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Enhancing Human Communication through Engineering Science in HCI

This overview discusses the role of engineering science in enhancing human-computer interaction (HCI) and human-human communication. It reviews past attempts within HCI and the implications of using engineering science to increase efficiency in human activities. The presentation highlights Project Ernestine, which explores how modeling and prediction can improve telephone operators' call handling times. It raises questions about the enhancement imperative and discusses opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration in HCI research, ultimately suggesting how evolving technology can better support human communication needs.

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Enhancing Human Communication through Engineering Science in HCI

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  1. An Engineering Sciencewithin HCI? William Newman UCLIC 15 June 2007

  2. Overview • Technology’s human-enhancement role • Engineering science • Past attempts within HCI • What it means to do engineering science • Human-human communication as a domain • Opportunities within this domain • How this could affect HCI research

  3. Technology’s role in society • Enhancing us as human beings • Increasing... • our bodily efficiency • our sensory efficiency • our intellect (Rogers 1983) • Can we disregard the enhancement imperative?

  4. The Science of Enhancement Design’s dependency chain: • Measurement • Prediction • Models • Theories • Data Provided by engineering science.

  5. Engineering Science in HCI: Past successes • GOMS, Cognitive Walkthrough • Providing models of interaction • Supporting analyses and predictions ofhow technologies support human activities

  6. Application of Engineering Science:Project Ernestine* • Enhancement of telephone operators’ efficiency in handling calls for assistance • What to measure? Call handling time • How to predict? CPM-GOMS models • The prediction: new design 0.65s slower • Field-trial finding: 0.63s slower • How to enhance? Personal response system • New prediction: 0.9s faster *Gray, John and Atwood (1993)

  7. The Challenge for HCI • Design’s diminishing emphasis on supporting repetitive work • Can we develop an engineering science for today’s design? • What kinds of research would this involve? • What does it mean to do engineering science? • Would it divide the research community?

  8. What it means* to doEngineering Science • Select a domain of design • Collect lots of data • Try lots of analytical approaches • Identify patterns, build and test models • Identify criteria for measuring behaviours • Transform models into design tools And iterate! * according to W.G. Vincenti (1990) and others

  9. From within Rogers’s areas of human enhancement, with some additions: • enjoyment • human-human communication Selecting the Design Domain • From within Rogers’s areas of human enhancement: • bodily efficiency • sensory efficiency • intellect

  10. An Engineering Science ofHuman-Human Communication • Why? • a context for much of human-computer interaction – even in Project Ernestine! • offers a purchase for modelling (Sacks et al. 1974, Goodwin 1980, Clark 1996, ...) • room for improvements to technology • Where are some opportunities? • meetings, including face-to-face • e-mail • writing

  11. 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 percentage of pauses 1.0 0.5 0.0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 pause duration, seconds Enhancing Communication inFace-to-Face Meetings • Today’s technology designs show little consideration for the needs of conversants

  12. level of science models metrics guidelines findings implications effort Finally:How this could affect HCI research? • First, must there be a methodological divide? • Or can existing methods contribute?

  13. In summary:How this could affect HCI research? • Lengthy start-up research involved but... • Need not create a methodological divide • Intellectually challenging • Different from research that developers do • Provides what designers often need • Remains relevant while technology advances • Offers a place for truly inter-disciplinary collaborations

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