the topic and their background. Also please include an example of an actual or hypothetical system where the issue of user autonomy arises. Some preparation prior to the workshop will be required.
This one-day workshop is limited to 15 participants.
Contact:
Batya Friedman
Dept. Mathematics and Computer Science
Colby College
Waterville, ME 04901, USA
Email: b_friedm@colby.edu
Phone: +1 207-872-3572
Fax: +1 207-872-3555
Alison Popowicz-Toon, Hewlett-Packard France
Ev Shafrir, Hewlett-Packard
Information providers who are used to dealing with an English-speaking, local audience are not always aware of the difficulties encountered by users in other countries. The difficulties may be caused by factors other than language or translation -- for example, reliance on services that are unavailable outside of USA working hours. This workshop is for designers and users of information interfaces that are intended for, or are being accessed by, an international audience.
The objective of the workshop is to compile a set of best practices for access to information by an international audience. The participants will share success and horror stories of their experiences with different information interfaces, and use brainstorming techniques to compile the best practices.
Many factors cause working methods to vary from region to region. In studying several examples of international information interfaces, participants will share and learn good working practices-and practices to be avoided.
Those interested should please send a 1-2-page position paper via electronic mail to the workshop organizer, describing your work or studies, explaining your interest in international issues, and giving a short description of one interface of any genre (e.g., CD-ROM software, a Web site, printed manual) that you feel is particularly good or bad from an international viewpoint. Participants will be selected from diverse backgrounds to ensure a variety of working backgrounds, practical experience, and native language.
This two-day workshop will be limited to 20 participants.
Contact:
Alison Popowicz-Toon
Software and Information Delivery Europe, Hewlett-Packard France
Email: alison_popowicz@grenoble.hp.com
Phone: +33 76.62.55.43
Fax: +33 76.62.52.00
Stacey Ashlund, Lotus cc:Mail
Steven Pemberton, CWI
The purpose of this workshop is to address the future of e-mail. As the number of e-mail users and the number and type of messages continue to increase, how will people manage the information overload? What if technologies such as agents aren't the answer? What impact will this rapidly expanding mode of communication have on productivity? Other topics to be discussed include issues of privacy and trust, integration of e-mail and the web, e-mail standardization, mailing lists and e-mail etiquette, and realistic e-mail usability testing. The focus of this workshop is on a practical application of HCI research and its potential impact on the future of one of the most prevalent software applications in use today.
Participants are invited to submit a 2-page position statement describing relevant experience and ideas on this topic. 15 workshop participants will be selected based on these statements, with a focus on diverse backgrounds, including researchers as well as people involved in commercial software development. Statements can focus on areas including (but not limited to) technologies, design, or evaluation. Statements should include a brief biography of the participant. Position statements will be used to draw up a more detailed program for the workshop, which will be distributed beforehand to participants along with the position papers.
The workshop will consist of interactive discussion groups drawing on the experiences of organizers and participants. Participatory discussion groups will brainstorm these questions and identify directions for future work in this area. It will conclude with plans to publish the results of this workshop.
Contact:
Steven Pemberton, CWI, Kruislaan 413, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands; phone +31-20-592 4138; email Steven.Pemberton@cwi.nl.
Mary Czerwinski, Microsoft
Laurie P. Dringus, Nova Southeastern University
Andrew Sears, DePaul University
Barbara Bernal Thomas, Southern College of Technology
This workshop will explore issues in HCI education from an academic and industrial perspective. Our goal is to establish important topics and skills graduates do not have when they enter the HCI work force, as well as possible methods for conveying those skills in academic settings. From discussions with academic and industrial representatives, we hope to further broaden the communication channel between these groups. We hope to devise new strategies for industry to convey to academia their needs for competent HCI practitioners and for academia to effectively respond to these needs.
Goals:
Each participant should submit a 2- to 3-page position paper and a biographical sketch. Academic representatives should describe skills or pieces of knowledge they feel are difficult to convey in their course(s). Industrial representatives should describe skills or pieces of knowledge they feel are not adequately covered in the academic process.
This one-and-a-half day workshop is limited to 20 participants.
Contact:
Barbara Bernal Thomas
Computer Science Department
Southern College of Technology
1100 S. Marietta Pkwy.
Marietta, Georgia 30060 USA
Email: bthomas@sct.edu
Phone: +1 770 528 7406
Fax: +1 770 528 5511
Fabio Paterno', CNUCE-C.N.R.
Gregory Abowd, Georgia Institute of Technology
Philippe Palanque, University of Toulouse
Formal methods have been demonstrated to improve the development process and the quality of the final result. It is an open issue whether formal methods can improve the HCI process, e.g. by giving useful support in usability evaluation or obtaining more reliable implementations of user requirements. We think that formal methods are valid in specific phases of the development process of Interactive Systems and that each approach is best suited to certain applications and problems. We want to understand the differences and similarities among the existing approaches.
