3. Contextualization
• Computing technologies are increasingly affecting
and transforming
– Almost every aspect of our daily lives
• Unfortunately, those changes are not always positive
• knowledge and communications are
• 2 major pillar of society
– the ways we perceive and handle information, go
about
• Our work and life, create and
• Maintain our social relations, or
• Use our cultural context.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 2
4. To make things worse,
• The access to the information
– Is through technology we developed
• Without considering
– The local sociocultural context
• The cross disciplinary issues
• Cultural differences
– Values
– Behaviors
– Habits
• The human abilities and needs
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 3
5. To whom
• Teams with a multidisciplinary background
– Computer science, engineering, graphic design,
industrial design;
– Sociology, psychology, and cognitive science
• Because it takes into account
– Personal, social, and cultural aspects;
• And, addresses issues related computing
technology
– Human information, human-computer, and human-human
interaction;
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 4
6. The course
• The focus…
– Understanding the ways humans, adopt, adapt,
and organize their lives around computational
technologies.
• Both as individuals and in social groups,
• The goal…
– Study a set of methodologies to
• Focus on understanding how computer technologies
affected and are affecting society and vice versa.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 5
7. The Schedule
05.09 – Introduction to Human-Centered
Computing (3h)
03, 17 and 30.10 – Sociotechnical systems (9h)
31.10, 13 and 14.11 – Technology acceptance
(9h)
27, 28.11 and 11.12 – Innovation diffusion (9h)
12.12 – Presentations (3h)
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 6
8. Class format
• Almost every class will have the following format:
– Lecture; followed by
• in-class activities;
– Discussion about inspiration and reading; followed by
• In-class mapping ideas; or
– In-class case-study; with
• Report and presentation.
• Course blog and eliademy
– ifi7172.wordpress.com
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 7
9. The assessment
… – Participation in class activities (10%)
4 – Individual reading assignments (20%)
… – Discussion activities (20%)
3 – Case study assignments (30%)
1 – Report and presentation (20%)
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 8
10. Readings assignments
• There will always be 1-2 required readings tasks
– Those are individual tasks
– And of course those will be followed by discussion
sessions about
• What you read;
• The Blog post request will be basically reactions
to the readings
– Half of page max, about
• What did you learn,
• how does it related to your life or your case-study?
• There may be 1+ optional readings if you fell need
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 9
11. Required Materials: Blog
• Post should be added to your own class blog
• My expectations of you
– Arrive to class on time
• Let me know if you will be late or absent
– Turn in assignments on time
• Let me know 24 hours before the deadline if you won’t
make it and need a new deadline
• Be willing to spend 6 hours every other week
to this class (outside of lecture)
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 10
12. Case studies
• There will be 3 case studies
– One about Sociotechnical systems
• Due date is 31.10
– Another about Technology acceptance
• Due date is 27.11
– And a final one about Innovation diffusion
• Due date is 12.12
• Case study assessment
– It is to be made in groups up to 3
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 11
13. Case study one
• The aims is to use the
– Sociotechnical systems theory
• As a framework for
– Analyzing how a work organization functions are
• Reflected in a particular system design process;
– Reflect on a possible impact such system
• has to a particular society; and
– Preview future tendencies.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 12
14. Case study two
• The aims is to use the
– Technology acceptance model
• To study the effects of certain system
characteristics
– On user acceptance of computer-based information
system
– Main purpose is to
• Understand the user acceptance process;
• Perform a user acceptance evaluation tests to
– Measuring user’s motivations to use this particular system; and
• Report the likelihood of this system to be successful.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 13
15. Case study three
• The aims is to use the
– Innovation diffusion theory
• To explain
– how, why, and at what new ideas and technology
• Are spread through cultures.
– Main purpose is to understand
• Decision-making process;
• How certain technology was adopted; and
• It impact in present society.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 14
17. Human Centered Computing
• Research encompasses many areas of
knowledge
– But… All have in common
• The HUMAN and it relation with computing.
