I highly recommend the Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction [...] the breadth and depth of the invited contributions are quite impressive [...] all with highly qualified authorities as authors
   -- From Don Norman's review

 

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The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Ed.

 

Free textbooks written by 100+ leading designers, bestselling authors and Ivy League professors. The textbooks are assembled in a gigantic 4000+ page encyclopedia covering the design of interactive products and services like websites, household objects, smartphones, computer software, aircraft cockpits, you name it.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
by Thomas Erickson
 
 
by Alan Blackwell
 
 
by Kees Overbeeke & Caroline Hummels
 
 
by Robert Spence & Mark Apperley
 
 
by Karen Holtzblatt & Hugh R. Beyer
 
 
by Jesper Kjeldskov
 
 
by Margaret M. Burnett & Christopher Scaffidi
 
 
 
 
by Kristina Höök
 
 
by Alistair G. Sutcliffe
 
 
by Albrecht Schmidt
 
 
by Gilbert Cockton
 
 
by Victor Kaptelinin
 
 
by Clayton M. Christensen
 
 
by Eric von Hippel
 
 
by Noam Tractinsky
 
 
 
 
by Richard Shusterman
 
 
by William Hudson
 
 
 
 
by Brian Whitworth & Adnan Ahmad
 
 
by Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza
 
 
by Paul A. Fishwick
 
 
by Jonathan Grudin & Steven Poltrock
 
 
by Shaun Gallagher
 
 
by Alan J. Dix
 
 
by Lene Nielsen
 
 
by Doug A. Bowman
 
 
 
 
 

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About the authors

Jonas Lowgren

Picture of Jonas Lowgren.

Jonas Löwgren is an interaction designer, researcher and teacher. Currently employed as professor of interaction design at Malmö University, Sweden. Main areas of expertise include cross-media products, interactive visualization and the design theory of digita...


More about Jonas
 

John M. Carroll

Picture of John M. Carroll.

John M. Carroll is Edward Frymoyer Chair Professor of Information Sciences and Technology at the Pennsylvania State University. His research interests include methods and theory in human-computer interaction, particularly as applied to networking tools for ...


More about John
 

Marc Hassenzahl

Picture of Marc Hassenzahl.

Marc Hassenzahl is Professor at the Folkwang University in Essen and research manager at MediaCity, Åbo Akademi University, Vaasa, Finland. He is interested in the positive affective and motivational aspects of interactive technologies – in short: User Experie...


More about Marc
 

Thomas Erickson

Picture of Thomas Erickson.

I'm an interaction designer and researcher in the Social Computing Group at IBM's Watson Labs in New York to which I telecommute from my home in Minneapolis. My research focuses on designing systems that enable groups of people to interact coherently and produ...


More about Thomas
 
 

Alan Blackwell

Picture of Alan Blackwell.

I only have one big research question, but I attack it from a lot of different angles. The question is representation. How do people make, see and use things that carry meaning? The angles from which I attack my question include various ways in which r...


More about Alan
 

Kees Overbeeke

Picture of Kees Overbeeke.

Prof. Dr. Kees Overbeeke (1952-2011) was full professor at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) for Intelligent Products and System Design in the Department of Industrial Design in May, 2006. Kees Overbeeke studied psychology at the Katholieke Universitit...


More about Kees
 

Caroline Hummels

Picture of Caroline Hummels.

Prof. dr. ir. Caroline Hummels is full professor of Design Theory at the department of Industrial Design, TU/e, as well as head of the Designing Quality in Interaction group. She studied Industrial Design Engineering at the Delft University of Technology (cum ...


More about Caroline
 

Robert Spence

Picture of Robert Spence.

Bob Spence is Professor Emeritus of Information Engineering at Imperial College London. Bob Spence’s research has ranged from engineering design to human-computer interaction,and often with the manner in which the latter can enhance the former. Notable ...


More about Robert
 
 

Mark Apperley

Picture of Mark Apperley.

Mark Apperley has been working in the field of HCI for more than 30 years. In the 1970's he worked on the MINNIE interactive CACD system with Bob Spence, pioneering a range of interaction and information visualisation techniques, including dynamic exploration ...


