ACM Interactions

Authors:

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June 22-26, 2003
University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, PA, USA

In the last 15 years, the field of User Modeling has produced significant new theories and methods to analyze and model computer users in short and long-term interactions.

New trends in HCI create new and interesting challenges for User Modeling. While consolidating results in traditional domains of interest, the User Modeling field now also addresses problems of personalized interaction in mobile, ubiquitous and context-aware computing and in user interactions with embodied, autonomous agents. It also considers adaptation to user attitudes and affective states.

Previous successes in User Modeling research reflect the cooperation of researchers in different fields, including artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction, education, cognitive psychology, and linguistics.

 Topics of Interest

The areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

• theoretical issues of user modeling
• construction of user models
• exploitation of user models to achieve
• applications of UM techniques
• practical issues of UM

 Submissions

• Papers and Posters: Submissions are invited that describe original academic or industrial research on some aspect of user modeling. The page limit is 10 pages for paper submissions and three pages for posters.
• Workshops and Tutorials: The purpose of the workshops is to provide an informal forum for practitioners and researchers to discuss novel applications and techniques of user modeling. The purpose of a tutorial is either to offer an introduction to a fairly broad topic for newcomers to user modeling or to enable experienced participants to deepen their knowledge of a more specific topic.
• Doctoral Consortium: The Doctoral Consortium is a great forum to receive useful feedback from a knowledgeable audience, to exchange ideas, compare approaches and meet fellow researchers in the field. Submissions should describe Ph.D. research that is at a stage where feedback from the broader UM community might be of value.

 Important Dates:

November 11, 2002: Preliminary workshop proposals
November 18, 2002: Papers
November 25, 2002: Posters
November 25, 2002: Final workshop proposals
November 25, 2002: Tutorial proposals
January 25, 2003: Doctoral Consortium submissions

2nd ACM UIST Interface-Design Contest

15th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology
October 27-30, 2002
Paris, France

UIST 2002 will feature the second UIST Interface-Design Contest. Teams will have an opportunity to design and implement an interface to solve a challenging real-world problem prior to the symposium. The problem has been crafted to accommodate a wide range of possible interfaces. During the competition teams will use their interfaces to solve a variety of problem instances, competing against other teams in a tournament. Prizes worth an estimated $1,000 will be awarded to the winners. The goal of the contest is to encourage participants to explore interface software and technology in an applied setting, and to provide an opportunity for participants to showcase their work to the UIST community in an exciting and entertaining format.

The contest will consist of several rounds, with a different problem instance for each round. Performance will be aggregated over all rounds to determine the contest winners. Each round will last 30 minutes, during which all teams will work simultaneously. Problem instances will be announced verbally, so each contestant is responsible for entering the quadruple of numbers accurately into their computer.

Prizes will be awarded in three categories: the best single-user interface, the best multiuser interface, and the best interface designed by an all-student team.

For more information visit www.acm.org/ uist/ or contact Kathy Ryall ([email protected]).

Certified Usability Specialist Program

The certificate includes the following components:

1. The Usability Engineering and the User-Centered Design Process course. This four-day course provides a comprehensive background in sound interface design practices and usability engineering techniques.

2. Four days of one-on-one or small group mentoring with Dr. Susan Weinschenk. The content of the four days is customized to suit each participant. Small groups of up to four can attend if all participants are from the same company.

3. Participants receive a full library of usability engineering books.

The certificate program can be started at any time. Scheduling is flexible.

To register, or for more information, call 1.800.236.2599

©2002 ACM  1072-5220/02/0900  $5.00

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