Invited speakers

  Kristina Höök, IT University, Sweden

Kristina Höök is currently a professor in Human-Computer Interaction at the Department of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University/KTH. She leads a group working on affective interaction, with a particular focus on mobile applications. Kristina has also kept a part-time position at the Swedish Institute for Computer Science (SICS), where she previously was the laboratory manager of the HUMLE laboratory. Her previous work while at SICS focused on social navigation.

Gilbert Cockton, University of Sunderland, UK

Gilbert Cockton is Research Chair in HCI and Chair of Interactive Digital Media in the School of Computing and Technology at the University of Sunderland in the North-East of England.  He currently directs NITRO, a £3.6M collaboration between four universities that provides access to expertise and facilities for regional digital companies.  NITRO is the main university contribution to CODEWORKS, the regional centre of excellence in digital technology and media. 

Gilbert has published over 100 articles, chapters and books on user interface design and specification, software architecture, development methods, contextual design, usability evaluation and accessibility.  He has been active in the HCI professional and scientific communities for almost 20 years.  He is currently Chair of the British HCI Group, represents the UK on IFIP TC13, and is a member of SIGCHI's Conference Management Committee. Gilbert recently stepped down as Deputy Editor of the leading HCI journal Interacting with Computers.  He co-chaired CHI 2003 with Panu Korhonen of Nokia and was chair for HCI 2000.  He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and the UK's Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce.

Bonnie John, Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII)
Carnegie Mellon University, USA

Bonnie John is an  Associate Professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, and Director of their Masters in HCI Program. Her research involves creating and assessing techniques to improve the design of computer systems with respect to their usefulness and usability. To that end, she has investigated the effectiveness and usability of several HCI techniques (e.g., think-aloud usability studies, Cognitive Walkthrough, GOMS) and produced new techniques for bringing usability concerns to the design process (e.g., CPM-GOMS and software architecture evaluation for usability).

Much of her work focuses on cognitive modeling, where she works within a unified theory of cognition to develop models of human performance that are applicable to the design of computer systems. These models produce a priori, quantitative predictions of performance with less effort than prototyping and user testing.   They allow analysis at different levels of approximation so predictions appropriate to the design situation can be obtained with minimum effort.  They are straightforward enough for computer designers to use without extensive training in psychology, and, because they are within a single theory of cognition, these models are integrated enough to cover total tasks. She also works on bringing the psychology of human-computer interaction into software engineering techniques, specifically including usability concerns in software architecture design.