More about Mark
 

Karen Holtzblatt

Picture of Karen Holtzblatt.

Recognized as a leader in the design community, Karen has pioneered transformative ideas and design approaches throughout her career. Karen is the inventor of Contextual Inquiry—the industry standard for gathering field data to understand how technology impact...


More about Karen
 

Hugh R. Beyer

Picture of Hugh R. Beyer.

Hugh Founder and CTO of InContext. He has more than 20 years of experience building and designing applications, systems, and tools. Before co-founding InContext, Hugh acted as lead developer and architect in a range of systems at Digital Equipment Corp. His do...


More about Hugh
 

Jesper Kjeldskov

Picture of Jesper Kjeldskov.

Jesper Kjeldskov is Associate Professor in Human-Computer Interaction at Aalborg University's Department of Computer Science. Jesper’s research interests are Interaction Design and User Experience with particular focus on mobile and ubiquitous technologies in ...


More about Jesper
 
 

Margaret M. Burnett

Picture of Margaret M. Burnett.

Margaret Burnett is a Professor of Computer Science at the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Oregon State University. Her current research focuses on end-user programming, end-user software engineering, information foraging theory as app...


More about Margaret
 

Christopher Scaffidi

Picture of Christopher Scaffidi.

Christopher Scaffidi is currently an Assistant Professor of Computer Science in the School of EECS at Oregon State University. His research interests are where human-computer interaction and software engineering intersect. Most of his current projects aim to h...


More about Christopher
 

Dag Svanaes

Picture of Dag Svanaes.

Dag Svanaes is a professor at the Department of Computer and Information Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Svanaes is also adjunct professor at the IT-University of Copenhagen, Denmark He has been teaching and doing research in ...


More about Dag
 

Kristina Höök

Picture of Kristina Höök.

Kristina Höök is a professor in Interaction Design at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Sweden. She started and now works in the Mobile Life centre. She also upholds a part-time position at SICS (Swedish Institute of Computer Science)....


More about Kristina
 
 

Alistair G. Sutcliffe

Picture of Alistair G. Sutcliffe.

Alistair Sutcliffe (MA Cantab-Natural Sciences, PhD Wales) is Professor of Systems Engineering, and Director of the Centre for HCI Design, in the School of Informatics, University of Manchester, UK. Originally at ethologist, he has worked in the IT and finance...


More about Alistair
 

Albrecht Schmidt

Picture of Albrecht Schmidt.

I am a professor at the University of Stuttgart. My central research interests are novel user interfaces and innovative applications enabled by ubiquitous computing. Before moving to Stuttgart I was a professor at the Univeristy of Duisburg-Essen, had a joined...


More about Albrecht
 

Gilbert Cockton

Picture of Gilbert Cockton.

I'm Professor of Design Theory in the School of Design at Northumbria University, which has roots back to 1844 as one of the original British Government Schools of Design. I'm an Interaction Designer who occasionally dabbles in product and service design. I ha...


More about Gilbert
 

Victor Kaptelinin

Picture of Victor Kaptelinin.

Victor Kaptelinin is a Professor at the Department of Information Science and Media Studies, University of Bergen, Norway, and the Department of Informatics, Umeå University, Sweden. He has held teaching and/or research positions at the Psychological Instit...


More about Victor
 
 

Clayton M. Christensen

Picture of Clayton M. Christensen.

Clayton M. Christensen is professor at Harvard Business School and a New York Times bestseller. He is the architect of, and the world's foremost authority on, disruptive innovation. Consistently acknowledged in rankings and surveys as one of the world’s lead...


More about Clayton
 

Eric von Hippel

Picture of Eric von Hippel.

I am a Professor of Technological Innovation in the MIT Sloan School of Management, and am also a Professor in MIT's Engineering Systems Division. I specialize in research related to the nature and economics of distributed and open innovation. I also develop a...


More about Eric
 

Noam Tractinsky

Picture of Noam Tractinsky.

I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Information Systems Engineering, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel. My main research interests revolve around the use of information technology. I have been involved in studies on IT project...


More about Noam
 

Ben Challis

Picture of Ben Challis.

