IKnowU, software development, usability and our users

How does the name "IKnowU" relates to what I've been working on for the past five years? I created the name IKnowU to mean the need for designing user interfaces based on the knowledge of the user. I haven't exactly worked with user interface adaptation as you might think at first. I have been working with software development processes and usability techniques aiming at making people with background knowledge on each of these two different areas communicate better.

Actually, my "users" ... just to explain, I call my users professionals or researchers who can profit from the research ideas produced up to now related to bridging the gap between software engineering and human computer interaction. Well, they are concerned with their users, who will interact with systems via user interfaces. It is their goals (both of my users and of their users) that this interaction will be the best possible. Therefore, it is expected that user interfaces are designed taking into consideration their actual users. Why? Well, in your case, do you like to use systems that seem to take you into account?

Of course, we are all users of one kind of system or another, but you are probably also an IT professional or researcher. So, what do you think that is lacking in your company or in your lab to better consider users' interests and improve the usability of the systems you develop, or design, or test, or manage...?

Tamodia 2007

Last week I attended Tamodia, the 6th International workshop on Task Models and Diagrams, organized in Toulouse, France. It was a pleasant experience for many reasons. First, I presented an article about my PhD research. It is very good to talk about your research and the discussions really help in improving the current work. I am back even more motivated. Second, the networking is always great: I met people from different countries who are working with different perspectives of user interface design and task modeling of interactive systems. Talking to them was a great opportunity to share ideas. Third, seeing all those researchers that I've read their articles is very enthusiastic. Fourth, having a friend as one of the program chairs is interesting to closely follow how much hard work it is to organize all the details of a conference, but also to see that in the end, it is worth while. Last but not least, the fun part of seeing old friends and meeting new people was great, especially during the visit to the town hall (in the picture below) and the gala dinner that took place during a boat ride in the Garonne river.