Keynote: Monk

Friday 6th September HCI Keynote & Closing
11:30 - 1:00

The traditional conception of usability considers one user with one computer in a work context. Requirements elicitation and evaluation are based around tasks and task fit. This is no longer enough. As computers move out of the office, into the street and the home, the design issues that arise become much broader. At work we are paid to use the technology, in the home we pay for it. Products need to be attractive and fun. I can think of several formal schemes for reasoning about task fit but how do we advise a designer how to make her product fun? Likewise, communication has rather different functions in recreation. How should we design effective systems for socialising? Finally, information and communication technology has the power to provide independence for older people and the disabled; to enable them to stay longer in their own homes, for example. This technology has to be dependable. It has to protect against violations of privacy and guarantee security and safety. In this talk I will illustrate these new issues by considering some of the basic research being carried out at York that extends the concept of usability to include fun, communication and dependability.

Andrew Monk is Professor of Psychology at the University of York and a Fellow of the British Computer Society. He has published widely on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and electronic communication. His most recent research is concerned with the design of information and communication technology for use in the home. He has organised four one-day meetings "Computers and Fun" that attracted international audiences and was editor, with Robert Kraut, of a special issue of the International Journal of Human- Computer Studies "Home and recreational use of information and communications technology".