Human Information Communication Design

The research and education of the section focuses on studying and design of the exchange of information between users and products/systems. Current technological developments are starting to make it possible to give consumer and (semi-) professional products intelligence to such a degree that interaction between user and product is becoming a dialogue between two equal partners. This type of interaction means that a product must have sufficient insight into the behaviour and intentions of the user within a certain context in order to present information in a comprehensible manner. In this context, we are looking for ways to make the user interface so transparent that the user can carry out a certain task freely and in an intuitive manner. Knowledge about this type of information exchange is studied through fundamental and applied research, whereby the design of new multimodal interaction and communication styles plays an important role.

The research is divided into two themes, namely Informational Ergonomics, which focuses on understanding the behaviour of users interacting with intelligent, adaptive products, and Intelligence in Products, which focuses on how knowledge about users and the surroundings can be implemented in a product and how users can benefit from this knowledge. The focal point of the research is on the Research Through Design method, whereby research issues are tested using working prototypes. Future research will focus on health-related and medical themes. Both Informational Ergonomics and Social and Contextual Interaction Design are also covered by the education.

In addition to contacts and collaboration with industry, the section participates in (inter)national projects, such as CACTUS (Context Aware Communication: Terminal and User), Residential Gateway, I-SHARE, Marie Curie an Smart Surroundings.