[M7] Conclusions

What I take away from these reading exercises, apart from quite large set of english vocabulary that I did not know they existed before!, is:

- Theory is important to reason about the problem, to develop a common vocabulary to communicate ideas, to have a framework to evaluate and predict effects, and to improve.(about the improvement: it is very difficult to change and improve something when we don't have a theory as a "frame of reference" behind what we are doing) and of course it is not everything, and it does not mean that we should force fit things into theories!

- There is not only one(or even limited number ) of "right" way to research and develop in HCI. one theory or approach might be more suited to a particular setting but other may fit another situation.
it is important to keep an open mind about new approaches particularly in ever changing technologic world.

- As a student or anyone who practices design in HCI, we should keep in mind that many theories and approaches need skill and practice to be understood and work properly.

The last chapter (this sounded so sad!)
Last chapter gives an overview of the evolution in HCI, starting from importing pure theories from other fields such as psychology and cognitive science to practical frameworks tailored for HCI type of practice and hybrid approaches which combines methods from different sources.
It then analyses the success of different approaches : a framework should be abstract enough to be applied in different problem setting and with different tool sets, but at the same time prescriptive enough to be able to map into real life situations.
HCI researchers should try to close the gap between theory and practice by developing practical frameworks for theories. the contribution of each theory to to the field should be valued. and discarding all the old theories in rise of a new one should be limited: at the end each of them are pieces of the same one bigger picture.


30 concepts: cognitive psychology, user capabilities, user limitations, goals, design, artefact, interaction , group work, society, human, cultural values, social values, design, community, ethnography, context, learning, technology, experience, emotions, reflection, rules, tools, activity, lifestyle, value sensitive, learning, usability