| CHI 98 Conference Program | April 18-23, 1998, Los Angeles, CA USA |
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Richard Miller, SoftCom; Keith Rettig, Bellcore
User interfaces on the Web are different from typical software interfaces because, as designers, we are constrained by the rapidly changing technology, Hyper-Text Markup Language (HTML), its related tools and a lack of robust widgets. Many of these problems may not be optimally solvable, but currently solutions are clearly less than optimal.
The goal of this workshop is to take the "cocktail napkin" interface discussions that commonly occur at conferences and move them into a structured workshop setting to further our understanding of Web interface issues. Issues such as cross-platform compatibility, navigation complexity, object selection and manipulation, and design considerations are relevant.
This workshop requires and encourages active participation of those involved. It is an exciting and bustling atmosphere with design work going on within each small work group. A user-centered design process for facilitating the workshop's activities and paper prototyping will be used to develop potential interface solutions.
In order to prepare for the workshop, design issues are required to be submitted electronically to the workshop organizers by 1 April 1998. Thus, participants are guaranteed that discussions and the results of the workshop will be current and interesting. It is acceptable to submit a short text-only email if the design issue can be expressed accurately. Solutions are not required or expected in the submission. We are looking, as a group, to solve problems that participants find difficult to translate into a Web solution. Knowledge of HTML is expected from all participants, and exposure to other Web technologies is helpful.
More information is available at http://design.softcom.com/workshops/sigchi98.html.
Contact
Richard Miller
SoftCom, Inc.
200 Middlesex Essex Turnpike, Suite 303
Iselin, NJ 08830 USA
Tel: +1 732 283 590, Ext.612
Email: rmiller@softcom.com
Stephanie Rosenbaum, Tec-Ed; Janice Rohn, Sun Microsystems; Judee Humburg, Independent Consultant
Usability research can be a strategic tool that contributes to an organization's business direction, marketing position and overall strategic planning. Human factors professionals can partner with other groups and build cross-functional teams to define usability research programs that help focus product development to achieve key company goals.
This workshop expands on the organizers' previous CHI workshops and panels on corporate strategy and usability research. Strategic usability reaches beyond best practices in product development and design, striving for a role where customer understanding and usability data influence decision-making throughout the organization. In "unpacking strategic usability" we will explore the meaning of "strategic" in both product and organizational contexts.
The workshop will bring together practitioners who:
We solicit case studies of successful and unsuccessful experiences; we'll learn as much or more from unsuccessful efforts. This workshop is limited to 15 participants. In your 3-10 page position paper, describe your organizational environment, what you have done to achieve strategic usability (the methods you used and how well they worked) and any other new ideas for building strategic usability. A template is available for describing organizational environments.
Contact
Stephanie Rosenbaum
Tec-Ed, Inc.
P.O. Box 1905
Ann Arbor, MI 48106 USA
Tel: +1 313 995 1010
Email: stephanie@teced.com
Leah Kaufman, Microsoft; Brad Weed, Microsoft
The steady increase in the number of functions in software applications has led to consistent criticism of feature and interface bloat. The sheer number of features challenges interaction designers to make interfaces that communicate the software's potential as well as its visible functions. It charges users with figuring out which of the myriad of features will actually accomplish the tasks they want to do.
This workshop explores three distinct aspects of feature and interface bloat:
Through examples, discussions, formal debate, shared experience with interface design and use, we will try to reach a clear understanding of bloat and finally, a set of recommendations for addressing it. A collaborative paper based on the workshop's discussion and findings will be submitted for publication.
Those interested in this workshop should submit a 1-2 page paper describing their ideas on this problem, specifically, the advantages and disadvantages of expansive software vs. software with a limited set of commonly used features. Please state your position on the issue, based on empirical evidence if possible.
