Dennis Wixon

Author: Dennis Wixon

Ph.D

Dennis has worked in the field of user research since 1981. He was a usability manager at Digital Equipment Corporation, where methods such as Usability Engineering, Contextual Inquiry, and data logging were developed. For the past 14 years he has managed research teams at Microsoft, which have covered a wide spectrum of products, including: the Games User Research team. Together they developed many research methods including: RITE (Rapid Iterative Testing and Evaluation) and TRUE (Tracking Real-time User Experience). RITE has become an industry-wide practice and TRUE has been successfully applied to many Microsoft products.

Dennis has also been an active member of the CHI community for many years. He was one of the founding members of the Greater Boston Chapter of the Computer Human Interaction Special Interest Group of the ACM. Dennis has served in a number of roles in the society including Conference Co-chair for the 2002 conference. He was elected Vice President for Conferences in 2004. He partnered with the conference chairs, the executive committee, and the conference management committee, to introduce a wide range of innovations to the CHI conference.

Dennis has co-authored over 50 articles, book chapters and talks on HCI. He has also coauthored of two books: Field Methods Casebook for Software Design (with Dr. Judy Ramey) and Brave NUI World (with Dr. Daniel Wigdor). He currently serves as an adjunct full professor at University of Washington in the department of Human Centered Design and Engineering Design. Dennis holds a PhD. in experimental social psychology from Clark University.

Publications

Publication period start: 2011
Number of co-authors: 53

Co-authors

Number of publications with favourite co-authors
Sandra Jones
4
Michael Good
7
John Whiteside
10

Productive Colleagues

Most productive colleagues in number of publications
Susan M. Dray
49
Thomas P. Moran
66
Manfred Tscheligi
105

Publications

Wixon, Dennis, Pagulayan, Randy (2008): Halo 3: the theory and practice of a research-design partnership. In Interactions, 15 (1) pp. 52-55. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1330526.1330542

Wixon, Dennis (2007): Guitar Hero: the inspirational story of an \"overnight\" success. In Interactions, 14 (3) pp. 16-17. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1242421.1242435

Wixon, Dennis, Reyes, August de los (2007): The design of emotionally engaging products. In Interactions, 14 (5) pp. 22-23. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1288515.1288531

Wixon, Dennis (2006): Are we having fun yet?: computers as entertainment objects. In Interactions, 13 (1) pp. 46-60.

Wixon, Dennis (2006): What is a game?. In Interactions, 13 (2) pp. 37-ff.

Wixon, Dennis (2006): What works?. In Interactions, 13 (4) pp. 18-19.

Olson, Gary M., Wixon, Dennis (2005): CHI 2006: interact, inform, inspire. In Interactions, 12 (6) pp. 12-13.

Wixon, Dennis (2003): Evaluating usability methods: why the current literature fails the practitioner. In Interactions, 10 (4) pp. 28-34. https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=838870

Wixon, Dennis (1999): Rethinking Documentation and Interface: Reflections on Categorical Approaches. In ACM SIGDOC *Journal of Computer Documentation, 23 (4) pp. 12-14.

Graefe, Thomas M., Wixon, Dennis (1998): HCI Solutions for Managing the IT Infra-Structure. In ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 30 (4) pp. 66. https://www.acm.org/sigchi/bulletin/1998.4/graefe.html

Graefe, Thomas M., Wixon, Dennis (1997): HCI Design for Network and System Management: A CHI 97 Special Interest Group. In ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 29 (4) pp. 79-80. https://www.acm.org/sigchi/bulletin/1997.4/graefe.html

Sawyer, Paul, Flanders, Alicia, Wixon, Dennis (1996): Making a Difference -- The Impact of Inspections. In: Tauber, Michael J., Bellotti, Victoria, Jeffries, Robin, Mackinlay, Jock D., Nielsen, Jakob (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 96 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 14-18, 1996, Vancouver, Canada. pp. 376-382. https://www.acm.org/sigchi/chi96/proceedings/papers/Sawyer/ps_txt.htm

Wixon, Dennis, Ramey, Judy (1996): Field Oriented Design Techniques: Case Studies and Organizing Dimensions. In ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 28 (3) pp. 21-26. https://www.acm.org/sigchi/bulletin/1996.3/wixon.html

Wixon, Dennis (1995): Qualitative Research Methods in Design and Development. In Interactions, 2 (4) pp. 19-26. https://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/interactions/1995-2-4/p19-wixon/p19-wixon.pdf

Wixon, Dennis (1995): \"Cost Justifying Usability,\" edited by Randolph G. Bias and Deborah J. Mayhew. In ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 27 (2) pp. 94-99.

Wixon, Dennis (1993): \"Principles and Guidelines in Software User Interface Design,\" by Deborah J. Mayhew. In ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 25 (2) pp. 51-53.

Wixon, Dennis, Holtzblatt, Karen, Knox, Stephen T. (1990): Contextual Design: An Emergent View of System Design. In: Carrasco, Jane, Whiteside, John (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 90 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference , 1990, Seattle, Washington,USA. pp. 329-336.

Whiteside, John, Wixon, Dennis (1988): Contextualism as a World View for the Reformation of Meetings. In: Greif, Irene (eds.) Proceedings of the 1988 ACM conference on Computer-supported cooperative work September 26 - 28, 1988, Portland, Oregon, United States. pp. 369-376.

Whiteside, John, Wixon, Dennis (1987): The Dialectic of Usability Engineering. In: Bullinger, Hans-Jorg, Shackel, Brian (eds.) INTERACT 87 - 2nd IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction September 1-4, 1987, Stuttgart, Germany. pp. 17-20.

Mosteller, William, Boies, Stephen J., Grantham, Charles E., Irby, Thomas, Rubinstein, Richard, Wixon, Dennis (1987): The politics of human factors. In: Graphics Interface 87 (CHI+GI 87) April 5-9, 1987, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. pp. 331-332.

