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Semiotics, Human-Computer Interaction and End-User Development:Special Issue
No full textSemiotics has been an undercurrent in the discussions on HCI and Programming Languages since the early days of Computer Science. This does not come as surprise: reducing computation to algorithmic symbol manipulation starting with Leibniz can be described as the pre-history of computer science (Krämer 1988; Krämer 1993). The Turing Machine, still one of the basic theoretical models for computation, expresses computation as formal symbol manipulation (Turing 1936). Though rather caused by serendipitous collocation, the re-interpretation of Chomsky”s generative grammars, that were meant to describe human language, has been used as a theoretical base for programming languages and compiler construction (Chomsky 1956; Chomsky & Schützenberger 1963; Knuth 1963). Aspects of programming language were early on denoted using semiotic terms: syntax stands for the rules on how to formulate a computer program, semantics refers to studying the computation described by a program. Also the relationship between natural language and programming language has been the subject of reflection for programming language researchers time and again. Heinz Zemanek”s publications on Wittgenstein and programming languages (1966, 1993) can here stand as an example.
When it comes to Human Computer Interaction (HCI), the discussion around computing and Semiotics is more diverse. The semiotic and linguistic theories that are brought into play are as heterogeneous as the computer science subdisciplines. An editorial cannot provide a systematic literature review. Nonetheless we would like to provide the interested reader with a number of pointers that could be a starting point for further reading. We apologize to readers who do not find their favorite articles on Semiotics, HCI and End User Development, since our selection is due to limited space.
Winograd and Flores” book “Understanding Computers and Cognition” in 1986 triggered a controversial discussion of speech act theory and software design that went far beyond the US community (see e.g. (Ljungberg & Holm 1995)). The discussion on the politics of (speech act) categories (Suchman 1993) sharpened sensitivity to the descriptive and analytical usage of theoretical concepts and their prescriptive usage when informing software design.
In Scandinavia, linguists and computer scientists met to discuss ordinary language in relation to computers (Bøgh Andersen and Halskov Madsen 1988; Bøgh Andersen and Bratteteig 1989). These discussions resulted in a number of monographs and edited volumes exploring the application of semiotic and linguistic theories in the context of information systems development (Bøgh Andersen 1990; Bøgh Andersen et al. 1993; Holmqvist et al. 1996). The edited volumes also provided a base to connect researchers from The Netherlands (Stamper 1996) and the US (Klein & Truex 1996) exploring the connection of linguistics and information systems in a similar way.
In Germany, Frieder Nake already in the 70 referred to aesthetic theory connecting semiotics and human computer interaction (Nake 1994). In the article “Human–computer interaction viewed as pseudo-communication” Nake and Grabowski (2001) proposed understanding informatics as technical semiotics and suggested a conceptualization of Human Computer Interaction as an interface between technical symbol manipulation and human sense making. Dittrich (1997; 1998) elaborated the pragmatic dimension of the interaction between ordinary and formal language, when developing and using software referring to Wittgenstein”s Philosophical Investigations and Humboldt”s language philosophy. Christiane Floyd, who, since the 80, had researched participatory and evolutionary software engineering, conceptualized software engineering as being concerned with “Developing and Embedding Autooperational Forms” (1997; 2002), where the concept of autooperational form describes the formal symbol manipulation defined by the program.
Besides Peter Bøgh Andersen, Mihai Nadin (Nadin 2011) and Clarisse S De Souza (DeSouza 2005) contributed continuously to the discussion on Semiotics and Computers. De Souza started to develop her semiotic engineering approach in the 90. Semiotic engineering views the whole software program as a message sent from the developer to the user of a software system on how to relate to what the software is about and how to interact through the software system (DeSouza 2005). De Souza emphasises the openness of the interpretation that the software system as a semiotic artefact triggers in ongoing cultural discourse (De Souza 2013).
