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> News > Seventeenth Newsletter

HCI International News, Number 17, July 2006


HIGHLIGHTS


HCI Community in Japan

In Japan, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) products, such as personal computers, cellular phones, and the Internet, have rapidly entered our life or work environment over the past ten years. The number of the Internet users in Japan is about 80 million (diffusion rate = 62% of the population), and 73% of the users are accessing the Internet from their cellular phones. The spread of broadband access is also remarkable and about 20 million households are accessing the Internet at 10 or more megabits per second. We note, however, how the aging issue affects ICT users. People aged 65 and over now constitute 20% of the population, and this rate is increasing every year.

This change in society is reflected in Japanese HCI research. The focus of attention has shifted from gadgets, cyberspace, games and art, to wearable and universal design with a key point being the enhancement of daily life. HCI research is the area of emphasis within research institutes, universities, ICT companies, and the government.

The HCI research community in Japan falls into three main streams: the study group of Human Interface Society (HIS), the Japan Ergonomics Society (JES), and two societies related to ICT: Institute of Electronics, Information, and Communication Engineers, and Information (IEICE), Information Processing Society of Japan (IPSJ).

HIS was established in 1999 and currently has about 1.000 members. A wide range of HIS research is performed from human science such as cognition and perception to computer engineering such as accessibility and usability.

JES was established in 1964 and is the oldest human-related academic society in Japan. It has around 2.000 members. They focus mainly on ergonomics design and evaluation for cars, consumer electronics, and information systems for professionals in the fields of engineering, physiology, psychology, and medicine.

IEICE and IPSJ have about 35.000 and 23.000 members, respectively. The HCI research community active in the related SIGs consists of about 1.000 members. They focus on human interface designs, such as input/output systems, audio/visual media, and new interface systems for information and telecommunication equipment.

A major part of Japanese research is disseminated to the rest of the world through international conferences such as HCI International, ACM CHI, SIGGRAPH, etc. It is expected that the trend of internationalization of HCI research will strengthen in the future. Research exchange with Asian countries, such as China and South Korea, will also become more active and be balanced by research exchange with the West.

Katsuhiko Ogawa
Director of Cyber Solution Laboratories,
Nippon Telephone and Telegram Corporation (NTT), Japan.

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Call for Papers: HCI International 2007

The HCI International 2007 jointly with the affiliated Conferences, which are held under one management and one Registration, invite you to Beijing, P.R. China, to participate and contribute to the international forum for the dissemination and exchange of up-to-date scientific information on theoretical, generic and applied areas of HCI through the following modes of communication: Plenary / Keynote Presentation(s), Parallel Sessions, Poster Sessions and Tutorials. You are invited to submit your proposal on all related topics. For more information, please visit the Conference website.

The Conference Proceedings will be published both in CD-ROM and a multi-volume book edition by Springer, Lecture Notes in Computer Science series (LNCS).

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Sponsorship of HCI International 2007

Organizations wishing to sponsor a special event or to be a general sponsor of the Conference are welcome to contact the Sponsorship Administration.

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Book Review: The Persona Lifecycle: Keeping in Mind throughout Product Design

This 724 page book is about "Persona" and use of "Persona" throughout the design cycle. The book makes a convincing case for the usefulness of personas. Authors John Fruitt and Tamara Adlin describe five phases of the persona life cycle in the first 7 chapters of the book. After discussing both the importance of user representation in user-centered design through the personas approach (Chapter 1) and a general overview of Persona life cycle (Chapter 2), they then provide an extensive overview of each phase. Phase 1-Family Planning, Phase 2-Conception and Gestation, Phase 3-birth and maturation, Phase 4-adulthood, and Phase 5-lifetime achievement (Chapters 3- 7). The last 5 chapters, enhance the first part of the book by providing ample description of User, Roles, and Persona (Chapter 8), Storytelling and Narrative (Chapter 9), Reality and Design maps (Chapter 10), Marketing versus Design Persona (Chapter 11), and finally, in case the reader is not yet convinced, Chapter 12 presents further documentation of Why “Personas” Work and Psychological Evidence. Each chapter includes an example, "story from the field," that consists of testimonies from practitioners. In addition, all chapters of the book are illustrated in detail. Overall it is a good resource book for students and practitioners, especially if one wants to convince his/her organization to apply the methodology of user representation in design.

A.M.
The Persona Lifecycle: Keeping in Mind Throughout Product Design, John Pruitt & Tamara Adlin, Morgan Kaufmann, 2006, 724 pages.
ISBN: 13:978-0-12-566251-2

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Recent Interesting Articles

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Upcoming Conferences and Events in the HCI Area

July

August

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Conferences and Events Announcement

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HCI International Conference series - new website

A new website has been lunched regarding the HCI International Conference series, founded by Prof. Gavriel Salvendy (Purdue University, USA, and Tsinghua University, P.R. China). The website hosts information about all eleven conferences that have taken place so far, starting from the 1st USA-Japan Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, which was held in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 18-20 August 1984.

http://www.hci-international.org


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Previous Issues of HCI International News are available online

http://www.hci-international.org/index.php?module=newsletter&MMN_position=3:3
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Contribute to HCI International News

We welcome your contribution to the HCI International News. Please send us interesting news, short articles, interesting websites, etc. We will consider your comments and contributions for upcoming issues. Please send your contribution to the Editor, Dr. Abbas Moallem.

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About HCI International News

The HCI International News is a newsletter about Human - Computer Interaction topics, the HCII 2007 Conference deadlines and activities, the HCII 2007 Exhibition, news in the area of Human - Computer Interaction, and more. If you have any questions or comments, or if you would like to contribute, please contact the Editor, Dr. Abbas Moallem. The opinions that are expressed in this Newsletter are the sole responsibility of its authors and do not represent any institution or company.

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