Mack, Robert L., Moran, Thomas P., Olson, Judith R., Wixon, Dennis (1985): Computer Human Factors in Computer Interface Design. In: Borman, Lorraine, Curtis, Bill (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 85 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 14-18, 1985, San Francisco, California. pp. 137-138.

Wixon, Dennis, Whiteside, John (1985): Engineering for Usability: Lessons Learned from the User Derived Interface. In: Borman, Lorraine, Curtis, Bill (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 85 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 14-18, 1985, San Francisco, California. pp. 144-147.

Whiteside, John, Jones, Sandra, Levy, Paula S., Wixon, Dennis (1985): User Performance with Command, Menu, and Iconic Interfaces. In: Borman, Lorraine, Curtis, Bill (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 85 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 14-18, 1985, San Francisco, California. pp. 185-191.

Good, Michael, Whiteside, John, Wixon, Dennis, Jones, Sandra (1984): Building a User-Derived Interface. In Communications of the ACM, 27 (10) pp. 1032-1043. https://michaelgood.info/publications/usability/building-a-user-derived-interface/

Wixon, Dennis, Whiteside, John, Good, Michael, Jones, Sandra (1983): Building a User-Defined Interface. In: Smith, Raoul N., Pew, Richard W., Janda, Ann (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 83 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conferenc December 12-15, 1983, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. pp. 24-27.

Whiteside, John, Archer, Norman P., Wixon, Dennis, Good, Michael (1982): How Do People Really Use Text Editors?. In: Limb, John O. (eds.) Proceedings of the SIGOA Conference on Office Information Systems 1982 June 21-23, 1982, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. pp. 29-40.

Wixon, Dennis, Good, Michael (1987): Interface Style and Eclecticism: Moving Beyond Categorical Approaches. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 31st Annual Meeting , 1987, . pp. 571-575.

Dray, Susan M., Karat, Clare-Marie, Rosenberg, Daniel, Siegel, David A., Wixon, Dennis (2005): Is ROI an effective approach for persuading decision-makers of the value of user-centered . In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2005 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2005, . pp. 1168-1169. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1056808.1056865

Kim, Jun H., Gunn, Daniel V., Schuh, Eric, Phillips, Bruce, Pagulayan, Randy J., Wixon, Dennis (2008): Tracking real-time user experience (TRUE): a comprehensive instrumentation solution for co. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2008 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems April 5-10, 2008, . pp. 443-452. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1357054.1357126

Bernhaupt, Regina, Ijsselsteijn, Wijand, Mueller, Florian, Tscheligi, Manfred, Wixon, Dennis (2008): Evaluating user experiences in games. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2008 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems April 5-10, 2008, . pp. 3905-3908. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1358628.1358953

Seow, Steven C., Wixon, Dennis, MacKenzie, Scott, Jacucci, Giulio, Morrison, Ann, Wilson, Andy (2009): Multitouch and surface computing. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2009 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2009, . pp. 4767-4770. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1520340.1520736

Wixon, Dennis, Good, Michael (1987): Interface Style and Eclecticism: Moving Beyond Categorical Approaches. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 31st Annual Meeting , 1987, . pp. 571-575. https://michaelgood.info/publications/usability/interface-style-and-eclecticism/

Wixon, Dennis, Whiteside, John, Good, Michael, Jones, Sandra (1983): Building a User-Defined Interface. In: Smith, Raoul N., Pew, Richard W., Janda, Ann (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 83 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conferenc December 12-15, 1983, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. pp. 24-27. https://michaelgood.info/publications/usability/building-a-user-defined-interface/

Whiteside, John, Archer, Norman P., Wixon, Dennis, Good, Michael (1982): How Do People Really Use Text Editors?. In: Limb, John O. (eds.) Proceedings of the SIGOA Conference on Office Information Systems 1982 June 21-23, 1982, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. pp. 29-40. https://michaelgood.info/publications/text-editing/how-do-people-really-use-text-editors/

Seow, Steven C., Wixon, Dennis, Morrison, Ann, Jacucci, Giulio (2010): Natural user interfaces: the prospect and challenge of touch and gestural computing. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2010 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2010, . pp. 4453-4456. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1753846.1754172

Hofmeester, Kay, Wixon, Dennis (2010): Using metaphors to create a natural user interface for Microsoft surface. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2010 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2010, . pp. 4629-4644. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1753846.1754204

Rosenbaum, Stephanie, Braun, Kelly, Wixon, Dennis, Swamy, Seema, Laan, Krista Van, Wilson, Chauncey (2010): Investing in User Research: Making Strategic Choices. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 54th Annual Meeting , 2010, . pp. 547-550. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/hfes/hfproc/2010/00000054/00000006/art00001

Rohn, Janice, Wixon, Dennis (2011): Managing user experience teams: lessons from case studies, establishing best practices. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2011 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2011, . pp. 29-31. https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1979742.1979567

Jain, Jhilmil, Lund, Arnold, Wixon, Dennis (2011): The future of natural user interfaces. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2011 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2011, . pp. 211-214. https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1979742.1979527

Rohn, Janice, Wixon, Dennis, Nieters, Jim, Thompson, Carola (2011): Managing UX teams. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2011 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2011, . pp. 815-817. https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1979742.1979542

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New to UX Design? We're Giving You a Free eBook!

The Basics of User Experience Design

Download our free ebook “The Basics of User Experience Design” to learn about core concepts of UX design.

In 9 chapters, we’ll cover: conducting user interviews, design thinking, interaction design, mobile UX design, usability, UX research, and many more!

A valid email address is required.
315,444 designers enjoy our newsletter—sure you don’t want to receive it?