A process-oriented approach to the science of human-computer interaction

Mathieu Magnaudet (1) , Stéphane Conversy (1) , Stéphane Chatty (2)

1 ENAC - Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile
2 DGAC - Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile

Since the birth of the field, HCI has defined itself both as a theory of the relations between humans and numerical systems and as a practical activity that aims at building new interactive systems. However, HCI has not yet succeeded in discovering a unified theoretical framework nor in building a strong link between both activities. Based on an analysis from various fields, we show that most of the difficulties come from the computational paradigm that is still used as a foundation of most of the theories in HCI. This brings us to proposing a new philosophical view on the science of HCI, based on a process ontology. We show how it accounts for several phenomena related to HCI and unifies them. This approach lends itself to new ways of thinking and programming interaction at di↵erent scales, which may help HCI scientists in their modelling and design activities.

Domaines: Informatique [cs]; Interface homme-machine [cs.HC]

Mathieu Magnaudet, Stéphane Conversy, Stéphane Chatty. A process-oriented approach to the science of human-computer interaction. [Research Report] RR-ENAC-2019-01, ENAC. 2019. ⟨hal-02104183⟩