In this talk based on the cover article of ACM Interactions, Umer Farooq and Jonathan Grudin argue for a new lens on the discipline of HCI. The era of human computer interaction is giving way to the era of human computer integration—integration in the broad sense of a partnership or symbiotic relationship in which humans and software act with autonomy. Changing the focus from interaction to integration may seem subtle, but it can have profound implications for practice. Different research questions and design possibilities emerge when you shift from the familiar perspective of human computer interaction to a view of human computer integration that is well underway. Umer and Jonathan give examples of current scenarios and technology from our everyday lives that illustrate aspects of human computer integration. As designers, developers, researchers, product managers, entrepreneurs, and users, we can improve human computer interaction by focusing on the larger context of integration.
Umer Farooq is currently a user research manager at Facebook on the Messenger team. Prior to Facebook, he was a principal user research manager at Microsoft when he co-authored the ACM Interactions cover article. In 2008, he joined Microsoft’s Cloud & Enterprise team as a user researcher and advanced API usability methodologies for Visual Studio and Azure. In 2013, he helped to launch Xbox One globally, working on key entertainment scenarios such as media integration. He is now writing a book on the evolution of user research practice based on the CHI 2015 case study “Industry is changing, and so should we”.
Jonathan Grudin is a principal researcher in the Natural Interaction research group and affiliate professor at the University of Washington Information School. He has participated in CHI and Computer Supported Cooperative Work since they coalesced in the 1980s, is an ACM Fellow and member of the CHI Academy, and served as Editor-In-Chief of ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction for six years and Associate Editor for Computing Surveys for ten. His book From Tool to Partner: The Evolution of Human-Computer Interaction was published earlier this month.