Table of Contents

VOLUME XVI.6 November + December 2009

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  • WELCOME

    • Interactions

      Richard Anderson, Jon Kolko

      While our profession may have its roots in computing, it has quickly evolved into the world of behavior. We empower social change, strive to support authentic experiences, and borrow heavily from our disciplinary neighbors. Our work in the field of interactions has jumped from a technological point of view…

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  • Social interaction design

    • COVER STORYCatalyzing a perfect storm

      Woodrow Winchester

      As the global war on HIV/AIDS continues to grow, there have been focused efforts in HIV-transmission prevention work and preventative intervention design and implementation in the developing world. However, domestic needs are also ever present and rising. In published remarks made during the 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference held…

    • COVER STORY SUPPLEMENTProject Masiluleke

      Robert Fabricant

      As the global war on HIV/AIDS continues to grow, there have been focused efforts in HIV-transmission prevention work and preventative intervention design and implementation in the developing world. However, domestic needs are also ever present and rising. In published remarks made during the 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference held…

    • FEATUREThe invisible user

      Mark Matthews, Gavin Doherty

      The World Health Organization estimates that approximately one million people per year commit suicide. Mental disorders such as depression are responsible for more than 90 percent of these deaths. In fact, depression is the leading cause of disability in the developed world, and the human and economic cost of…

    • UNDER DEVELOPMENTEncountering development ethnographically

      Nithya Sambasivan, Nimmi Rangaswamy, Kentaro Toyama, Bonnie Nardi

      HCI for Development (HCI4D) lies at the intersection of information communication technologies for development (ICT4D) and human-computer interaction (HCI). The mainstream HCI community creates user experiences for the developed-world consumer, while ICT4D is concerned about creating relevant technologies for developing nations. The fusion—HCI4D—evolved and realigned goals to design user…

    • SUSTAINABLY OURSSmall change, big result

      Kristin Hanks, Larry Riss, Steve Schunk, Eli Blevis

      You might not consider $22 a lot of money, but when you are talking about $22 in energy savings per installed computer, per year, in a large organization, it can be meaningful in terms of both cost savings and carbon-footprint reduction. Recognizing that many people are now aware of…

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  • Thoughtful theory of humanity

    • FEATUREReflections on representation as response

      Kirsten Boehner

      I'm terrified of flying over the ocean. This is an unfortunate neurosis, considering my constant trans-Atlantic travel. My husband tries to assuage my fear of the dark ocean and its creatures engulfing me: He assures me I'd be dead on impact. Somehow this fails to comfort me. While writing…

    • FEATUREImplications of user choice

      danah boyd

      Many of us have had our lives transformed by technology. And many of us are also enamored of the transformative potential of technology, which has led us to develop technology and become advocates of technological practices. As we become more enveloped in and by technology, it's easy to feel…

    • FEATUREData, design, and soulful experience

      Uday Gajendar

      "We let the math and the data govern how things look and feel."—Marissa Mayer, VP of search and user experience at Google "Good design adds value of some kind, gives meaning, and, not incidentally, can be a sheer pleasure to behold; it respects the viewer's sensibilities and rewards the…

    • FEATUREPeople-centered innovation or culture evolution?

      Michele Visciola

      We very much like stories of products and services that show the advantages of people-centered innovation approaches over pure technological innovation. In our community it is widely recognized that those companies who take on a people-centered approach are more successful on the market. But what really differentiates people-centered innovation…

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  • Authenticity

    • ON MODELINGA model of mobile community

      Youngho Rhee, Juyeon Lee

      For the past decade, mobile phones have been used primarily to make phone calls. However, with an increase in the number of mobile phone users and improvements to mobile phone technology, new forms of interaction and new kinds of applications become possible. Now the role of mobile phones is…

    • ON MODELING SUPPLEMENTMobile devices should be about neither mobility nor devices. Discuss.

      Paul Pangaro

      For the past decade, mobile phones have been used primarily to make phone calls. However, with an increase in the number of mobile phone users and improvements to mobile phone technology, new forms of interaction and new kinds of applications become possible. Now the role of mobile phones is…

    • (P)REVIEWFrom interface to experience

      Marc Rettig, Alex Wright

      You remember how it all started, right? People who were designing interfaces said, "Our scope is bigger than the interface. This stuff is dynamic. It's conversational. We are Interaction Designers!" A few years went by, and the industry started to internalize this perspective. Older terms like "interface design" and…

    • TRUE TALESOn authenticity

      Steve Portigal, Stokes Jones

      While in Las Vegas for the first time a number of years ago, we had occasion to visit the Las Vegas Hilton where "Star Trek: The Experience" was operating. The immersive "themed attraction" spilled over into a cafe (Quark's Bar and Restaurant) and shopping area both modeled after the…

    • THE WAY I SEE ITWhen security gets in the way

      Donald Norman

      I recently attended two conferences on usability, security, and privacy. The first, SOUPS (Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security), was held on the Google campus in Mountain View, CA, the second at the National Academies building in Washington, DC. Google is a semi-restricted campus. People can freely wander about…

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  • Borrowing, heavily, from outside disciplines

    • FEATURELearning from architecture

      Brett Ingram

      If you are reading this article, you probably work or study in a field that can generally be referred to as interaction design. No matter the specific role, we are all working toward producing an end product even as we work on different aspects of it. This product typically…

    • FEATURESimplistic slowdown meets techno acceleration

      Valerie Jacobs

      Considering the tectonic shifts in the economic, social, and cultural landscape over the past two years, it appears that we in the branding and design communities could be at a crossroads in our practices. In a world where consumers are less consumed with consuming, we ask ourselves, how exactly…

    • FEATUREMore with less

      William Lidwell

      The doorbell rings. I glance out the window and see a Federal Express delivery truck. I open the door, exchange pleasantries with the driver, sign for my package using a nifty industrial-strength PDA, and then watch her scurry down the stairs and back into the truck. As she races…

    • TIMELINESAs we may recall

      Michael Buckland

      Why recall forgotten pioneers? Human-computer interaction is only one specific kind of mediating interface. If we want a broader understanding of interactions, we should be willing to think about other and earlier kinds of interfaces. Bibliographies are a kind of mediating interface between a reader and literature; there are…

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  • Interactions Cafe

    • The authenticity problem

      Jon Kolko

      Judging the "trueness" of designed artifacts—objects, websites, or printed publications—is easy. The authenticity of these artifacts depends entirely on their material, craft, and ability to produce an illusion: A company has made a claim, and the object becomes the substantiation of that claim. It's easy to see through an…

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