Though the idea of EUD can be traced back to the early days of computer science (Mehandjiev and Bottaci 1995), the systematic research of EUD only dates back to two parallel projects, one is the European Network of Excellence resulting in (Lieberman et al. 2016) and the other is a US NSF project on End User Software Engineering, whose members joined forces to author (Ko 2011). The research on End User Development (EUD) (Lieberman et al. 2016) and End User Software Engineering (EUSE) (Ko 2011) refers both to programming language techniques and principles and to Human Computer Interaction: users are provided with interfaces that allow them to change the software they are using. These interfaces can be described as (domain specific) programming languages. EUSE research encompasses activities that lead to the creation, modification or extension of software artifacts for personal use, only by primarily addressing quality aspects that are “individual EUD activities” (Cabitza et al., 2014). EUD covers methods, situations and socio-technical environments which enable conditions that put owners of problems in charge, by defining the technical and social conditions for broad participation in design activities [Fischer, 2013]. In a wider sense EUD does not focus only on software (as do EUP and EUSE), but it “encompasses methods, techniques, methodologies, situations, and socio-technical environments that allow end users to act as professionals in those domains in which they are not professionals” (Fischer et al., in print). A more recent and updated view on EUD is reported in the new book on End-User Development (Paternò and Wulf, in print).
Piero Mussio and his group in Brescia and Milano were to our knowledge the first to explicitly relate End User Development and a semiotic take on HCI (Marcante & Mussio 2016, Valtolina et al. 2012). In particular, they presented a computer semiotic approach to describe the digital communication process and the new characteristics that have evolved from the creation and the maintenance of e-documents and the interaction with them. In this view the HCI process is seen as exchanges of messages – physical representations of e-documents - and contrasts e-document features to those of oral and written ones.
Clearly EUD takes advantage of the semiotic character of software: the functionality and appearance of a program is defined by a textual representation, which in turn can be offered, in an adequate form, to the user for manipulation. Referring to De Souza”s (2005) semiotic engineering, EUD allows the user to comment the message of the software developers not only in the same medium, by changing the text, but also by commenting on the message in a different medium, e.g. in oral feedback or by using the system in an innovative manner. In other words, taking the step to become an End User Developer, the user becomes an author, who not only communicates through the system, but changes the program or medium and enters the design discourse on an equal footing. Here EUD provides a specific challenge for the interface design: not only does the interaction with the system to achieve a goal need to be designed, but also the formulation of a program needs to be supported. Can the semiotic take on design of a computer system inform also this design?
By editing a special issue connecting semiotics and End User Development, we have invited authors to explore this area and further develop both the understanding of software systems as semiotic artefacts and the design of EUD systems. As the description of the accepted papers below indicates, the contributions provide not only a documentation of existing research, but also provide important innovative stepping stones.
Initially we received 20 submissions from authors from 11 different countries all over the world (Italy, Bangladesh, The Netherlands, Brazil, the Russian Federation, Belgium, Australia, Denmark, the US, the UK and Finland). All the papers underwent a rigid review process. After two rounds of reviews, seven papers were accepted for publication in this special issue. Accepted papers come from 3 different countries (Italy 3, Brazil 3 and Belgium 1).
The special issue consists of seven excellent papers.
Rita Barricelli and Stefano Valtolina develop, implement and evaluate “A Visual Language and Interactive System for End-User Development of Internet of Things Ecosystems” that supports trainers and athletes to make use of wearable interactive devices that allow the formulation of complex temporal rules to support lifestyle change. The language is designed both to relate to the domain of training and to steer the underpinning network of interacting sensors and activators. The evaluation shows that semiotic design leads to understandable and useful interfaces for both End User Developers and users.
The paper “Self-expression and discourse continuity in a multilevel EUD environment: The case of Moodle” by Luciana da Silveira Espindola and Milene Selbach Silveira deals with Virtual Learning Environments as a platform, allowing multiple customizations through multiple layers of (distinct) users. In particular, they focus on verifying the discourse continuity after multiple customizations by many hands, looking at how it impacts on the teacher”s self-expression and how this expression is perceived by the students, while interacting with the product of their teacher”s effort.