Contact
Leah Kaufman
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399 USA
Microsoft Corporation
Tel: +1 425 703 2245
Email: leahk@microsoft.com
Hal Shubin, Interaction Design; Ron Perkins, Design Perspectives
Navigation on the Web is different from navigation on "traditional" platforms like Macintosh and Windows. Users of the new platform find a model of navigation that conflicts with the conceptual model they developed on the older platforms. Rather than finding ways for users to cope on this new platform, how can we design Web applications so people can work more easily, with fewer transfer-learning problems?
This topic is becoming more important as the Web is becoming ubiquitous. Good navigation is crucial for the success of applications on this platform. Little work has been done on this topic to date; this workshop should stimulate some good discussion. Workshop members will discuss their experiences and ways to overcome the problems. They will walk away with a concrete understanding of the important differences and with new ideas for designing for the Web.
Submit a 2-4 page position paper including a portfolio of Web navigation problems caused by the differences in navigation on the Web and other platforms. The paper should describe your background and the examples. The examples can be problems that you have solved, or problems that you have come across, with suggestions for change. We will look for a variety of participants who have given significant thought to navigation issues on the Web.
Submissions will be via email, and will be posted on the Web for easy access and discussion.
Contact
Hal Shubin
Interaction Design, Inc.
78 Chilton Street
Belmont, MA 02178 USA
Tel: +1 617 489 6595
Email: hshubin@user.com
Joseph Konstan, University of Minnesota; Jane Siegel, Carnegie Mellon University
The CHI Basic Research Symposium presents an opportunity for researchers from different disciplines to exchange new developments and insights from their own fields and thereby expand their vision of human-computer interaction. The two-day event is a cross between a mini-conference and a workshop. Participants are selected by a program committee that reviews submitted position papers, bringing together a diverse group of researchers with innovative research underway. The symposium itself includes interactive research presentations, group discussions around common themes and small, group break-out activities.
The mission of the CHI Basic Research Symposium is to provide a venue where researchers conducting ground-breaking, controversial and emerging research can discuss that research with a diverse group of peers. Our vision for this year's Basic Re-search Symposium is for each participant to leave with a better understanding of the re-search methods, goals and frontiers of a wide range of HCI disciplines. Each participant should contribute to the collective under-standing and leave with new ideas for conducting, integrating and applying research.
The Basic Research Symposium welcomes two types of submissions:
(1) Position Papers. Up to ten pages introducing your field and your work. Authors of accepted position papers will be given time to present the work in an interactive discussion format.
(2) Position Statements. Up to two pages introducing you and your interests. Authors of accepted position statements will be invited to participate in the symposium.
Sample submissions and further information is available at http://www.cs.umn.edu/~konstan/BRS98/.
Contact
Joseph Konstan
University of Minnesota
Department of Computer Science
4-192 EE/CS Building, 200 Union St. SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
Tel: +1 612 625 1831
Email: chi98-brs@cs.umn.edu
Gene Golovchinsky, FX Palo Alto Laboratory; Nick Belkin, Rutgers University
Traditional Information Retrieval (IR) is concerned with improving effectiveness of indexing and retrieval mechanisms, and with supporting one information seeking behavior: specified searching through query formulation. This supports one kind of user population, with one kind of information need. The networked information environment has resulted in a shift in the user population of IR systems. This has introduced new classes of users, in the sense of levels of expertise, and has also made clear that there are different kinds of information needs and different kinds of information seeking behaviors than those supported by traditional IR systems and techniques. This workshop focuses on developing an understanding of one such information seeking behavior, Information Exploration, on interface design for supporting this behavior and on evaluation methods for assessing such interfaces. Information Exploration addresses the goal of refining a vague concept into a more thorough understanding of the problem that led to the information interaction.
Problems to be addressed include:
Twenty participants will be selected on the basis of a one-page abstract of a position paper on one of the three themes of the workshop. These abstracts must include a specification of the Information Exploration task which is being addressed and an explicit statement of the relationship of the proposal/position to that task.
More information is available at http://anarch.ie.utoronto.ca/people/golovch/CHI98workshop/.
