HCI Remixed: Reflections on Works That Have Influenced the HCI Community [Hardcover]

Thomas Erickson (Editor), David W. McDonald (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 21, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0262050889 | ISBN-13: 978-0262050883

Personal and reflective essays that describe how particular works--whether papers, books, or demos, from classics to forgotten gems--have influenced each writer's approach to HCI.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Over almost three decades, the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) has produced a rich and varied literature. Although the focus of attention today is naturally on new work, older contributions that played a role in shaping the trajectory and character of the field have much to tell us. The contributors to HCI Remixed were asked to reflect on a single work at least ten years old that influenced their approach to HCI. The result is this collection of fifty-one short, engaging, and idiosyncratic essays, reflections on a range of works in a variety of forms that chart the emergence of a new field. An article, a demo, a book: any of these can solve a problem, demonstrate the usefulness of a new method, or prompt a shift in perspective. HCI Remixed offers us glimpses of how this comes about. The contributors consider such HCI classics as Sutherland's Sketchpad, Englebart's demo of NLS, and Fitts on Fitts' Law--and such forgotten gems as Pulfer's NRC Music Machine, and Galloway and Rabinowitz's Hole in Space. Others reflect on works somewhere in between classic and forgotten--Kidd's "The Marks Are on the Knowledge Worker," King Beach's "Becoming a Bartender," and others. Some contributors turn to works in neighboring disciplines--Henry Dreyfuss's book on industrial design, for example--and some range farther afield, to Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis and Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Taken together, the essays offer an accessible, lively, and engaging introduction to HCI research that reflects the diversity of the field's beginnings.Thomas Erickson is Research Staff Member at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center. David W. McDonald is Assistant Professor at the Information School at the University of Washington, Seattle.

Thomas Erickson is Research Staff Member at the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (December 21, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262050889
• ISBN-13: 978-0262050883
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #910,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nifty book that shares personal perspectives on highly influential HCI works, March 16, 2009

By 

K. Truong (Toronto, ON, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: HCI Remixed: Reflections on Works That Have Influenced the HCI Community (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book that is also a very quick read. At the same time, it's also highly rewarding to read. Erickson & McDonald did a great job of obtaining short essays from a collection of HCI researchers (including those who have helped to define the field, those who are shaping the field, and those who are just beginning). In these essays, each author reflects on one work that is 10 years or older that deeply influenced her/his own research. Even though I've read about many of the referenced projects, though these essays, I developed a completely new found understanding of their significance. As I think back to those original projects, I am able to better appreciate them and the research progress that has been made over the years (and the work that remains).

I would love to see a second volume of this book. There's just so many more researchers out there to whom the question of "what influenced your work" could be asked!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for students or experienced researchers, September 20, 2011

By 

Scott McCrickard - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: HCI Remixed: Reflections on Works That Have Influenced the HCI Community (Hardcover)

HCI Remixed provides an interesting history of the young field of human-computer interaction (HCI) through reflections on high-impact papers in the field. Each chapter is a brief 4-6 page essay by a single current researcher or practitioner in the field of HCI, reflecting on a paper that they found important. The book's 51 divided into seven loosely-defined sections. The two editors provide a brief introduction to each of the seven sections.

I'd read many of the original papers before, but this book provided the opportunity to see how the papers impacted active researchers in the field--often in surprising and deeply personal ways. And for papers I hadn't read, the essay provided a great introduction to a topic. I've used this for multiple groups of undergrad researchers and I've recommended chapters to grad students and other researchers. It seems to work best for people who have (or want) an understanding of the history of HCI from some of the top people in the field. It's not necessarily a great first book for the field, but it provides a great and highly personal reflection of some influential ideas in HCI.