HCI2002/EUPA: CSCW offers up Usability Benefits

The second CSCW (Computer-Supported Collaborative Work) session at the HCI conference was an eclectic collection of three full papers. These broadly covered the application of, development of, and evaluation of CSCW systems.

Elisabeth Longmate described a framework for the tenets of community and partner relationships, before proceeding to discuss how these are supported by differing technologies. Having conducted a diary study with a group of university students, the researchers then attempted to test received wisdom regarding the appropriateness of different technologies for different social contexts.

In some ways, the research failed to place the question in an accurate context – in otehr words, the concomitant usage of mobile voice communication, the limiting nature of university email facilities, and the onset of a paradigm of unified messaging – where email, SMS, IM and voice messaging represent false distinctions.

However, the work exposed a practical framework for community with solid foundations arising from factor analysis techniques, in addition to extending the much welcome usage of formal 'claims analysis' as an approach to validating HCI theory through the scientific method.

Complimenting Elisabeth's evaluation of CSCW systems, Lynne Dunckley took the stage to show how we might use CSCW systems during evaluations themselves. In this case, the W of CSCW is usability evaluation. The Open University have investigated various CSCW tools (including NetMeeting and their proprietary tool, Lyceum) in order to identify which components are useful for remote evaluations of 3rd party interfaces. The paper touched on the nuances of guided remote evaluations per se, which was a topic picked up in another session at the conference. However, the OU's focus was very much on the usefulness of their Lyceum system in supporting remote evaluations. One key output was a set of principles that can be picked up by developers of CSCW systems in order to create highly useful services for practitioners in this industry.

In keeping with a recurrent conference theme, that of expanding all things usability, Phil Turner from Napier University introduced a new conception of affordances beyond the traditional Gibsonian direct-perception understanding. The three proposed levels of affordances are argued to support low-level usability, user tasks and cultural values. The researchers have developed a framework for evaluating interfaces that is based on these three levels.

The approach is a very appealing way to dissect the task of usability evaluation beyond the search-and-destroy approach of identifying sharp-end interface gremlins and into the realm of true HCI. It will be very interesting to see if the Napier team can develop the framework into a fully actionable pick-up-and-use process. Emphasising the carry-forward potential of this framework, is vital in creating valuable HCI knowledge.

Gerred Blyth, amberlight partners
gerred@amber-light.co.uk

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