Contact
Gene Golovchinsky
FX PAL, Inc.
3400 Hillview Ave., Bldg 4
Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA
Tel: +1 650 813 7361
Email: gene@pal.xerox.com
John Artim, OOCL; Mark van Harmelen, Cutting Edge
Discussion at last year's workshop, "Object-Oriented Models in User Interface Design," examined the role of object modeling in user interface design. Workshop participants collaborated on a framework describing user interface design in the software development life cycle. This framework is described in the October 1997 issue of SIGCHI Bulletin. We take as a starting point this framework. The goal of this workshop is to produce a method and notation framework to support the use of task, process and work analysis and modeling as a source of objects for system design and a determinant for suitable end user support by the system.
Potential participants should submit a position paper of approximately 2000 words that describes experience or theory relating to:
Papers should, where appropriate, build upon last year's workshop discussion as expressed in the SIGCHI Bulletin article.
Contact
John Artim
OOCL (USA), Inc.
2841 Junction Ave., Suite 200
San Jose, CA 95134 USA
Tel: +1 408 576 6494
Email: jartim@acm.org
Arnd Steinmetz, GMD-IPSI; Frank Nack, GMD-IPSI; Nahum Gershon, MITRE
The fundamental problem associated with video and images is that they are already visual data. Thus, many interesting classes of visual information have no natural and obvious alternative presentation despite their original appearance. The arising problem is, therefore, to visualize a more metaphorical view onto that information which does not automatically map onto the physical world.
In spite of this need, current visualization research (e.g., Videostreamer (Davenport) or Video Micons and Video Space Icon (Tonomura/Abe)) has not been active enough in discovering new visual metaphors for representing/presenting pictorial information.
The purpose of the workshop is to explore new ideas for representations of visual media and to clarify the nature, scope, limits and dangers of new interface metaphors for visual media.
Applicants should send position papers (3-5 pages in .pdf format), articulating their interests, ideas and experiences in information visualization and visual media. Videos and application demonstrations are strongly encouraged. We welcome papers from people with a variety of insights and perspectives (e.g., HCI, data mining, imaging, graphics, entertainment, education, etc.). Selection, based on the position papers, will seek to balance perspective and interests of the participants.
Participants will be expected to read the position papers of other participants prior to the workshop, and to prepare a brief presentation of their own views. Participants will be asked to assist in the preparation of the workshop report. The workshop is limited to 15 participants.
More information is available at http://www.darmstadt.gmd.de/mobile/chi98/.
Contact
Amd Steinmetz
Mobile Interactive Media, GMD-IPSI
Dolivostr. 15
64293 Darmstadt Germany
Tel: +49 6151 869862
Email: arnd.steinmetz@darmstadt.gmd.de
Phillipe Palanque, University Toulouse 1; Fabio Paterno, CNUCE-CNR; Peter Wright, University of York
When designing user interfaces for safety critical systems designers must satisfy both usability and safety requirements at both the specification and implementation level. These systems have human operators and increasingly their role is mediated by computer technology. Clearly, in this domain, usability issues can have potentially disastrous consequences, yet CHI conferences have not addressed this type of application. We believe that the design of user interfaces in this area requires the use of innovative technologies for supporting user interactions and the support of many kinds of skills and backgrounds to be addressed effectively.
The challenge of the workshop is to bring together researchers from the disciplines of software engineering and human factors to consider issues in safety critical system design which are at the intersection of usability and safety. Areas of concern are requirements analysis, specification, testing and evaluation.
We will focus on specific issues which we feel are relevant in this application area:
More information is available at http://lis.univ-tlse1.fr/~palanque/wschi98.html.
