Porter A1

HCI is an interdisciplinary field that looks broadly at the variety of issues that surface in humans interaction with computers. What is most important is the concept of interaction. This suggests a specific orientation to studying this phenomena that is distinct from other fields. Within HCI, there are three main trajectories that have been identified. One is the Human Factors & Ergonomics, which is most interested in computer operation. The second is Information Systems which is most concerned with systems analysis and management. The third is CHI, which is most concerned with computer programming and discretionary computer use. See Grudin for a history of the field: http://research.microsoft.com/~jgrudin/HCIhistory.pdf

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)

CSCW is a considered a subfield (somewhat) of HCI. This was led mostly my sociologist but has attracted a variety of scholars. The focus in CSCW shifts to examining (some) group work, with a focus on task and groupware. Thus, various scholars are interested in learning how groupware and workflow technology can provide support for work related coordination. See Grudin and Poltruck: http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=257357&dl=GUIDE&coll=GUIDE&CFID=1446702&CFTOKEN=18349556. This particular topic has the most relevance to my research in organizational communication. One obvious reason is that the context of work is shared across these fields. One (slight) difference is our use of communication theory to inform our understandings of processes of organizing. In particular, my past research has considered the structuring effects of technology in emergent disaster response groups. Interestingly, the context of crisis changes our notions of what collaboration even is and certainly problematizes the ability to design supportive systems.

Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)

Closely related to CSCW, th main focus of CSCL is to design technologies that can be used to support collaboration to facilitate learning. Thus, researchers often focus on examining how people learn in collaborative contexts, which then informs thier design choices. Collaborative learning is understood as socially situated, active engagement to reach shared understanding. See Rose et al: http://www.springerlink.com/content/j55358wu71846331/?p=ba60abe2f62d4bce9b13f3d264379d19&pi=1

Design of Interactive Systems

The goal of many researchers in the above fields is to design systems that are context aware and usable for specific users. This is a departure from some computer science work that is mainly concerned with system performance. To achieve this, various assumptions about users, communication, and types of interaction are necessary. See Blanford and Young:http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpls/abs_all.jsp?arnumber=553173

Participatory Design

This is a unique approach to design of technical systems that not only considers the user and the context, but also involves the user actively in the design process itself. The goal of participatory design researchers is to make both tools, technologies, and social institutions more responsive to human needs. See the PD Professional Association website: http://cpsr.org/issues/pd/

User Modeling

This focuses on using a profile (model) of a specific user in design and computational strategies. Thus, the focus is on developing a model that contains the information of a user's beliefs, goals, preferences, and attitudes. From this, it is possible to then better predict user needs. See user modeling journal: http://www.umuai.org/

Ubiquitous Computing

This topic has come up in almost every DSS type of class that I have taken. It seems as though this could potentially be (and is) a topic of interest for any of the above disciplines. This topic consider the way in which technologies can become embedded in all aspects of our lives with little separation from context. Ubiquitous computing can assume no separation between mind and matter and thus raises important new questions for how we understand the relationship between the technical and the social. One source that touches on this matter that I enjoyed reading was "Dourish (2004). Where the action is: The foundations of embodied interaction"