TC 13 - Human-Computer
Interaction
Interview with J. Karat, TC 13 Chair (2001 -
2004)
John Karat is a Research Staff Member at IBM's T J Watson Research
Center. He is a Cognitive Psychologist whose research interests cover a range of
topics in human-computer interaction. He is currently working on issues of
privacy and personalization in information technology, and on the use of text
mining in life sciences.
In the past few years he has worked on effective information visualization for summarizing case histories in a number of applications including electronic medical records, on the development of personal computer based speech recognition products (The IBM ViaVoice Speech Recognition System), and on web-based multimedia entertainment applications.
He has edited a book on techniques for
human-computer interaction design (Taking Software Design Seriously, Academic
Press, 1992), and authored numerous book chapters, journal articles, and
conference papers. John was elected chair of TC13 in 2001. Proud father of a
delightful 3-year old son Zachary who loves to play trains and ask
"why?". Dr. Karat enjoys an occasional opportunity to create and
perform bad songs on his guitar.
The Delivery Co.: In your opinion, which are the most significant
developments and activities of your TC since its foundation?
J. Karat: In my mind, the most significant events for TC13 are related to its main event - the INTERACT conference. While the Technical Committee was formally established in 1989, its roots extend back to the initial occurrence of its flagship conference in 1984. While there were many people instrumental in making this event happen, Brian Shackel deserves most of the credit for establishing this event as a major international conference in the multidisciplinary human-computer interaction field. Brian chaired TC13 from 1989 to 1995. Other major developments in the history of the INTERACT conference include partnering with the ACM SIGCHI conference in Amsterdam in 1993, and holding the conference in the Asia/Pacific region in 1997 (for which Judy Hammond, who chaired TC13 from 1995 to 2001 deserves much of the credit) and again in 2001. The ninth INTERACT will be held in Zurich in September of 2003, and looks to continue the tradition of providing a high quality technical program for an international audience.
My own challenge for the future is to help TC13 discover how best to approach its mission of advancing the science and technology of human-computer interaction. We hope to develop more activity within our Working Groups, but we also look to spread more widely the message of the importance of "considering the human element" in the design of information technology. By "more widely" I mean both geographically (by bringing international HCI events to locations where they haven't been) and in technology scope (beyond the desktop to considering all areas in which technology might impact human lives). By encouraging productive cooperation between various national and international HCI communities, TC13 will continue to play an important role in advancing the quality of technology for human use.
The Delivery Co.: Are there any current technical activities within the scope of your TC, which you feel could have a significant societal/economic impact in future?
J. Karat: Certainly the relationship between technology and people has always been important, but the speed and magnitude of change make the basic mission of TC13 increasingly important. We are not faced with a single technical challenge, but rather face the complex social challenge of identifying and maintaining the proper relationship between the human problems that people need solved and what technology enables us to do. Our working groups provide a focus on such important issues as HCI for people with special needs (WG13.3), developing HCI curricula (WG13.1), developing methods for user-centered design (WG13.2), and HCI for safety critical systems (WG13.5). I believe we will conduct important work in all of these areas and also increase global awareness of the importance of human issues. Our contributions will be in framing activities which will lead to a brighter future for all by human-centered technology development.
The Delivery Co.: Are there any specific technical issues you find important for IFIP as a whole to address?
J. Karat: IFIP is an organization with great potential. It reaches professionals in academics and industry who are at the heart of developing technology that has changed the lives of everyone on the planet. Mobilizing this incredible community to serve the needs of the world's population might not be considered a "technical" problem by most members of the community, but I invite consideration of the human element in every technical issue in our field. Are we simultaneously thinking about what uses will be made of the technology we create, or at least attempting to cooperate with those who do?