Human Work Interaction Design (HWID): Design for Challenging Work Environments

HWID is concerned with combining work analysis and interaction design to inform the design of interactive systems. On one hand, work analysis focuses on user goals and requirements, tasks and procedures, human factors, cognitive and physical processes, and contexts (organizational, social, cultural). There are several techniques such as Hierarchical Task Analysis [1] and Work Domain Analysis [3] to study goal-directed tasks and to map work environment constraints and opportunities for behavior. On the other hand, human-computer interaction (HCI) has adapted work analysis methods, but also developed its own approaches, such as Contextual Inquiries [5], Research through Design [8] or Constructive Design Research [6], which apply methods of design practice as modes of inquiry. The situated nature of interactions and practices, i.e., the context that interactions are interwoven with (e.g. [4, 7]) creates challenges for research, as some contexts are highly complex, or difficult to access (e.g. [2]). These challenges we seek to address in the proposed workshop.

We invite participants from industry, academia and design practice, who have experienced challenging work environments, to discuss how they dealt with them, either in research or design. We seek participants with an interest in empirical work analysis, HCI, interaction design, or user experience in workplaces. Topics that participants may want to contribute include: Empirical studies of/in challenging work environments (e.g., based on the HWID framework); Interaction design for and in challenging work environments; Benefits and hindrances for research and design; Theories for and reflections upon interaction design for challenging work settings. In order to participate in the workshop, 4–6 page position papers (University of Bamberg Press Format) should be submitted. During the workshop, challenges will be collected, consolidated and suggestions for how to address them will be established. In order to bring the topic to a broader audience, an interactions magazine paper is planned to create awareness for research and design (practice) in workplace interactions. Extended versions of selected papers will be invited for a special issue in a journal. The organizers of the workshop are part of the HWID working group and have extensive experience in work-related research (e.g., researching contextual interfaces for industrial environments). More information is available on the workshop website: http://projects.hci.sbg.ac.at/hwid2015.