Interfaces #54 Available Online with an Emphasis on the Value of Language

This is Tom McEwan's final issue of Interfaces as editor. Laura Cowen has now taken over the helm and members will just have received her first offering.

Meanwhile, the previous issue has been made public. The power of words is a running theme throughout this issue although pictures abound of historic Bath, which hosts a formidable HCI2003 in September.

Simon Buckingham Shum summarises the ClaiMaker project which threatens to allow us to compre- hend what people mean when they write and cite. Meanwhile the mysterious and spiky Cassandra provides evidence of the unusability of some academic literature in this regard.

In what he threatens to be the last of his "Veteran's Columns" (cue write-in campaign) Alistair Kilgour also thinks about what some of the HCI vocabulary actually signifies, and muses on the effectiveness of words as we try to communicate across disciplines and with normal people.

Never neglectful of the acerbic capabilities of prose, bodyline bowler Gilbert Cockton bounces the first of his Deflections columns.

Bryan-Kinns & Hamilton report on a wild few days in Aarhus – telepresent lamps, bicycle wheelies and multi-sensory seedpods are but a few of the non-text interfaces from Nordichi.

Sandra Cairncross previews the (subsequently successful) HCI Educators' Workshop in Edinburgh in March.

Tom Croucher presents a student's eye view of information architecture and Stavros Kammas contributes a "My PhD" column.

Barbara Crossouard has a detailed review of the HCT Workshop at Sussex where a number of other doctoral students presented and discussed their work.

Xristine Faulkner presents her penultimate crop of book reviews, seven in all.

Laura Cowen increases our vocabularies with her bluffer's guide to Linux.

Tom McEwan BHCIG Communications Chair

Associated Link: Link to issue 54 of Interfaces

All change at the top for System Concepts
Source: System Concepts Ltd, 3 July 2009
 
Leslie Fountain has been promoted to joint Managing Director of leading usability consultancy System Concepts.

Life in UCD immortalised in fiction: you couldn't make it up
Source: UN, 2 July 2009
 
Sarah Herman's fictitious book on life in a user-centred design company has hit the shelves and The Guardian's book pages...

Interfaces Magazine - Issue 79: The Education Issue
Source: Interaction Group, 1 July 2009
 
The latest issue of Interfaces is now available as a free download from the Interaction Website.

Two new Behavioural research Tools from Noldus
Source: UN, 30 June 2009
 
Tool updates make on-site behavioural data collection easier.

Cell Phones that Listen and Learn
Source: MIT Technology Review, 29 June 2009
 
New software tracks a user's behavior by monitoring everyday sounds.

Top Six Don’ts for Usability Testing
Source: FutureNow Inc., 27 June 2009
 
Six tips for creating quality usability tests to ensure useful feedback from testers.

Usability: ‘Lovely software. But I can’t work it’
Source: FT.com, 26 June 2009
 
In a recent survey by Global Graphics, 77 per cent of office workers estimate they lose up to one hour a week because business software is difficult to use.

And what do you do?
Source: Dexo Design, 25 June 2009
 
How do you describe your job role? Here are the results of a recent 'Preferred UX/UI Title' Poll.

Most Doctors cite Usability as critical to Electronic Health Record Adoption
Source: TMCNet, 24 June 2009
 
It's all about 'meaningful use'.

Glossy monitors look good but can hurt
Source: QUT, 23 June 2009
 
A new advisory cites research which suggests high gloss monitors make users sit awkwardly.