Workshop on Touch Affordances at Interact 2009

The Workshop on Touch Affordances is being held as part of the Interact 2009 conference on human-computer interaction in Uppsala, Sweden on August 25. Here is the call for participation:

Interfaces involving touch-based interactions (e.g. (multi)touch
screens, NFC/RFID, ubiquitous interfaces) require very simple user
actions. However, such interfaces often are unfamiliar to users and
therefore do not trigger correct interactions. This leads to the
question of how to design simple, intuitive touch-based interfaces. In
most cases the interaction is made clear by adding (graphic) signage.
However, in this workshop, the concept of touch affordances will be
approached from a broader perspective.

The goals of this workshop are to:

•    start up a community around this topic

•    create a common understanding of touch affordances

•    generate new research ideas

The creative, generative workshop will have four sessions:

1.    Keynote presentation and wrap-up of position papers

2.    Introduction to creative part of the workshop and a brainstorm exercise.

3.    Group exercise: developing low-fi touch affordance prototypes

4.    Prototype testing

Anyone interested in touch-based interfaces and interaction is
invited to participate. Participants are asked to submit a position
paper (about 4 pages) about their work or vision related to the field
of touch affordances. Examples of relevant issues are:

•    Methods to communicate touch-based interaction in an intuitive, implicit way

•    Success stories of intuitive touch interfaces

•    The value of “touch” with regard to user perception

•    The impact of a touch-related interface on user experience

Link: Touch Affordances.

The deadline for submitting position papers is June 15.