Ben Challis is a composer, performer and technologist. With research interests that embrace the notion of design-for-all within music-performance, he has worked on various projects that explore alternative modes of interaction with sound and music for people w...


More about Ben
 
 

Richard Shusterman

Picture of Richard Shusterman.

Richard Shusterman is an American pragmatist philosopher, currently the Dorothy F. Schmidt Eminent Scholar in the Humanities and Professor of Philosophy at Florida Atlantic University, where he directs the Center for Body, Mind, and Culture. He is internationa...


More about Richard
 

William Hudson

Picture of William Hudson.

William Hudson is a User Experience Strategist who consults, writes and teaches in the fields of user-centred design, user experience and usability. He has over 40 years experience in the development of interactive systems, initially with a background in softw...


More about William
 

Steve Mann

Picture of Steve Mann.

Steven Mann is a tenured professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto. Mann holds degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD in Media Arts and Sciences '97) and McMaster University, where he w...


More about Steve
 

Brian Whitworth

Picture of Brian Whitworth.

Born in England and brought up in New Zealand, Brian Whitworth currently works at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand. After doing a mathematics degree, and a Master’s thesis on split-brain neuropsychology, Brian joined the New Zealand Army, where he wa...


More about Brian
 
 

Adnan Ahmad

Picture of Adnan Ahmad.

Adnan Ahmad was born in Lahore, Pakistan. He received his Bachelor of Science (Hons.) from Govt. College University (GCU, 2005), with a major in software engineering, and a Masters of Science from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS, 2009), with a m...


More about Adnan
 

Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza

Picture of Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza.

Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza is Full Professor of Computer Science at the Departamento de Informática, PUC-Rio, where she has also served as the director of Graduate Studies Program for two terms (2003-2005 and 2007-2009). In 2010, Clarisse was a co-winner of ...


More about Clarisse
 

Paul A. Fishwick

Picture of Paul A. Fishwick.

Paul Fishwick is Professor of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the University of Florida, Director of Digital Arts & Sciences Programs, and CEO of Metaphorz, LLC. He has six years of industrial experience at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry D...


More about Paul
 

Jonathan Grudin

Picture of Jonathan Grudin.

I work in the Adaptive Systems and Interaction Group at Microsoft Research, part of the Microsoft Corporation. My research is in human-computer interaction and computer supported cooperative work, with a particular focus on the design, adoption and use of grou...


More about Jonathan
 
 

Steven Poltrock

Picture of Steven Poltrock.

I retired from The Boeing Company in 2009 where I was a Technical Fellow in the Research & Technology division. My research was in computer support for cooperative work, focusing on industrial applications of collaboration technology, including support for tea...


More about Steven
 

Shaun Gallagher

Picture of Shaun Gallagher.

Shaun Gallagher is the Lillian and Morrie Moss Professor of Excellence in Philosophy at the University of Memphis. He has a secondary appointment at the University of Hertfordshire (UK) and is Honorary Professor of Philosophy at the University of Copenhagen (D...


More about Shaun
 

Alan J. Dix

Picture of Alan J. Dix.

I am a computing professor at Lancaster University and researcher at Talis Ltd. and work on most things that connect people and computers. However, I started off (years ago) as mathematician and this is still my academic first love!...


More about Alan
 

Lene Nielsen

Picture of Lene Nielsen.

Lene Nielsen is Denmark’s leading specialist in personas. She has a Ph.D.in personas and scenarios and has more than 5 years experience on practical use of personas working with both industry and governmental bodies....


More about Lene
 
 

Doug A. Bowman

Picture of Doug A. Bowman.

Doug A. Bowman is a Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech. He is the principal investigator of the 3D Interaction Group, focusing on the topics of three-dimensional user interface design and th...


More about Doug
 

Ned Kock

Picture of Ned Kock.

Ned Kock is Professor of Information Systems and Director of the Collaborative for International Technology Studies at Texas A&M International University. He holds degrees in electronics engineering (B.E.E.), computer science (M.S.), and management ...


More about Ned
 

Stephen Few

Picture of Stephen Few.

Stephen Few has over 20 years of experience as an innovator, consultant, and educator in the fields of business intelligence (a.k.a. data warehousing and decision support) and information design. Through his company, Perceptual Edge, he focuses on the effectiv...


