An Engineering Science within HCI? William Newman UCLIC 15 June 2007

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

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?

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

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

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)

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?

What it means* to do Engineering Science A.Select a domain of design B.Collect lots of data C.Try lots of analytical approaches D.Identify patterns, build and test models E.Identify criteria for measuring behaviours F.Transform models into design tools And iterate! * according to W.G. Vincenti (1990) and others

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

An Engineering Science of Human-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 – –writing

Enhancing Communication in Face-to-Face Meetings Today’s technology designs show little consideration for the needs of conversants pause duration, seconds percentage of pauses

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

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