CHI 97 Electronic Publications: Tutorials
Social and Natural Interfaces: Theory and Design
Clifford Nass
Department of Communication
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-2050 USA
+1 415 723 5499
nass@leland.stanford.edu
Byron Reeves
Department of Communication
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-2050 USA
+1 415 725 3033
reeves@leland.stanford.edu
ABSTRACT
This tutorial will cover issues related to the theory and design of social
interfaces. The presentation is based on a
long-term research project at Stanford University called Social Responses
to Communication Technology (SRCT).
This research shows that all people expect computers to obey a wide range
of social and natural rules. The tutorial
will cover 24 different concepts taken from the social science literature
(e.g., personality, politeness, emotions),
discussing both experimental results and the implications of results for
the design of interfaces. The presentation will
include an evaluation of current interfaces. The tutorial is for
designers, usability specialists, and anyone interested in
creating or assessing interfaces that conform with social and natural
rules. No knowledge of programming is necessary.
Keywords
Social responses to communication technology; SRCT; interface design;
social science methods; personality
© 1997 Copyright on this material is held by the authors.
OVERVIEW OF TUTORIAL
This tutorial will cover issues related to the theory and design of social
interfaces. The basis for the presentation is a
long-term research project at Stanford University called Social Responses
to Communication Technology (SRCT).
This research shows that all people expect computers to obey a wide range
of social and natural rules. The research
has several implications for interface design.
The tutorial will cover 24 different concepts taken from the social science
literature, discussing both the experimental
results and the implications of those results for the design of interfaces.
We will briefly discuss each of these concepts
in the presentation. Below is a list of concepts, along with a sample
question covered under each concept.
Manners
Flattery (When should computers flatter a user?)
Politeness (Are people polite to computers?)
Interpersonal Distance (Can a picture of an agent invade a person's body
space?)
Reciprocity (Are users more helpful when a computer helps them?)
Errors (how do you make someone feel better when a mistake is made?)
Personality
Personalities of Characters (how little does it take to give a character a
personality?)
Personality of Interfaces (can a text-based interfaces without artificial
intelligence have a personality?)
Imitating Personality (do users like computers that change personalities to
match them?)
Emotion
Negativity (do users remember negative experiences more than positive
ones?)
Arousal (how can software arouse the user?)
Roles
Teammate (how can a computer become a teammate?)
Specialist (what makes an agent a specialist?)
Gender (will people gender stereotype computers based on the gender of its
voice?)
Mode of Input (does the mode of input change the social presence of the
interface?)
Form
Size (does the size of a screen matter?)
Fidelity (which is more important: audio fidelity or video fidelity?)
Synchrony (how important is audio/video synchrony?)
Motion (is motion in the center of the screen different than motion in the
periphery)?
Cuts (how does appearance and disappearance of windows affect user's
attention and memory?)
Subliminal Images (do subliminal images affect people's feelings?)
FORMAT OF THE TUTORIAL
The first two parts of the tutorial will be lecture format, although
questions from the audience will be welcomed. The
final part of the presentation will ask participants to evaluate various
interfaces in terms of the ideas presented in the
earlier parts of the tutorial. Among the interfaces to be evaluated will
be the new "Office Assistant" in the Microsoft
Office 97 suite. This new feature combines social representations with
intelligent help. Other interfaces to be
considered include Microsoft Bob, Magic Cap, Compton's Encyclopedia (video
representation of Patrick Stewart in
the help system), and Interactive Legal Learning (interaction with video
experts).
GOALS OF THE TUTORIAL
The tutorial has five goals. First, participants will hear about the
theoretical and empirical framework for social and natural
interfaces, a rapidly growing category of interfaces. Second, the tutorial
will provide over 100 specific guidelines for how to
design interfaces that conform with social and natural rules. These
interfaces are known to be easy to use and well-liked.
Third, participants will learn how to apply methodologies taken from the
social sciences, including questionnaires, reaction-
time, and physiological measures, to develop quantitative and empirical
assessments of user reactions to interfaces. Fourth,
we will summarize all of the available research on social and natural
interfaces. Finally, we will discuss when social and
natural interfaces might be undesirable, as well as when they are desirable.
AUDIENCE FOR THE TUTORIAL
The audience for the tutorial should include designers, usability
specialists, and anyone else interested in creating or
assessing interfaces that conform with social and natural rules. The
tutorial will be appropriate for novice,
intermediate, or advanced individuals. No knowledge of programming is
necessary.
PRESENTERS
Clifford Nass (Ph.D., Sociology, Princeton University) is an associate
professor of Communication at Stanford
University, with appointments in Science, Technology, and Society,
Sociology, and Symbolic Systems. He
previously worked as a computer scientist at Intel and the IBM Research
Center. Byron Reeves (Ph.D.,
Communication, Michigan State University) is the Paul C. Edwards Professor
of Communication at Stanford
University and Director of the Institute for Communication Research. They
are co-authors of The Media Equation:
How People Treat Computers, Television, and New Media Like Real People and
Places (Cambridge University
Press). They are the founders and directors of the Social Responses to
Communication Technology project at Stanford
University, an industry-supported research consortium in the Center for the
Study of Language and Information. They
have consulted on software design for numerous companies, including
Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and LG
Electronics. They are widely published in human-computer interaction,
communication, and psychology.
REFERENCES
Reeves, B., and Nass, C. The Media Equation: How People Treat Computers,
Television, and New Media Like Real
People and Places, Cambridge University Press and CSLI, New York.
CHI 97 Electronic Publications: Tutorials