More about Stephen
 
 

Susanne Bødker

Picture of Susanne Bødker.

Susanne Bødker is professor of Human Computer Interaction at the Computer Science Department, University of Aarhus. Her research areas include participatory design, computer-supported cooperative work and human-computer interaction. Her PhD thesis, Through the...


More about Susanne
 
 

Bjørn Erik Munkvold

Picture of Bjørn Erik Munkvold.

Bjørn Erik Munkvold is Professor of Information Systems and Director of the PhD Programme in Information Systems at University of Agder, Norway. His main research interests include e-Collaboration and virtual work, organizational IT implementation and qualitat...


More about Bjørn
 

Richard Baskerville

Picture of Richard Baskerville.

Baskerville is a Professor in the Department of Computer Information Systems, J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. His research specializes in security of information systems, methods of information systems design and development, ...


More about Richard
 

Ronald A. Rensink

Picture of Ronald A. Rensink.

I am interested in vision—the various ways that humans, animals, and computers use light to see.  I believe that vision involves constraints that apply to any  system, and that the most successful visual systems are based on very general information-processing...


More about Ronald
 

Naomi B. Robbins

Picture of Naomi B. Robbins.

Naomi B. Robbins is the author of Creating More Effective Graphs, published by John Wiley (2005). She is a consultant, keynote speaker, and seminar leader who specializes in the graphical display of data. She trains employees of corporations and organizations ...


More about Naomi
 
 

Robert Kosara

Picture of Robert Kosara.

I am an Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science, College of Information Technology, at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC), where I am also a member of the Charlotte Visualization Center. I received both my Ph.D. (2001) an...


More about Robert
 
 
 

 


Version 1.0 of the Encyclopedia

Shorter definitions/introductions of key concepts.

A
Affordances  - chapter by Mads Soegaard
Agile Usability Engineering  - chapter by Thomas Memmel
Artifact  - chapter by
B
Breakdowns  - chapter by
C
Chunking  - chapter by Martin Harrod
Cognitive Artifacts  - chapter by
Cognitive ergonomics  - chapter by Bill Papantoniou
Context of Use  - chapter by
D
Demand Characteristics  - chapter by
E
Ecological validity  - chapter by
Efficiency  - chapter by
F
Fitts's Law  - chapter by Mehmet Göktürk
Forcing Functions  - chapter by
G
Gestalt principles of form perception  - chapter by Mads Soegaard
H
Human factors  - chapter by
I
Information Architecture  - chapter by Michael Cummings
Information Foraging Theory  - chapter by David Trepess
Interaction Design Patterns  - chapter by Eelke Folmer
Interaction Styles  - chapter by Mads Soegaard
M
Mental models  - chapter by
Mock-ups  - chapter by
Multimodal Affective Computing  - chapter by Hatice Gunes
Multiple intelligences  - chapter by Julia Reinhard Lupton
P
Perception  - chapter by
Priming  - chapter by
Programmerism  - chapter by
Progressive Disclosure  - chapter by Frank Spillers
Prototyping  - chapter by Mads Soegaard
Psychometry  - chapter by
R
Reification (to reify)  - chapter by
S
Satisficing  - chapter by
T
Tangible Interaction  - chapter by Eva Hornecker
Task-artifact cycle  - chapter by
U
User Experience - UX  - chapter by Dirk Knemeyer & Eric Svoboda
V
Vigilance  - chapter by
W
Walk-up-and-use system   - chapter by
WIMP  - chapter by
 
 
 
 

About the authors

Mads Soegaard

Picture of Mads Soegaard.

Previously, I've worked at The Danish National Technological Institute working with research in industry Until March 2000 I was one of three partners in Csite.com, a web development company of about 11 people. It went out of business in 2009. I've ...


More about Mads
 

Thomas Memmel

Picture of Thomas Memmel.

Thomas Memmel was a research assistant at the University of Konstanz at the chair for human-computer interaction of Prof. Harald Reiterer. He holds a BSc (2002) and MSc (2005) in Computer Science. He was involved in a DaimlerChrysler AG funded PhD program and ...


More about Thomas
 

Martin Harrod

Picture of Martin Harrod.

