CHALLENGES OF TEACHING FOR INNOVATION – CASE STUDY IN HCI

Abstract

The IT industry demand for innovation calls for
appropriate professional education. In the Human-
Computer Interaction area, innovation is related to finding
new ways to improve the quality of the user’s experience
with computational artifacts. The use of qualitative methods
in HCI design and evaluation carries the promise to meet
this demand, especially because such methods typically
produce unexpected and unsuspected knowledge about
users’ experiences, demands and opinions. In this paper we
discuss the results of a case study we have done to explore
the challenges involved in teaching two qualitative methods
proposed by Semiotic Engineering: Semiotic Inspection and
Communicability Evaluation. The major findings point at the
difficulty to teach a different way of thinking, one that does
not rely on the logico-mathematical reasoning widely known
to IT professionals and students. Considering the challenges
involved in facing this difficulty, our results suggest the need
for innovation in the education process itself.

Index Terms ⎯ HCI evaluation methods, innovation,
qualitative method, Semiotic Engineering.