Feature: The Art of Blending Humanities and HCI

York's Medieval King's Manor on a warm sunny day in June 2003 provided the ideal location for the exploration of the relationships between the two seemingly disparate academic fields of arts and humanities, and HCI. The focus here being on how theories from the arts and humanities could be used to inform future directions in HCI. The attendance was double that at the last workshop at HCI 2002 with an eclectic mix of twenty participants making for a lively and productive workshop whose interests ranged from user experience, architecture, through to visual arts, narrative, and critical theory, and on to magic and performing arts.

The emphasis was definitely on workshop rather than talkshop. Indeed, participants forsook the usual presentation of position papers in order to get straight down to the nitty-gritty of what exactly HCI could learn from the arts and humanities in terms of understanding the things we make and use. Three groups of interest formed through an interactive post-it note session in some way similar to pinning the research interest on the donkey. These groups then spent a productive afternoon working through the implications of their chosen topic from both arts and HCI perspectives in order to form new insights and directions. There was a strong interest in the role of semiotics and critical theory and this formed one of the key themes of the workshop. Participants in this group grappled with how to apply understanding of semiotics to the design of interactive systems, and how this in turn changes the world in which we exist. The oft discussed concepts of flow, immersion and engagement also made their appearance, with one group focussing on the nature of engagement in interaction, and how we might characterise and design for it. Finally, the application of design patterns from an architectural perspective was considered in terms of understanding what makes a rich and affective experience, and how we might design and evaluate such systems.

The three groups' final presentations highlighted that there are key issues in HCI which we can draw on theories from the arts and humanities to help us understand such as the role of affect in HCI, and how interactive experiences fit into and change the world around us over and above viewing them as tools for work. The next steps in development of the research community involve publication of key aspects of the work explored, a workshop to further develop the area, and eventually an international conference to reach out to a wider audience. Participants' enthusiasm for the field highlighted the potential it holds for understanding interactive experiences over and above the current typically purely functional analyses. I personally look forward to more engaging, fun, and delightful interactions.

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