UCD Project News Edition 18, March 23, 2004
UCD Project News is a fortnightly e-newsletter devoted to increasing
awareness of user-centred design (UCD) principles and contributing
towards a culture of UCD within the Smart Internet Technology CRC.
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In this issue:
1. Supriya: Welcome Message
2. Meet the Newest Face of the Group
3. Cross-Cultural UCD – Visit to India
4. Knowledge Networks for Development
5. Upcoming Conferences & Calls for Papers
6. Useful Links & References
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1. Supriya: Welcome message
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I am delighted to welcome you to our first newsletter in 2004. It
has been a busy start to the year with increased collaboration and
development of new streams. It is an exciting time with all of us
working slightly outside our zones of comfort. Our biggest challenge
in this phase is to ensure effective communication between the User
Centred Design team, the technologists and industry. If there is
a lesson to be learnt from cross cultural UCD, it is that good design
not only means putting the users at the centre, it also means ensuring
smart technology and a viable business model.
I would like to welcome Charlotte Scarf back to the team in a new
role. Charlotte has begun her PhD in the knowledge management area,
but she will continue to work with us on producing the newsletter
and maintaining our website. Jenine Beekhuyzen has formally joined
our team this year from Griffith, though she has been a valuable
member since we began. Craig Chatfield is doing his PhD at Griffith
and working with us on the 'Nymity' project.
Supriya
Assoc Prof Supriya Singh,
Project Leader
supriya.singh@rmit.edu.au
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2. Meet the New Face of the UCD Group
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The UCD Group would like to extend a warm welcome to its newest
member:
Craig Chatfield, PhD Student, Griffith University
C.Chatfield@Griffith.edu.au
http://www.ucd.smartinternet.com.au/chatfield.html
Craig is undertaking his PhD at Griffith University under the supervision
of René Hexel and Liisa von Hellens. His research examines
intelligent environments, and their influence upon user privacy
and security. He is focused on developing an architecture that addresses
these challenges, ensuring the benefits of intelligent environments
are delivered without the current dangers to user privacy or security.
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3. Cross Cultural UCD – Visit to India
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Supriya had an inspiring visit to Bangalore and Hyderabad in India
in January. The aim was to build linkages with international researchers
designing technology for users in different social and cultural
contexts. She met with people who are designing not only for the
billion people in India, but also for the five billion throughout
the world who do not use computers and the Internet.
The overarching theme of the visit was speaking with technologists
innovating “at the bottom of the pyramid". Work is happening
in terms of voice technologies to overcome the illiteracy barrier;
translation to bring the computer to the speakers of multiple Indian
languages; wireless technologies and the affordable computer. The
challenge is to produce effective technology that is sustainable
in business terms, but will also service the poorest segments of
the population.
The second theme that emerged was the importance of e-governance.
Unlike Australia and other Western countries, the aim of e-governance
is to provide transparent and convenient government rather than
aim for cost savings in electronic service delivery. One-stop shops
in India mean consolidated centres in cities and regional towns
where citizens can pay their utility bills, road and property taxes,
obtain birth certificates, and check land titles. The challenge
here is to have government leaders champion the initiative; make
government data available digitally; ensure that services are economically
sustainable; and to provide continuous and efficient service.
Supriya presented on “Designing New Technologies with People
at the Centre” to the Institution of Engineers India (IEI),
the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE),
and the Centre for Telecom Management and Studies (CTMS) in Hyderabad.
To view the presentation, please visit: http://www.ucd.smartinternet.com.au/presentations.html
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4. Knowledge Networks for Development
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International development organisations such as the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank are actively promoting
the development of “virtual” knowledge networks as a
cornerstone of their new approach to knowledge sharing for development.
At the same time some critics are concerned that the approach excludes
the majority of people in developing countries and adversely affects
the diversity of knowledge needed for sustainable development.
A new paper by Charlotte Scarf and Kelly Hutchinson contributes
to the debate by analyzing the current framework and critically
examining the potential for qualitatively superior strategies to
emerge through the use of participatory design. It offers a conceptual
framework for the participatory design of knowledge networks that
place a premium on accessible information and communications systems
and local knowledge to facilitate knowledge sharing between organisations
from developed and developing countries.