The purpose of the workshop is to review the current state of formal methods in HCI and to build a framework to evaluate current approaches. To focus discussion, we have selected a case study that will be used to compare the approaches proposed. We will cover no more than 10 formal approaches to the case study.
Participants should submit a two-page position paper describing their interests and previous work in formal methods in HCI and their first thoughts on the selected case study based on your formal approach. They should also indicate whether they are interested in presenting their formal approach in the workshop. Participants selected to present their approach will be asked to write a five-page position paper describing initial results of the application of their approach to the case study. Participants will be chosen on the basis of the case study work and previous work in formal methods in Interactive Systems.
This 1.5-day workshop is limited to 15 participants.
Contact:
Fabio Paterno'
CNUCE -- C.N.R.
Via S.Maria 36
56126 Pisa, Italy
Email: f.paterno@cnuce.cnr.it
Phone +39 50 593289
Fax: +39 50 904052
Larry E. Wood, Brigham Young Univ.
Ron Zeno, Documentum, Inc.
There seems to be little published information available on specific techniques for transforming the results of user work/task analysis into a GUI interface. Therefore, we are organizing a workshop to document how experienced designers use the information from task analysis, principles of interaction design, and interface components to produce preliminary GUI designs. It will bring together individuals willing to share and compare their methods and techniques.
Applicants should provide a 4-6 page summary of their design activities and techniques. It should include such items as:
This 2-day workshop is limited to 12 participants. The deadline for proposals is Friday, February 2, 1996. Applicants will be notified by February 19, 1996.
Contact:
Larry E. Wood
Brigham Young University
P.O. Box 25375
Provo, UT 84602-5375, USA
Email: WoodL@buy.edu
Voice: +1 801-378-3405
Fax: +1 801-378-7862
Keith Instone, Bowling Green
Steven Pemberton, CWI
Much of the success of the World Wide Web can be attributed to HCI issues: at last you can access the net without arcane command languages, and browsers use many techniques developed within the HCI community. However in the rush to provide information on the Web there has been much emphasis on "What's Cool", and little on "What's Good".
Similarly, on the technical side, there is a lot of emphasis on efficiency, security, internationalism, but little emphasis on the needs of the user: are there aspects of HTTP or HTML that could make things better for the user?
The goals of this workshop are:
The workshop will be for one day, and attendance is limited to 20 participants. If you are interested in participating, please send a two-page position paper to the contact address below, detailing your interest expertise and research in the area. The position papers of selected participants will be used to draw up a more detailed program for the workshop, which will be distributed beforehand to participants.
Contact:
Steven Pemberton, CWI, Kruislaan 413, 1098 SJ Amsterdam, The Netherlands; phone +31-20-592 4138; email Steven.Pemberton@cwi.nl.
Heather Desurvire, Behavioristics, Inc.
Lauren S. Schwartz, Microsoft Consulting Services
User interface designers and usability specialists (HCI Specialists) most often play the role of consultant to software development organizations and management even if they are full-time employees of an organization. Because we are most often in the role of consultant influencing the organizations but not in direct ownership of the deliverables, we face special challenges in having our recommendations heard, our designs implemented, and our advice sought.
This workshop will provide an opportunity for HCI specialists to explore their roles, share their challenges, and discuss successful solutions. The activities of the workshop will result in a list of pervasive issues found as a HCI Specialist and techniques to help resolve these issues.
This workshop is for HCI specialists in both corporate and consulting organizations. Participants are asked to submit a position paper of 1000 words or less with the following information:
This one-day workshop is limited to 15 participants.
Contact:
Lauren Schwartz,
Microsoft Consulting Services
825 Eighth Avenue, 21st Floor
New York, NY 10019, USA
Email: laurensc@microsoft.com
Phone: +1 212-484-1916
Fax: +1 212-245-3678
Matt Belge, Vision and Logic
Kate Ehrlich, Lotus Development Corp.
This workshop is for UI design practitioners who create user models. We define user model to mean the set of concepts and metaphors devised by the user interface designer to help the user understand the system. For example, in creating the user model for a computer desktop, interface designers might articulate the concepts of desktop, folder, document, and waste basket.
We seek to bring together designers to explore the techniques used to create user models. We are particularly seeking practitioners who have created some form of user model as an explicit step in the design process. Theoreticians who work on formal methods (such as GOMS) are also welcome. The goal of the workshop is to help UI designer-practitioners exchange knowledge regarding the best practices to ensure high quality user models.
Participants must submit a 2-4-page position paper describing the following:
Position papers will be chosen based on the relevance of the experience to the topic and the quality of the work. Prior to the workshop, participants will be asked to engage in an email discussion of issues raised in the position papers.
A 1 day workshop limited to 20 participants.