• Focus mostly on the HUMAN as…
– Individual, Organizations, a group, or a society.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 16
18. Other Relevant Terms
• Information Architecture (IA)
– How should content be organized?
• User Experience
– Design and evaluate user interactions with technology
• Usability
– Evaluations of Technology
• Ergonomics
– Design of equipment and work environments to fit the human
body using
• physiology, psychology, industrial engineering principles
• Human Factors
– The knowledge concerning the characteristics of human beings
that are applicable to the design of systems and devices of all
kinds
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 17
19. HCC research focus…
• Encourages the research
– How Humans,
• in various roles and domains
– Perceive computing artifacts and how they use them
– To solve current social problems
– To develop technology that works smoothly with
human behavior
• Habit, preferences and abilities.
– To learn how to design and implement computing
systems that
• Supports people’s activities.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 18
20. HCC definitions
• On 1997, some researchers define HCC [1] as
– “a philosophical-humanistic position regarding the
ethics and aesthetics of the workplace”;
– “any system that enhances human performance”;
– “any system that plays any kind of role in mediating
human interactions”;
– “a software design process that results in interfaces
that are really user-friendly”;
– “a description of what makes for a good tool –the
computer does all the adapting”;
– “an emerging inter-discipline requiring
institutionalization and special training programs”.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 19
21. HCC definitions
• According to Foley et al. [2],
– HCC is “the science of designing computations and
computational artifacts in support of human
endeavors”;
• For Canny et al. [3],
– HCC is “a vision for computing research that integrates
technical studies with the broad implications of
computing in a task-directed way.
– HCC spans computer science and several engineering
disciplines, cognitive science, economics and social
sciences.”
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 20
22. HCC definitions
• According to Hoffman [4]
– HCC can be defined as
• The development, evaluation, and dissemination of
technology that is intended to amplify and extend the
human capabilities
– This is to:
• Perceive, understand, reason, decide, and collaborate;
• Conduct cognitive work;
• Achieve, maintain, and exercise expertise.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 21
23. So, what is really HCC
• Focuses on all aspects of human-machine
integration:
– humans with software,
– humans with hardware,
– humans with workspaces,
– humans with humans.
• As well as aspects of machine machine
interaction (e.g., software agents)
– if they impact the total performance of a system
intended for human use
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 22
24. What differentiates
• Human Computer Interaction and HCC
– Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is the
discipline
• Concerned with the design, evaluation, and
implementation of interactive computing systems.
• Human-centered design usually
– focuses on problems that traditional (HCI) does
not generally address.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 23
25. What differentiates
• But…They are very Connected
– Both focus on enhancing the experience of using the
technology in
• Workplace , at our homes and in everyday lives; and
• In studying how this has changed our culture.
– They started to touch each other when
• The Second Wave of HCI meets Third Wave Challenges [5]
• Major difference is that one focus on
– The Human-centered Vs User-centered perspective
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 24
26. What differentiates
• HCC is not just about the
– Interaction, the interface, or the design process.
– It is more about knowledge, people, technology
• And, everything that ties them together.
• The emphasis is not only
– in the computer but, simultaneously, in
– Understanding
• How the experience of use affects humans behaviours
• How this technologies are affecting social values
• In what way they are changing the society as we know
– Digital natives, digital immigrants [6]
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 25
27. HCC (assumptions)
1. People design new technologies for
– Other people to use
• When designing they anticipate
– Others will enjoy and use it;
– Their benefits; and
– Learn about their outcomes of use.
2. IT and Humans (as society) co-evolve
– Transforming each other in the process.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 26
28. HCC (assumptions)
• As so, in near future
– People can translate that knowledge into
• A next generation of systems.
3. Humans and the information processing devices
are seen as a couple
– Co-adapting within the same context.
