Liam Bannon

Through our research and collaborations with usability practitioners and HCI researchers funded by European Union projects in India and China, together with other interactions, we have previously proposed a model for the global institutionalisation and localisation of HCI and usability practice. The model envisages three elements: the redefinition of HCI in the local culture, the embedding of HCI in local national organizations and the consequential roll-out of localized HCI practices. In this paper we represent the model and discuss detailed issues that will support its implementation. In particular we provide a critical review of the literature on culture, specifically with reference to its use within HCI. The issue is not to attempt to enforce some canonical form, but rather to highlight some of the ongoing controversies about some of the concepts and methods currently being employed in the field. Following this we explore issues relating to both whole life cycle issues of user centred design and the more specific issue of user based evaluation. In relation to user centred design we debate how best to involve clients and users in a development process that works according to the off-shoring model. In relation to the localisation of usability evaluation we explore research relating to different approaches in a number of cultures and context and present a model providing summary guidance for method selection in differing countries / cultures..

This paper provides an overview of a project-based graduate course on the Design of Interactive Media for Public Spaces, which is part of a Masters programme of study in Interactive Media. Project teams make use of a variety of design methods over the 14-week course: students work through a complete design life-cycle using a combination of methods from observational studies through to concept design, prototyping, testing and evaluation. This paper outlines the structure of the course and illustrates two examples of projects completed by student teams. The paper shows how it is possible in a short time-frame to have students undertake a real-world-based design project, bringing it to the stage of preliminary prototype design. It emphasizes the importance of using a combination of methods, and of supporting students' reflections on their design practice and experiences during the project.

From earliest times, humans have developed strategies for increasing their ability to remember and commemorate significant events in the history of their communities. Epics have been created, memorized, and passed on through generations even before the development of written records. Monuments have also been built to commemorate important events. Stratagems for helping people to retain information, mnemonics, have allowed us to develop what has been termed memoria technica—‘artificial’ memories. In this essay, while recognizing that new technologies support people and organizations in their remembering processes, I wish to stress that other complementary human activity that constitutes the duality of memory, namely forgetting. This is a topic that has been relatively neglected or treated in a cursory fashion in much academic discourse to date. I note some examples of the scattered but intriguing work on the subject, from very different disciplinary perspectives, before turning attention to the potential relevance of judicious forgetting in the context of new technologies and visions of the future. Examining the role of forgetting opens up some interesting possibilities. We should re-frame our discourse and expand the design space concerning ubiquitous computational technologies in our everyday life to incorporate aspects of this forgetting dimension.