To view the paper, please visit: http://www.ucd.smartinternet.com.au/papers.html
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5. Upcoming Conferences & Calls for Papers
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* 2004 Smart Internet Student Conference
The Annual Smart Internet Student Workshop will be held at the Australian
Technology Park on 29th and 30th April this year. The format will
be different from previous years and will include a section that
will enable students to prepare papers and deliver them to their
peers. It will also feature a presentation by Dr Paul Gruber who
is well known for writing the book "How to Write a Better Thesis"
and for his inspirational presentation style. The Workshop outline
will be circulated shortly.
For further information, please phone Terri McLachlan on 02 8374
5081 or
email: terri.mclachlan@smartinternet.com.au
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* 2004 CIRN Inaugural Conference and Colloquium
The 2004 Community Informatics Research Network Inaugural Conference
and Colloquium, 'Sustainability and Community Technology: What Does
this Mean for Community Informatics? ' is being held at the Monash
Centre, Prato, Italy, from 29 September - 1 October, 2004.
The call for papers (full length for blind peer review and discussion
or position papers) from researchers and practitioners is now open.
Research students are also encouraged to attend and present work
in progress in the doctoral colloquium. Submissions for both are
due April 1, 2004.
For further information, please see http://www.ciresearch.net/prato2004
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* International Conference on Informatics
The Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, University
of Malaya will hold the 1st International Conference on Informatics
in South East Asia. The conference will be held at the Putra World
Trade Center, Kuala Lumpur on 28 - 30 July 2004.
Proposals are invited in all areas related to Informatics, including
(but not limited to) software design and development, information
systems for public domain, communications systems and networking,
internet and multimedia systems, artificial intelligence and its
applications. The deadline for submissions is 28 March 2004.
For further information, please see http://conference.fsktm.um.edu.my
or email: informatics2004@um.edu.my
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6. Useful Links and References
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Button, G. (2003) Studies of Work in Human Computer Interaction.
In J.M. Carroll (Ed.), “HCI Models, Theories, and Frameworks:
Towards a Multidisciplinary Science,” Sydney: Morgan Kauffman
Publishers. pp 357-380.
Button argues for a greater blending of social science research
and design. This is important for there is a growing division of
labour between social scientists and designers – particularly
in the area of work in organisations. Insights about work are often
transferred from social scientists to designers. For greater collaboration,
he suggests that user studies done for design be structured so that
they can articulate user problems and inform design.
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* Ackerman, M. S. (2002) The Intellectual Challenge of CSCW: The
gap between social requirements and technical feasibility. In J.M.
Carroll (Ed.), “Human Computer Interaction in the New Millennium,”
New York: ACM Press. pp 303-324
The most important challenge for Human-Computer Interaction is to
bridge the socio-technical gap. Social life is richly nuanced. Technology
has yet to capture this flexibility. "...There are no current
HCI mechanisms to straightforwardly mechanize the naturally occurring,
everyday social activity of handling personal information in its
entirety. " (p. 309)
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* Schiaffino, S. and Amandi, A. (2004), User-interface agent interaction:
personalization issues, International Journal of Human-Computer
Studies, 60(1), January 2004, pp 129-148
Interface agents are computer programs that provide personalized
assistance to users with their computer-based tasks. Most interface
agents achieve personalization by learning a user's preferences
in a given application domain and assisting him according to them.
In this work we adopt a different approach to personalization: how
to personalize the interaction between interface agents and users
in a mixed-initiative interaction context. We have empirically studied
a set of interaction issues that agents have to take into account
to achieve this goal and we present our results in this article.
Some of these personalization issues are: discovering the type of
assistant a user wants, learning when (and if) to interrupt the
user, discovering how the user wants to be assisted in different
contexts. As a result of our experiments, we have defined the components
of a user interaction profile that models a user's interaction and
assistance preferences. This profile will enable interface agents
to enhance and personalize their interaction with users by discovering
how to provide each user with assistance of the right sort at the
right time.
http://interruptions.net/literature/Schiaffino-IJHCS04.pdf
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contact Charlotte Scarf at: charlotte.scarf@rmit.edu.au.
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