Contact
Philippe Palanque
University Toulouse 1
Place Anatole France
31042 Toulouse Cedex France
Tel: +33 561 63 35 88
Email: palanque@cict.fr
Birgit Bomsdorf, University of Paderborn; Gerd Szwillus, University of Paderborn
It is generally accepted that the tasks the user has to fulfill with a system should play an important role in its design. Knowing the user's tasks enables the designer to construct user interfaces reflecting the tasks' properties, including efficient usage patterns, easy-to-use interaction sequences and powerful assistance features. As a consequence, task modeling becomes a central part of the user interface design process. To accomplish this, a systematic transition has to exist from task identification to user interface construction. Hence, a task model of how the user performs her or his tasks with the system has to be defined. This model contains the task structure, the division of labor between user and system as well as information about the objects used within tasks. The result of this design phase is a dialogue model: a constructive abstraction of the finally implemented user interface.
The goal of our workshop is to learn more about the transition from task model to dialogue model. We will bring together people with expertise in this domain in order to collect, structure and interrelate work dealing with this non-trivial transition. We will discuss practical design projects where this problem showed up, research on theoretical, systematic approaches to the problem and development of tools and techniques supporting the transition.
The workshop is directed at people from academia, research departments of companies or software development companies dealing with practical user interface design problems. All participants should be actively interested in task and dialogue modeling and in the transition from one model to the other.
More information is available at http://www.uni-paderborn.de/fachbereich/AG/szwillus/chi98ws/index.html.
Contact
Gerd Szwillus
University of Paderborn
Fachbereich Mathematik/Informatik
D-33095 Paderborn Germany
Tel: +49 5251 606624
Email: szwillus@uni-paderborn.de
N. Hari Narayanan, Auburn University
The rate of creation of hypermedia information has far outpaced developments in the theory of how to design hypermedia to best facilitate users' comprehension of, and navigation within, the information being presented. Despite (or perhaps, because of) the commercial success of these systems, their design had largely been guided by common sense and intuitions rather than theory. In this context, the theme of the workshop is emerging theoretical foundations of design, use and evaluation of interactive visualization, multimedia and hypermedia systems.
Topics Include
Two kinds of electronic submissions (HTML files) are solicited:
Invitations to participate will be issued based on a review of submissions. We will be looking for innovative theories, integrative approaches, promising works in progress and the potential to stimulate discussion. We expect to invite no more than 20 participants.
More information is available at http://www.eng.auburn.edu/department/cse/research/vi3rg/ws.html.
Contact
N. Hari Narayanan
Computer Science & Engineering Department
Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36849 USA
Tel: +1 334 844 6312
Email: narayan@eng.auburn.edu
Markus Stolze, IBM Zurich; Patrick Steiger, IBM Zurich; Michael Good, SAP Technology
The increasing success and popularity of Internet commerce makes it important to step beyond current limitations to overcome the problems shop designers are struggling with today, to better exploit the opportunities of electronic media and to prepare for new types of products and services. The goal of the workshop is to better understand the current state of Internet commerce and to generate a road map and research agenda for moving beyond Internet business-as-usual. Towards this end we want designers to report their practical experiences with setting up, running, maintaining and improving electronic shops. We want researchers to present prototypes, technologies and frameworks that show ways to transcend the current state of the art in Internet commerce and to accommodate growing user needs. Moreover, we want research and experience reports on how Internet commerce is changing the social fabric of business as well as the nature of individual transactions.
If you are interested in the workshop, submit a one-page statement of your background and pertinent interests, together with one recent paper (or description of an implemented system, including URL and/or other screen shots) related to the workshop topic.
Before submitting an application and in order to receive a longer description of the workshop and what will be asked of participants please review the workshop Web page at http://www.zurich.ibm.com/~mrs/chi98ws.html.
Contact
Markus Stolze
IBM Research Division
Zurich Research Laboratory
Saeumerstrasse 4
CH-8803 Rueschlikon Switzerland
Tel: +41 1 724 8263
Email: mrs@zurich.ibm.com
Sherry Hsi, UC Berkeley; Elliot Soloway, University of Michigan
Ease of use, valuable as it certainly is, is too limited a vision. We need to raise our expectations for what computationally-based interfaces can support and address the challenge of nurturing the intellectual growth of children and adults. Simply put, we need to move from focusing just on the needs of users to focusing on the needs of learners (i.e., growth, diversity, motivation).
