Human-Technology Interaction

Introduction

We are increasingly surrounded by digital technology. Personal computers, smartphones, social media, intelligent personal assistants, chatbots, smart speakers, and social robots are key technologies of the digital revolution that shape our everyday lives in myriad ways. Understanding how humans interact with such technologies and what impact design has becomes ever more important. This course intends to equip students with the concepts, tools and methods to analyze and understand human interaction with digital technologies.

The course considers how technology mediates communication practices, acting as a medium for human-to-human interaction (thus interfacing with the Human-Human Interaction course), as well as how people engage with digital technology as an actor in itself through human-machine communication. In the course, students will learn about psychology and communication research in user interaction with information technologies. Students also get familiarized with interaction design and how persuasive information technologies are created. Finally, ethical and sustainability-related questions will be discussed in the course, touching on aspects such as bias, fairness, trust, transparency and environmental sustainability. 

Course content

Fundamentals and Psychologically-oriented Human-Technology Interaction (HTI)

1. ​Introduction to the course: Fundamentals and theoretical foundations of HTI

2. User characteristics and the information systems use lifecycle: The role of human factors; adoption, continued use and discontinuance of technology 

3. Technology characteristics in HTI: The role of design principles, persuasive technology, and system architecture in user behavior

4. Contextual factors in HTI: Context-of-use and its role particularly in mobile technology interaction

​HTI Methods

5. Methods for HTI 1: Qualitative approaches for studying and evaluating user behavior

6. Methods for HTI 2: Quantitative approaches for studying and evaluating user behavior

Communication-Oriented HTI, Including Human-Machine Communication (HMC) and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC)

7. Communication-oriented HTI: Introduction

8. Important theories and concepts in HMC: Computers Are Social Actors (CASA), Actor-Network Theory, Affordances

9. Interaction with disembodied “smart” and AI-driven technology: Chatbots, social media algorithms, augmented reality

10. Interaction with embodied “smart” and AI-driven technology: Social robots, smart speakers, virtual reality

Practicals

11. Guest lecture(s) and/or lab visit

12. Student presentations