Interaction specialist group: About Interaction

The group has recently changed its name and identity to reflect its more international profile, its emphasis on interaction, and its committment to engaging with all levels of interest in the subject, whether from academic, commerical, government, policy-making or media circles.

Aims and interests

• Founded in 1984, Interaction is a specialist group of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT. It provides an organisation for all those working on the analysis, design, implementation and evaluation of technologies for human use.
• The HCI group works to break down barriers and to promote communication between people who use computers, people who implement them, and people who investigate HCI issues. The group works with professional societies to support practitioners and to promote standards of HCI within the information and communications technology industries.
• HCI research and practice draws on a wide range of disciplines. Members of Interaction come from backgrounds in: computer science; human factors; software engineering; ethnography; technical writing; cognitive psychology; sociology; organisational development; systems analysis; graphic design; programming; anthropology; industrial design; process re-engineering; IT management; and many other disciplines.
• Members' professional interests include: user interface analysis, design and evaluation; the structure of communication between humans and computers; human-centred hardware and software engineering; characterisation of the use and contexts of use for interactive systems; methodology of design and design management; innovation of new applications and products.

Interfaces

Interaction publishes Interfaces, the award winning quarterly magazine for members, with features, events, reviews and jobs.

Executive committee

Interaction is served by an executive committee comprising representatives from a broad range of academic and industrial centres of HCI interest. The Executive Committee is committed to promoting the education and practice of HCI and to supporting HCI people in industry and academia.