The paper “An analysis of deictic signs in computer interfaces: contributions to the Semiotic Inspection Method” by Aron Daniel Lopes, Vinicius Carvalho Pereira and Cristiano Maciel analyses the concept of deictic signs in digital games. Deictic signs in this case are here signs that establish an indexical relation with the objects they refer to, placing them in terms of space, time and person with a reference to the communication through the interface. They are considered as a component of the conceptual framework of Linguistics and Semiotics that can be added to the Semiotic Inspection Method (SIM) when the method is adapted to approach digital games better.
The paper “The semiotics of configurations for the immanent design of interactive computational systems”, by Federico Cabitza and Alvise Mattozzi, proposes a novel semiotic approach to the design of interactive systems and computational systems, called Semiotics of Configurations (SoC). The approach has inspired a platform for user-driven development and the use of electronic documents and forms in cooperative and organizational domains, such as hospital work.
The article “Signifying Software Engineering to Computational Thinking Learners with AgentSheets and PoliFacets” by Ingrid Monteiro, Luciana Salgado, Marcelle Mota, Andreia Liborio Sampaio and Clarisse de Souza evaluates an approach to computational thinking acquisition (CTA) that is based on an understanding of programming as communication when it supports the core notions of (End User) Software Engineering: requirements, design, reuse testing and debugging. The result shows that a semiotic approach to End User Programming is compatible with the teaching and implementation of software engineering concepts, though it requires a knowledgeable teacher who can draw the connection between the features of the End User Programming environment and the software engineering concepts.
Daniela Fogli in her article “Weaving Semiotic Engineering in Meta-Design: A Case Study Analysis” takes the application of a semantic understanding of programs as communication between software engineers and users a step further. She uses it to explore the relationship between software engineers responsible for the design of an EUD environment (meta design) and the domain expert using that environment to implement concrete applications for other users. The message in meta-design seen as communication is therefore a message about what kind of messages can be designed to be communicated to the (other) users by the end user developer, and how the dialogue between users and end user developers is meant to evolve
Roles supporting a new idea of development in organizational informatics
No full textL’articolo prende in considerazione una serie di nuove figure che sono emerse negli ultimi tempi in ambito organizzativo a supporto dei processi automatizzati da tecnologie dell’informazione (IT). Ad una rapida disamina di questi ruoli segue l’introduzione di una nuova figura più orientata all’appropriazione delle IT da parte degli utenti finali e alla promozione di un atteggiamento più attivo da parte di questi nel processo di sviluppo, inteso in senso lato, per ridurre il rischio di fallimento di iniziative complesse di informatizzazione organizzativa
Proceedings of the CHItaly 2015 Doctoral Consortium (DC@CHItaly 2015)
No full textPreface:
This volume collects the papers presented at the CHItaly 2015 Doctoral Consortium, held in Rome (Italy) on September 28th, 2015. The CHItaly conference is a biannual event organized by the SIGCHI Italian Chapter. After the successful first edition in 2013, it hosted for the second time a Doctoral Consortium with the aim of supporting PhD students to present and share ideas about their research and gather feedback from senior experts. A good number of contributions was received, mainly from Italian PhD students but also from abroad. After a careful review process, we finally selected 7 papers for presentation at the doctoral consortium. The selection was based on the maturity of the described research and its potential impact, and on quality of writing and presentation. The accepted papers span a good variety of themes, showing the vitality of the Italian CHI community and its capability to attract contributions from abroad. During the event, PhD students were provided with a friendly and lively atmosphere for presenting their research ideas and exchanging experiences with other students. They also received useful suggestions from senior researchers for the completion of their dissertation. We are immensely grateful to the panel of experts attending the event, and to the reviewers of the papers, namely Federico Cabitza, Francesco Colace, Daniela Fogli, Stephen Kimani, Andrea Marrella, Stavros Vassos, Andrea Vitaletti, who provided careful reviews and supportive feedbacks on the students’ current research and guidance on future directions. Wealso deeply thank the PhD students, for contributing and enthusiastically presenting their research, and the CHItaly 2015 Conference Chairs for giving us the possibility of organizing the Doctoral Consortium
