NordiCHI 2006 Workshop (Oct. 15th, 2006):
Improving the Relationship between Research and Practice in Interaction Design

Theme and Goals

One of the most discussed topics in HCI research is if and how research plays a role in HCI practice. Arguments have been made that the research outcome is too abstract or too detailed and therefore not useful by practitioners. Another argument that has been raised is that the results from research, such as methods and theories, are too time consuming to use and demand too much learning and preparation.

There are different approaches a researcher can take in relation to practice. One approach is to do research that “has to be done” from an academic point of view. Another approach is to use practice as a starting point for research—to see practice as the client of research. There is also a large part of contemporary HCI research that is not focused on practice at all. Instead, this research is driven by the researchers’ interests and desires to explore and develop new forms of interaction, new tools, and new technologies. The research becomes a field of invention and innovation. The approaches and methodologies in these activities are often not made explicit with the purpose to inform practice about new ways of working.

In this workshop we want to address the issue of improving the relationship between research and practice in interaction design.
• How can we in a theoretical and intellectual way approach this issue?
• Are there any existing successful approaches?
• Where can we find inspiration for new approaches for improving this relationship?

This workshop aims to develop a research agenda for more substantial attempts to address the relationship between research and practice.

Relevance to the field

We believe that a tighter interaction between research and practice in HCI will help us reshaping our field toward the better direction. Our workshop will lead us to discuss how research outcomes can help improving practice, as well as how experience from practice can help researchers find grand challenges in the fields.

Outcomes

We expect to document the submitted position papers in a proceeding form, which will be provided to all the participants in the workshop. Issues and discussions explored in the workshop will be summarized and documented as a report in an overview form developed in conjunction with the workshop.

• Printed and online proceedings of the accepted position papers
• Special issue in a refereed HCI journal (e.g. Artifact)

Participants

The overall plan is to provide an environment for people from either a practical design background or an academic and research-oriented design background to get together and share their experiences and knowledge around the topic of reducing the gap between research and practice in the interaction design area to produce benefits for both directions.

Expected number: 8-10 presenters and 5-8 non-presenting participants.
Intended audience: a balanced collection of researchers and practitioners in the interaction design area is expected.

Organizers

Erik Stolterman, Ph.D. Professor and Director of the HCID program at Indiana University, School of Informatics. (estolter@indiana.edu)
Youn-Kyung Lim, Ph.D. Assistant Professor at Indiana University, School of Informatics. (younlim@indiana.edu)
Joannes Vandermeulen Business Manager of Namahn.