|
"How People Treat Computer and Web Interfaces Like People"
Clifford Nass
12:00 Noon
Reception at 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, November 8, 2001
102 Pettit Building (MiRC)
|
Abstract:
Computer and Web users believe that interfaces are mere tools and should be
responded to as machine-like. In this talk, I'll present a series of recent
experimental studies that demonstrate that users unconsciously apply a wide
range of social rules and hueristics to interfaces, leading to a number of
counter-intuitive results. Among the issues to be addressed are: Will
people reciprocate to computers that help them? Should computers tell
jokes? Are multiple synthetic voices different than one? Can interfaces
have "personality" and "emotion," and how does that affect e-commerce? Are
their cultural differences in responses to interfaces? Should interfaces
say "I"? When are agents liked more than people? Throughout the talk, I'll
highlight implications for design and theory.
Bio:
Clifford Nass is a Professor of Communication at Stanford University, with
appointments by courtesy in Science, Technology, and Society, Sociology, and
Symbolic Systems. He is Director of the Interface Lab at the Center for the
Study of Language and Information (CSLI) at Stanford. He is author (with
Byron Reeves) of The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers,
Televisions, and New Media Like Real People and Places (New York: Cambridge
University Press), a book manuscript, Voice Activated: Psychology and
Design of Voice Interfaces, and over 50 papers and book chapters in the
areas of human-computer interaction. His primary research area is how
people use social rules and heuristics to respond to and assess interfaces.
His current research focuses on voice interfaces and character interfaces;
he has one patent and a patent in submission based on his interface
research. He has consulted on the design of over 100 media products for
companies including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, US West, Charles
Schwab, Finali, and General Magic.
|
|
|
|
|
