Torkil Clemmensen - Human Work Interaction Design: A Platform for Theory and Action (Human–Computer Interaction Series)

The HumanComputer Interaction Series, launched in 2004, publishes books that advance the science and technology of developing systems which are effective and satisfying for people in a wide variety of contexts. Titles focus on theoretical perspectives (such as formal approaches drawn from a variety of behavioural sciences), practical approaches (such as techniques for effectively integrating user needs in system development), and social issues (such as the determinants of utility, usability and acceptability).

HCI is a multidisciplinary field and focuses on the human aspects in the development of computer technology. As technology becomes increasingly more pervasive the need to take a human-centred approach in the design and development of computer-based systems becomes ever more important.

Titles published within the HumanComputer Interaction Series are included in Thomson Reuters' Book Citation Index, The DBLP Computer Science Bibliography and The HCI Bibliography.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6033

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Human Work Interaction Design (HWID) focuses on the integration of work analysis and interaction design methods for pervasive and smart workplaces. HWID was founded in 20052006, as the Working Group #6, part of the International Federation for Information Processing (UNESCO), specifically of its Technical Committee 13 on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). HWID had its first conference edition in February 2006, in my hometown (Funchal, Portugal). One year before that, I had the pleasure and fortune of meeting Professors Annelise Mark Pejtersen, Torkil Clemmensen, and Rikke rngreen during the INTERACT workshop that gave birth to this research field. I then involved myself further as the working groups secretary officer, from 2011 until 2014, and afterward became the groups chair, from 2014 until 2017. I still support the group as vice-chair up to the present day. Back then, the essential idea was to adapt the well-known framework of Cognitive Work Analysis into a more practical, modern format, an objective that was quite clearly attained if one judges the number of case studies, projects, papers, students, and scholars who were influencedin one way or anotherby this working groups ideas.

The many different revolutions brought about by computer systems, interfaces, and interactive techniques, have meant that HWID is a rapidly evolving discipline, like most HCI areas. Since 2005, HWID has evolved throughout the years, both as a theoretical discipline and as a practical design approach, strongly rooted in the psychology-grounded thoughts of Torkil Clemmensen. Torkils influence on my HCI practice and theory is subtle, yet extremely valuable. Therefore, it is with great enthusiasm that I write this Foreword, in the expectation that the book will influence the reader in the same way that it has influenced me, profoundly.

This new book goes well beyond covering these important topics. One of the interesting aspects I noted is that this book presents HWID as a new platform designing sociomaterial solutions that are valued by local needs and practices.

In the future, very much as in humankind's recent past, interactive technologies and systems will continue to be central to almost every human activity. Novel ways of designing and evaluating them from a socio-technical perspective will never be enough. Further research will have to be conducted to ensure that society and societal-positive impact will always be the top priority of any interactive system or technology. Fortunately, this book provides us with comprehensive coverage of how HWID can be used for both theory and action, starting with its roots in cognitive work analysis, all the way until the most recent and exciting HWID applications to the so-called smart workplace. The focus on effectively combining theory with practice is particularly appealing to me. The book excels in presenting the reader with a usable platform, a common vocabulary for large design and development teams, practical ways to overcome wicked problems (Chap. ), and many more. But it is equally enlightening in the way it handles and explains the more theoretical aspects of HWID. In the era of design thinking as a popular management approach, we now have HWID, which deems meeting business goals as the top priority but acknowledges that employees and other stakeholders might have other needs that require fulfilment.