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SituatedActionsHuman Computer Interaction, Week 9

Today’s Goals

• Know why ‘Situated Actions’ isimportant in HCI

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Complicated, Frustrating, Difficult

A Better Plan?

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You Try It

• Make a plan• Copy lecture slides• 3 copies• Double-sided• Stapled

Is this howpeople actually use

photocopiers?

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What is a Plan?

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Indexicality

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Ad Hoc

MutualIntelligibility

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Situated

Framework for analyzing Human-Computer Interaction.

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Practical Exercise

• In groups, analyse in detail an interactionbetween a person and a computerinterface. Use Suchman’s framework tomap out the actions and resources.

• Things to look for:• What resources in the context other than the

output of the machine do people use to helpthem accomplish their goal?

• What role do plans play in the interaction?

Reading

• Chapter 6 ‘Situated Actions’ in Suchman,L.A., 1987. Plans and situated actions : theproblem of human-machine communication,Cambridge ; New York: CambridgeUniversity Press.

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Image Credits

• http://www.flickr.com/photos/manifestcreative/

Notes