Martin Harrod has over 15 years of real world experience in the design and implementation of technology systems. This experience gives him a keen insight on how an organization can better leverage their technology investments. He simplifies his approach into ...


More about Martin
 

Bill Papantoniou

Picture of Bill Papantoniou.

Bill Papantoniou is researcher at the Ergonomics Unit of the National Technical University of Athens. He also teaches Ergonomics in the AKTO Industrial Design school  and works in projects involving the support of human work (physical and cognitive). B...


More about Bill
 
 

Mehmet Göktürk

Picture of Mehmet Göktürk.

Mehmet Gokturk is currently teaching at Gebze Institute of Technology, Turkey. ...


More about Mehmet
 

Michael Cummings

Picture of Michael Cummings.

Michael Cummings is a silicon valley-based software user experience designer dedicated to improving people's capacities, abilities, and experience of life via interactive media. Michael is currently Senior Interaction Designer at Wells Fargo, in San Franci...


More about Michael
 

David Trepess

Picture of David Trepess.

David Trepess is a principal human factors engineer at Sony BP Research Labs. He holds a BA, MSc and a PhD all in the HCI and HF area. His current work involves investigating human factors issues in broadcast and other media centric industries. His PhD was...


More about David
 

Eelke Folmer

Picture of Eelke Folmer.

Eelke Folmer is an assistant Professor at the University of Nevada in Reno. Previously he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Software Engineering / Games Group at the University of Alberta. He received a PhD degree from the University of Groningen where he...


More about Eelke
 
 

Hatice Gunes

Picture of Hatice Gunes.

Dr Hatice Gunes is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), UK. She received her Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Austral...


More about Hatice
 

Julia Reinhard Lupton

Picture of Julia Reinhard Lupton.

Julia Reinhard Lupton is Professor of English, Comparative Literature and Education at the University of California, Irvine. She is the founding director of Humanities Out There, an educational partnership between the School of Humanities and the Santa Ana Uni...


More about Julia
 

Frank Spillers

Picture of Frank Spillers.

Frank Spillers is a web and software usability expert and has been recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Labor as a subject matter expert. Frank holds a Masters of Science in Cognitive Science from Birmingham University (UK) and has ten years of practical experienc...


More about Frank
 

Eva Hornecker

Picture of Eva Hornecker.

Eva Hornecker is Assistant Professor at the University of Strathclyde. She has worked at several places before, including the UK's Open University, Sussex University, the Vienna University of Technology, following her PhD in Bremen, Germany. Eva's research...


More about Eva
 
 

Dirk Knemeyer

Picture of Dirk Knemeyer.

DIRK KNEMEYER is the CEO of Involution Studios, a software design consultancy whose clients include Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, McAfee, and Yahoo!. His leadership contributions to the business and design community are prolific, having authored more than 100 arti...


More about Dirk
 

Eric Svoboda

Picture of Eric Svoboda.

Eric Svoboda is an user experience professional for Ascendant Technology...


More about Eric
 
 
 
 

 
 

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Changes to this book

28 Aug 2012: Added

Colophon

Title:
The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Ed.
Authors:
Mads Soegaard and Rikke Friis Dam
Publisher:
The Interaction Design Foundation
Edition number:
1
ISBN print edition:
ISBN online edition:
978-87-92964-00-7
ISBN eBook edition:
Copy editor:
Ailsa Campbell
Reference validation:
Armin Walinsky
Graphics, interior design, and cover:
Roland Szattler and Mads Soegaard
Copyright clearance:
Michael Thorman
Proofreader:
Ailsa Campbell
Supervisory Editors:
Mads Soegaard and Rikke Friis Dam
Editorial assistant:
Soeren Dam
Typography:
This text is set in Georgia
Copyright:
See section on Copyright
Peer review:
This book has undergone double-blinded peer-review based on the reviewing guidelines

I highly recommend the Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction [...] the breadth and depth of the invited contributions are quite impressive [...] all with highly qualified authorities as authors
   -- From Don Norman's review

 

Free Knowledge!

People from around the world show their support for our mission to give away world-class educational materials for free! Send us yours!
 

 
 
 
 
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