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February 14, 2006

Special Issue on Performance in Interaction Design

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Call for Papers

Special Issue on Performance in Interaction Design: The operation of computers has always been a performative activity, in the sense that a system’s state changes as a computer runs through a program acting out the tasks specified in the script of a program.

With interactive systems, human actors take their place on stage alongside computers performing activities with and through such systems. The recent emergence of ubiquitous and tangible computing moves the stage of the interaction from the virtuality of the screen to the physical environment. This provides opportunities to address performative interactions that include bodily movements to create novel multimodal approaches.

For interaction designers this requires thinking about interaction in a different way, for example considering the role of the body, beyond ergonomics, for its increased relevance as a presentational, representational and experiential medium. Recently there has been a growing interest in developing interaction design methods that more explicitly recognise and exploit the performative elements and potentials of design activity itself. Across all design disciplines the importance of effective communication has led to an awareness of the need to consider and improve our ability to represent ideas in ways that open up, rather than shut down, dialogue.

Performance, theatre and dramaturgy have begun to figure in the design of interactive systems. This issue of Interacting with Computers will provide a focus for this growing topic of interest.

BACKGROUND

Across the many design disciplines that concern themselves with interaction design there have been long standing debates about the nature, utility, form, timing and quality of communication within the design process. For example, scenarios have found widespread acceptance as a tool for communicating rich user experiences within requirements and design specifications. Whilst they are typically not performed as such, their roots in the forms of traditional narrative point to a performative potential that could be more fully explored.

Within object-oriented software design, the CRC Cards technique combines role-playing with scenario walkthroughs and use-cases to provide design teams with a software Object’s perspective on the systems they’ are developing.

Finally, within the emerging communities of ‘interaction design’ practitioners we have seen interest in the potential of a variety of improvisational theatre techniques such as role playing and bodystorming. All of this suggests that performance in interaction design ought to be a topic worthy of serious consideration.

This special issue of Interacting with Computers aims to map the research landscape of performance and interaction design, to uncover the many ways performance manifests itself in design, and to identify methods that will encourage a wider range of designers and design industries to exploit the potential of performance as a design tool. Themes relevant for submission include (but are not limited to):

- Studies of human-human interaction in interaction design projects (design as performance)
- Historical overviews of performative interaction design
- Critical reports on the use of theatre, performance and drama as tools for exploring interaction design problems, themes or ideas, or as tools in concept design, requirements generation, design and evaluation.
- Studies of the use of dramatic representations of interaction design ideas (e.g. through the use of scenarios, textual or filmic)
- Evaluations and case studies of new and existing methods and techniques to exploit performance in interaction design
- Reports on the use of performative techniques in the evaluation of designs
- Reflections on the impact of interactive technology on already exisiting performative systems

We should stress that we are interested in any and all kinds of performance, for example traditional or improvisational dramatic narrative, interactive theatre, filmed performance, dance, music, etc. We are interested in exploring the widest possible range of ways performance has been or could be utilised, explored or developed within interaction design contexts.

SUBMISSIONS

Deadline for submissions: February 24th 2006
Notification of Acceptance: 17th March 2006
Final version of accepted papers: 31st March 2006

Note this issue will be published in July 2006 - final versions must be in by the date stated.

Submission of manuscripts ( up to 10000 words) are invited. Please refer to
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/525445/authorinstructions for layout guidelines. However please note that in the first instance manuscripts should be sent to the special issue editors AND NOT the journal itself. Nor should you use the online submission tool at this stage.

Please **email** your submission (in MS Word or Acrobat PDF format) to c.macaulay[at]dundee.ac.uk

REVIEW BOARD

David Benyon School of Computing, Napier University UK
Thomas Inns, School of Design, University of Dundee, UK
Giulio Jacucci, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology Finland
Tomi Kankainen, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology Finland
Ann Light, Interaction, Media and Communication Group, Queen Mary University of London UK
Catriona Macaulay, Interaction Design Lab, University of Dundee UK
Bonnie Nardi, Department of Informatics, University California, Irvine US
Alan Newell, Division of Applied Computing, University of Dundee, UK
Sally Jane Norman, The Culture Lab, University of Newcastle UK
Shaleph O’Neill, Interaction Design Lab, University of Dundee UK

GUEST EDITORS
Catriona Macaulay, Interaction Design Lab, University of Dundee UK
Giulio Jacucci, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology Finland
Shaleph O’Neill, Interaction Design Lab, University of Dundee UK
Tomi Kankainen, Helsinki Institute for Information Technology Finland

Posted by jo at February 14, 2006 07:57 AM

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