A new generation of researchers cross-trained in education, engineering, design, cognitive science and computer science, are taking the design process into schools, homes and workplaces. This new generation's design practices combine academic research, technology design, and assessment in authentic classroom context to formulate emerging practices, new design methods and principles. The goal of these folks is to design software that "make people more effective learners" while also designing interfaces that make them want to learn and know how to learn beyond the computer task at hand. We wish to take the opportunity of CHI 98, with its theme of education, to hold the first formal meeting of those interested in Learner-Centered Design (LCD).
If you are interested in participating, please send a one-page description of your current efforts in addressing the needs of learners, plus a one-paragraph statement about what you hope to get out of such a one-day workshop. The program committee will then review all submissions and select 20 participants. Send statements to Elliot Soloway, soloway@umich.edu and Sherry Hsi, hsi@socrates.berkeley.edu.
More information is available at http://www.soe.berkeley.edu/chi/index.html.
Contact
Elliot Soloway
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA
Tel: +1 313 763 6988
Email: soloway@umich.edu
Batya Friedman, Colby College; Jonathan Grudin, UC Irvine
The common good of our information infrastructure depends on designs through which users can establish and maintain trust and accountability. Consider, for example, current questions in the design of Internet commerce. Should we provide simple statements of security? Should we provide technical descriptions of security technology (e.g., encryption algorithms)? Or, following the UL approval seal for electric light bulbs and appliances, should we evolve a set of standards and conventional notations for establishing levels of trust and channels for accountability? Or all of the above and more?
In this workshop we are concerned with understanding how to design computer-based interactional experiences that preserve trust and accountability. We draw on the organizers' background and participants' research and design experiences to: (1) identify positive designs and abuses of trust and accountability in computer systems and (2) generate design principles for preserving trust and accountability in the design of future systems. Presumably successful designs will require multi-faceted innovations that include new technical mechanisms, interface metaphors and, on a societal level, the development of social conventions and standards.
Who should attend? Participants with diverse backgrounds and design experiences are desired, including designers, educators, practitioners and researchers. Interested individuals should submit a letter describing his or her (1) interest in the topic, (2) background and (3) three cases in which he or she has encountered issues of trust and/or accountability in a computer system, either as a designer or as a user. Each case should discuss the context of use, the design and the issue that arose.
Contact
Batya Friedman
Colby College
Waterville, ME 04901 USA
Tel: +1 207 872 3572
b_friedm@colby.edu
Tom Brinck, Diamond Bullet Design; Gary York, ComFrame Software
The patient record is a central artifact used throughout the health care setting, not only by physicians and nurses, but by numerous hospital staff from clinicians to housekeeping. In 1991, the Institute of Medicine produced a report called The Computer-Based Patient Record (CPR) that set down a vision for computerizing the wide variety of activities in documenting, reviewing and storing the patient record. Variations of CPR systems have been known by many names, including "electronic medical records" and "clinical information systems." CPRs offer the potential for substantially reduced healthcare costs and improved patient care, but many would attribute their slow adoption to the difficulty of designing user interfaces appropriate to the incredibly complex domain of health care.
The goals for the workshop are:
We invite participation from a wide range of professionals involved with the design, development, deployment and evaluation of the CPR to discuss user interface issues, identify roadblocks in designing effective user interfaces and set an agenda for the future of user interface issues in the design of CPRs.
Up to date information on the workshop will be available at http://www.diamondbullet.com/cpr/.
Contact
Tom Brinck
Diamond Bullet Design
315 W. Huron, Suite 140
Ann Arbor, MI 48103 USA
Tel: +1 313 665 9307
tom@diamondbullet.com
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