The infrastructure problem in HCI

  • Authors:
  • W. Keith Edwards;Mark W. Newman;Erika Shehan Poole

  • Affiliations:
  • Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA;University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA;Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
  • Year:
  • 2010

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Abstract

HCI endeavors to create human-centered computer systems, but underlying technological infrastructures often stymie these efforts. We outline three specific classes of user experience difficulties caused by underlying technical infrastructures, which we term constrained possibilities, unmediated interaction, and interjected abstractions. We explore how prior approaches in HCI have addressed these issues, and discuss new approaches that will be required for future progress. We argue that the HCI community must become more deeply involved with the creation of technical infrastructures. Doing so, however, requires a substantial expansion to the methodological toolbox of HCI.