Contact: Matt Belge, Vision and Logic
67 Pratts Mill Rd.,
Sudbury, MA 01776, USA
Email: mbelge@world.std.com
Phone: +1 508-443-2446
Fax: +1 508-440-9020
Casey Boyd, University of Colorado, Boulder
Rudy Darken, Naval Research Laboratory
This workshop provides a common ground for the diverse research on the psychology of virtual environments (VEs). It encompasses an intersection of 1) psychological issues, 2) designing and evaluating for usability, and 3) VE interfaces. The central questions are: What are the components -- of human, task, and system -- that are relevant to usability and how are their roles understood? Topics include:
We invite the participation of researchers and practitioners whose work is on these topics (though possibly not all working directly with VE systems), from research perspectives including Computer Science, Cognitive Psychology, Perceptual and Ecological Psychology, Urban Planning and Architecture, and Industrial Engineering.
Interested persons should submit a short (2-4 page) position statement describing their research experiences related to the topic and the contribution they would make to the workshop, and a brief description of their background, including past experience with CHI and other workshops. Participants will be chosen on the basis of the relevance of their research, quality of their proposal, and balance of approaches.
This two-day workshop is limited to 15 participants.
For more information, see: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~cboyd/chi96/workshop.html
Contact:
Casey Boyd
Dept. of Computer Science, CB 430
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0430 USA
E-mail: cboyd@cs.colorado.edu.
Phone: +1-303-492-4800
Fax: +1-303-492-2844
Amir Mane, AT&T Bell Laboratories
Susan Boyce, AT&T Bell Laboratories
Demetrios Karis, GTE Laboratories
Nicole Yankelovich, Sun Microsystems Laboratories
The purpose of this one-day workshop is to bring together researchers and practitioners to discuss the design of applications that rely on speech as the primary medium for communication between the user and the system. The goal is to increase participants' understanding of the issues that face designers of such systems, exchange ideas, and establish some common ground among the diverse groups involved in creating speech-based applications.
Topics for discussion will focus on three areas.
Interested participants should submit a (text-only) position paper of no more than 1,500 words addressing any one of the aforementioned three areas. Participants will be selected on the basis of their experience with designing speech applications. We will also attempt to achieve a balance of topics and a range of backgrounds.
Prior to the start of the workshop, participants will be expected to read all the position papers as well as experiment with several telephone-based speech applications. A subset of workshop participants will also be asked to give a short oral presentation of their position paper.
This one day tutorial is limited to 16 people.
Contact:
Amir Mane
AT&T Bell Laboratories, 1J-325
101 Crawfords Corner Road
Holmdel, NJ, 07733, USA
Email: amir.mane@att.com
Phone: +1-908-949-7049
Fax: +1-908-949-8569
Stephanie Rosenbaum, Tec-Ed, Inc.
Judee Humburg, Intuit, Inc.
Judith Ramey, University of Washington
Usability research findings can contribute strategically to the definition of a product family during early planning and design. Rather than waiting for user-testing of prototypes, we can learn about user task habits, preferences, and concerns to identify product opportunities and help define a product's business direction and market positioning. Early usability research methods can collect specific user data needed to plan the product scope, a compelling feature set, and early design prototypes.
This workshop expands on the organizers' previous CHI tutorials to explore how practitioners apply early and iterative usability research as a strategic tool: partnering with other groups in our companies, building cross-functional teams of usability, marketing, development, and support people. The workshop brings together practitioners who have:
We solicit case studies of successful and unsuccessful experiences, so participants can pool their insights; we'll learn as much -- or more -- from unsuccessful efforts. In your position/participation paper (3-5 pages), please describe your organizational environment, as well as what you have done to integrate usability research into your company's strategic planning, what methods you used, and how well your efforts worked.
This two-day workshop is limited to 15 participants.
Contact:
Stephanie Rosenbaum
P.O. Box 1905
Ann Arbor, MI 48106, USA
E-mail: stephanie@teced.com
Voice: +1 313-995-1010
Fax: +1 313-995-1025
Catherine R. Marshall, Collaborative Technologies
David G. Novick, Oregon Graduate Institute
In this workshop, participants will use methods derived from corporate strategic planning to create three scenarios describing alternative possible futures for the field of CHI. The group will then use these scenarios to address the question of common ground.
It is designed to be of interest to educators and managers involved in the development of CHI professionals as well as individual researchers and practitioners thinking about their future work or career plans.
To apply, submit (1) a brief biographical statement describing education, work history, and any other relevant experience or interests, and (2) a 2-4 page position paper addressing the following questions:
Participants will be chosen on the basis of the position paper, representation of the CHI community, and ability to work collaboratively to document and disseminate workshop results.
This one-day workshop is limited to 20 participants.
For more information visit http://www.cse.ogi.edu/Interactive/CHI-future/
Contact:
Catherine Marshall
Collaborative Technologies
2600 Garden Road, Ste. 201
Monterey, CA 93940, USA
Email: crm@collabtech.com
Phone: +1 408-645-9140
Fax: +1 408-645-9406
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Vol.28 No.1, January 1996 |
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