[Air-L] Literature wanted: what does it feel like to use a computer?

Denise N. Rall denrall at yahoo.com
Mon Sep 24 16:17:34 PDT 2007


> Hi David,

My assumption is that you would be looking in the HCI
literature (also called CHI in the US), but I see your
problem of taking the phenomenological approach.

So look at the approach taken by Bibby regarding
user/computers as interacting, and understanding each
other's *intentions* and perhaps spin that out from
computers -> interacting with the online space. At
least Bibby understands that the relationships are
cognitively based, but derived from practice (and
assumptions) which I think is the point of HCI.

It's a tough one, I often go back to Nardi: Nardi, B.,
Ed. (1996). Context and consciousness: Activity theory
and human-computer interaction. Cambridge, MA, MIT
Press. (also A Small matter of programming) and
Suchman, L. (1987). Plans and situated actions: The
problem of human-machine communication. Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press.
	
Feel free to laugh, but a little gem I found in this
area (in the cognitive literature) is:

Bibby, P. (1992). "Distributed knowledge-in the head,
in the world, or in the interaction?" In: Models in
the mind: theory, perspective and application. (Eds)Y.
Rogers, A. Rutherford and P. Bibby. London, New York,
Academic Press: 93-99.

Here is Bibby's take on the interactional nature of
the user/computer screen relationship:

p. 96-97 "Payne argues that in order to understand the
nature of display-based interaction with computers we
have to adopt an analysis of the interaction as
conversation, with the user and the computer both
taking turns and making contributions (Clark and
Schaefer, 1987; 1989). A contribution has two
components: a presentation and an acceptance.  A
presentation is an utterance which carries the content
of the the contribution and acceptance follows with
both participants establishing through collaboration
that both have understood.  Presentations and
acceptances can take several turns and the overall
function of these operations is to achieve a mutual
grounding: the agreement that the communication of
mutual beliefs has been achieved.  Payne extends this
analysis to include computers as possible participants
be arguing that both the user and the computer
generate "accounts"  of the interaction.  It is these
accounts that establish the mutuality of the
interaction.  The computer's accounts are established
through the feedback that the computer gives the user
about its present state.  This analysis suggests that
much of the interaction between the user and the
computer cannot be said to rely simply on what the
user knows but also on what the machine understands
about the user's intentions.  In this sense, it is
with the conversation with the computer that meaning
is established.  In at least one way, the knowledge
necessary to interact successfully with a computer is
socially distributed."
	

David - if I have misunderstood your question and put
you into another arena, my apologies - Denise






Denise N. Rall, PhD
Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW 2480 AUSTRALIA 
Tues: Room T2.17, +61 (0)2 6620 3577 Mobile 0438 233 344 
http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/esm/staff/pages/drall/
Virtual member, Cybermetrics Group, University of Wolverhampton, UK
http://cybermetrics.wlv.ac.uk/index.html


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