CHI 2006 Workshop
Reality Testing:
HCI Challenges in Non-Traditional Environments
April 22, 2006 * Hyatt Regency * Montreal, Quebec, Canada

News:

Notes from the workshop are available here.

We are on the CHI blog roll! Please help us blog about the Reality Testing workshop. Send text emails about the workshop to RealityTesting -at- gmail.com and pictures to them74stage2blog -at- photos.flickr.com.

Workshop schedule posted.

Check out our accepted workshop papers.

Workshop participant list posted.

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The proposed workshop focuses on the challenges associated with conducting user studies in non-traditional environments. Non-traditional environments often change rapidly without forewarning, are difficult or impossible to control, and have other environmental and operational constraints that cannot easily be modeled in a laboratory, partly because the necessary level of ecological validity is almost impossible to achieve in the artificial lab environment. Examples of non-traditional environments include, but are not limited to, healthcare facilities, emergency response sites, home environments, and military areas.

Challenges Addressed in the Workshop

• Identify case studies that cover several themes associated with non-traditional user studies
• Identify metrics to measure study success
• Maintain safety & health of all involved
• Gather usage feedback unobtrusively
• Identify data recording methods when traditional methods (video, voice) are not allowed
• Understand relevant ethical issues
• Explore associated costs (time and financial)

Goals of Workshop

• Share relevant experiences and research
• Discuss challenges associated with user studies in non-traditional environments
• Identify key themes for developing a framework for user studies in non-traditional environments
• Develop a network to discuss studies in non-traditional environments for future scholarly endeavors

In this workshop, you will share your experiences, learn about case studies, and participate in discussions and break-out groups. You will have the opportunity to network with other participants and learn about methods to deploy and monitor applications in non-traditional environments. We will continue collaboration efforts and publish the metrics and framework.

For more information, please read our extended abstract (pdf).