Issues of Human Computer Interaction: Opportunities and Challenges : 9781591402350

The interaction between humans and computers is evolving rapidly, impacting every aspect of human and organizational life. This book presents the latest developments in this field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). It discusses issues related End User Computing, as well as issues related to the human side of IT. This book will set a framework for the social and organizational issues related to IT, giving emphasis to its role as facilitator of social relationships, enabling the development of the organizational and individual intelligence and helping to improve human conditions. In Issues of Human Computer Interaction, models and theories are presented together with practical cases that will help students, lecturers, researchers and managers to have a clear idea of what is going on in HCI, today.

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) has its roots in the main areas of industrial engineering, human factors and cognitive psychology with the focus on the development of user-friendly IT. Traditionally, the research in this area has emphasised the technological aspect of this relationship (the Computer). More recently, other aspects concerning the organizational, social and human context also began to be considered (the Human). Today, one can say that any attempt to facilitate the relationship between the machine and the user must consider not only the technological perspective (e.g., promote the usability) but also, for instance, the way the user is going to use the technology and his or her purpose as well as the social and cultural context of this use (the Human and the Computer).

Another issue that should be considered in this interaction is the impact that information systems/technology may have on humans and organizations. There is general consensus that the adoption of any IT/IS brings change. Furthermore, IT/IS and organizations have a mutual influence on each other, meaning that this technology affects organizations and that organizations necessarily affect, for instance, the design, the choice and the management of those systems. The adoption of an IT/IS is, thus, mediated by factors that will influence the interaction between the sectors involved. It is also generally agreed that the adoption of a certain IS by different organizations does not give rise to the same changes; that is, the same technology might engender different impacts and these differences are due not to the characteristics of the technology itself, but to the characteristics of the context and the relationships that are established among all the factors involved.

About the Author
Anabela Sarmento is a professor at the Institute of Administration and Accountancy (ISCAP)/Polytechnic School of Porto (Portugal). She is also an invited researcher at the Algoritmi R & D Center, Information Systems Group, at the University of Minho (Portugal). She lectures courses related to business communication, information society, and interactive marketing. Her primary area of research is the impact of information systems on organizations, namely in the domain of communication, knowledge and organizational learning, as well as in the role of the context in the use of information systems. She is also interested in knowledge management and its relation with information systems. She received her doctorate in information systems from the University of Minho (Portugal) in 2002.