MASKERY%BNR.CA@MITVMA.MIT.EDU (Helen Maskery, H.S.) (02/20/89)
The following is a Call for Participation for a CHI '89 workshop
that may be of interest to some of you people working with the
X Window System. If you know of someone else who might be interested
in participating, please forward this mail message to them. Please
note that participation is by invitation only and that to be invited,
you must submit a position paper. We regret because of the nature of
the workshop, only a limited number can be invited.
Because of the tight deadlines, we are willing to receive position
papers by electronic mail or by fax.
E.Mail address: BITNET: MASKERY@BNR.CA
Fax number: (613) 763 2626
If you have any questions, please send email to me at the above address.
Helen Maskery
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CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
CHI '89 Workshop on
Context: in the Eyes of Users and in Computer Systems
The workshop on Context is scheduled as part of the CHI'89 Conference
in Austin, Texas and will be held on April 30 - May 1, 1989. The
objective of the two day workshop is to explore the user interface
issues associated with context. The primary goals are to establish
what context means to users of complex systems, to explore the methods
by which context may be maintained in the user interface, and to
determine the architectural implications of supporting context with
regard to system and application software.
Context is a subjective concept. It can mean many things and take
many forms. But to the user, context is all those things, both
vague and specific, which create the mental framework and
environment for the user's cognitive activities. Context includes
defined items such as user profiles. It also includes ephemeral
states such as the subset of 'objects' being worked on during that
session. And, most important, it includes the user's perception
and memory of his/her interaction with the system for that session
or over a period of time, as well as plans for future effort.
Context is not well understood from a user interface design
perspective. At the present time, systems do not adequately support
the shifting and connecting of context that occurs for users working
with complex systems to perform complex tasks. With the increased use
of workstations in the office environment along with the need to support
multiple, simultaneous tasks, the issues of context and context
maintenance are of growing importance to productivity, quality of
work, error reduction and user comfort.
Attendance at the workshop will be by invitation. It is intended
that the workshop will bring together approximately twenty people
who have relevant experience in areas such as user interface design
or research related to complex, multi-tasking and/or multi-windowing
systems; expert systems; user's mental models; and adaptive systems.
Individuals who would be able to comment on the architectural
implications of the workshop's discussions will also be welcomed.
Individuals wishing to participate are requested to submit four
copies of a position paper presenting their views on the topic of
context or on some significant issue relating to context. This
position paper should be one to two pages long and should include
a brief summary of experience in the areas listed above and a
brief description of the individual's interest in the subject of
context.
The workshop committee (Helen Maskery - BNR Ltd, Jon Meads - BNR Ltd
and John Whiteside - Digital Equipment Corporation) will issue
invitations based on the position paper and the timeliness of the
paper's submission. All invitees will be expected to actively
participate as speakers, discussants and brainstormers. They will
also be expected to contribute to a workshop report for the
SIGCHI Bulletin.
Important Dates: Four copies of position paper due by March 7th
Invitations (with agenda) sent out by March 31st
Send position papers to:
Helen Maskery
BNR Ltd, 9Y12
P.O. Box 3511, Station C
Ottawa, Ontario
CANADA