• Therefore,
– system design must then regard the Human
• As one aspect of of a larger and dynamic context,
– Including the team, organization, work environment.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 27
29. Consequences
• IT design must be sensitive to
– Human values and preferences; and
– Take advantage of the full benefits of computing, and
– Bridge the gap between Humans and technologies;
– Integrate concepts from other areas besides computer
science
• Areas that might help when exploring the relations among
– Humans and their social surrounding; and their computing
technology
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 28
30. Initiatives covered
• Include issues that focus on understanding
– Humans as individuals, and as societies;
– Computational models of behavior;
– Social and cultural issues
• diversity, culture, group dynamics, and technological
change.
– Economic impacts of IT
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 29
31. Initiatives covered
• Aiming to transforming and merging
– The Human Computer Interaction experience and
make it
• As much natural as it can be.
• Transforming it in a tool
– That empowers users to work, in school, home,
play; and at the same time
• Facilitates natural and productive collaboration.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 30
32. Topics of research
• HCC subsumes topics like
Digital Society and Technologies;
Human-Computer Interaction;
Universal Access.
– Systems for problem-solving and Collaboration;
– Multimedia and multi-modal interfaces;
– User modeling, and information visualization;
– Models for effective computer-mediated
• Human-human relations; and
• Methods to support social interaction
– Frameworks to address special needs of particular
communities; and
– Social dynamics modeling and socially aware
systems.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 31
33. As said before
• Human-Centered Computing, more than being
a field of study, is a set of methodologies that
can be applied to any field that uses
computers
– In this course we are going to focus in the
following theories
• Sociotechnical systems
• Technology acceptance
• Innovation diffusion
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 32
34. In-class Activity
• Form groups of 2 or 3 people
– Groups brainstorm for 10 minutes, each gets 90
seconds to present
• Describe your "dream team" for each of the
– Following projects, and what skills you expect them
to have/learn.
1. Improve accuracy of electronic voting systems for older
adults
2. Enable individuals in rural Africa with electronic banking
3. Build a collaborative platform to comfort and foster
children with Autism to communicate with the outside
world
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 33
35. In-class Activity
• Second request
– Form a group to work with you throughout the
course
– Choose a product to study
• Conditions
– The aim is to Study the system and understand how social
organizations are affected by it.
• You should choose a system that has an
important role in society nowadays
– Like government agencies or corporations.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 34
36. Conditions
• You will be asked to
– Focus on understanding people, by studying the
ways they adopt and adapt computational
technologies in their lives,
• Both as individuals and in social groups.
– This is done by using 3 distinctive methodologies
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 35
37. Conditions
• Needs to be
– Large Sociotechnical system
• Social web
– e.g. Facebook, Instagram
• Peer production platform
– e.g. Wikipedia, Wordpress
• eGovernance solution
– e.g. Estonian eHealth, eVoting system
• Electronic banking
– e.g. SEB, Swedbank
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 36
38. First assignment
• Why? because there is so much good stuff out
there!
– Read and write a summary about the HCC (80-120
words)
– Describe why the social Human-Centered
Computing perspective is relevant to HCI (50-80
words)
• Due on: 19.09.14
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 37
39. References
[1] Jaimes, A., Sebe, N., & Gatica-Perez, D. (2006, October). Human-centered
computing: a multimedia perspective. In Proceedings of the 14th annual ACM
international conference on Multimedia (pp. 855-864). ACM.
[2] Clarkson, E., Day, J. A., & Foley, J. D. (2006, April). An educational digital
library for human-centered computing. In CHI'06 Extended Abstracts on
Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 646-651). ACM.
[3] J. Canny, “Human-center Computing,” Report of the UC Berkeley HCC
Retreat, 2001.
[4] Hoffman, R. R., Roesler, A., & Moon, B. M. (2004). What is design in the
context of human-centered computing?. Intelligent Systems, IEEE, 19(4), 89-
95.
[5] S. Bødker, “When Second Wave HCI meets Third Wave Challenges”,
Nordichi 2006.
[6] M. Prensky, “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”, On the Horizon (NCB
University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5, 2001.
@ Sónia Sousa, 2014 38
