Interacting with Computers' Special Issues go Broad

The "Interacting with Computers" Journal has run a series of special issues in the last months on subjects as diverse as HCI in Latin America, physiological computing, emotions and computers, and, the most recent, on designing for civil society.

"Human Computer Interaction in Latin America" edited by C.de Souza and S. Barbosa gives an overview of a wide variety of projects united by location. Articles range from exploring groupware to evaluating educational software, but all have a social element.

The most practical of the papers are probably to be found in the next special issue, describing people's emotional responses to computers. Some of these describe ecommerce situations as well as the more traditional human - computer dynamic. See, for instance: "Pressing the right buttons: taking the viewer there" by C. Dillon, J. Freeman and E. Keogh. There are a number of short articles in this collection, brought together as a response to an earlier issue on the topic.

Physiological computing is more blue-sky. There is Robert Ward's fascinating work on "An analysis of facial movement tracking in ordinary human-computer interaction" among other articles.

This January's issue is "Design for Civil Society", edited by Steve Walker and Andy Dearden. This is also a diverse collection, dealing with community and development issues through design.

The articles can be accessed online via ScienceDirect as well as found in the journal.

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.