The Ecology of Participants in Co-evolving Socio-technical Environments
No full textThe traditional notions of developer and user are unable to reflect the fact that many software systems nowadays are developed with the participation of many people of different interests and capabilities. The sharp distinction between users and developers gets blurred. Many researchers have used different concepts such as end-user developer, prosumer, pro-am to describe those new in-between roles. This paper provides a conceptual framework for characterizing varied activities that all people involved in using and developing software systems from a socio-technical perspective. The conceptual framework clarifies the spectrum of different use and development activities by a continuum of participants with different roles. Based on the framework, we analyze how participants change their roles to migrate from users to developers through interactions, and how such interactions co-evolve both the community and software artifacts
End Users as Unwitting Software Developers
No full textThe widespread use of personal software systems and the boom of the so-called Web 2.0 is erasing the distinctions between those who create software products and those who use or consume them. End users are increasingly involved in the design and development of the tools they use. Unfortunately, there is a high incidence of errors in applications developed by end users. In this paper, a view on end-user development is outlined, which identifies the communication gap between end users and professional software developers as one main source of errors. The spectrum of users that lie between pure end users and professional developers is examined. In particular, the focus is on a particular type of end users that are very active in shaping software tools to their needs without being aware that they are programming: in short, they are unwitting programmers. Their characteristics and their need of appropriate development techniques and environments are analyzed. Finally, the metadesign participatory approach we have developed is briefly described to show how it fills the communication gap and well supports the activities of unwitting programmers
A Design Methodology for Tailorable Visual Interactive Systems
No full textThe paper presents an approach to the design of visual interactive systems that are tailored to users’ needs, preferences, culture, skills, background, but also permit users to further
personalize them. The approach is based on a new conceptual model for interactive systems, and proposes a method to perform their formal design, which leads to two kinds of specification, one suitable for end users and the other suitable for software engineers. The design specifications are then directly mapped to the implementation architecture, which is based on XML technology. The discussion is carried out with reference to an example in the mechanical engineering domain
Software Shaping Workshops: Environments to Support End-User Development
No full textIn the Information Society, end-users keep increasing very fast in number, as well as in their demand with respect to the activities they would like to perform with computer environments, without being obliged to become computer specialists. There is a strong request of providing end-users with powerful and flexible environments, tailorable to the culture, skills and needs of very diverse end-user population. In this paper, we discuss a framework for End-User Development (EUD) and present our current work to design environments that support the activities of domain expert users, with the objective of easing the way these users work with computers. Such environments are called workshops in analogy to artisan workshops since they provide users with the tools, organized on a bench, that are necessary to accomplish their specific activities by properly “shaping” software artifacts
Designing Flexible User Interfaces
No full textIn the design of computer systems, human diversity and their specific needs have been neglected in the past, possibly because engineers were developing products for end users who were very much like themselves. The large impact that computer systems have nowadays on the increasing number of different users brings to consider traditional Human-Computer Interaction topics, such as usercentered design, usability engineering, accessibility, information visualization, very important also for Information Systems, since they influence technology usage in business, managerial, organizational and cultural contexts. People would like computer systems that can be tailored to their individual needs and working practices. To this aim, systems must be developed whose user interfaces is flexible and personalizable, i.e., it permits end users to modify or add new functionalities, still being simple and easy to use, not requiring any programming knowledge. In this paper, we discuss an approach that gives end users the possibility to tailor presentation as well as functionalities of the system they use, thus supporting users to participate in the design of their tools
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