General Submission Instructions

The annual CHI conference is the leading forum for exchange of ideas on all aspects of Human-Computer Interaction. The HCI community includes researchers, practitioners, developers, designers, educators, and others with backgrounds in such diverse areas as computer science, behavioral and social science, and graphic and industrial design. Together we study and develop new models of computing, new interaction devices, and new applications for work, play, art, and science. We recognize the user as part of a social, physical and technical environment and we are interested in the processes of design as well as in the resulting products.

General Submission Procedure

The following information will help you prepare a successful submission for the CHI '95 technical program. This document provides general information about form and content for all submissions. Separate sections detail the unique requirements, deadlines and contact information for each participation category. All submissions require the CHI '95 Standard Cover Sheet and the CHI '95 Planning Information Sheet.

Topics

CHI '95 encourages submissions from the many perspectives that contribute to the mosaic of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). We encourage discussions of both the process and outcome of research, design, engineering, development, implementation, installation, and use. Examples include:

Analysis and Evaluation Techniques

Methods for analyzing and evaluating effectiveness of designs and implemented systems: task, function, or interaction analysis; discourse and other linguistic analyses; analysis of contents of particular domains; usability testing.

Application-Specific Designs

Interfaces for specific application areas in which the domain places significant constraints or demands on the design or implementation of the interface: intelligent tutoring systems; CAD/CAM; process and power system control; aerospace programming; expert systems; information retrieval; decision aids; creative arts; word processing and desktop publishing; aids for the impaired.

Design Process

Explorations of the design process, techniques for capturing designs, and methodologies for producing good designs: software psychology; contextual design; participatory design; design support tools; design notations; design methodologies; graphics design.

Development Tools and Methods

Toolkits and interactive systems for constructing interfaces: user interface toolkits; user interface management systems; rapid prototyping; programming assistants; specification notations.

Education

The compilation, codification, and dissemination of HCI curricula; experience with the use of such material in teaching; models of HCI as research, engineering, design, and practice.

Graphic Design and Aesthetics

Methods for creating effective graphics in interfaces: examples of effective and/or aesthetic graphics.

Group Work

Explorations of people using computers to work together, and systems for enhancing group work: observational studies; domain- specific designs; group interface design issues; development issues; impact studies of group-oriented software for cooperative work; theoretical constructs and models.

Interaction Technology and Techniques

New input/output devices and techniques, and exploration of existing devices and techniques: auditory, visual and motor input/output devices and strategies; graphic presentation techniques; data displays; visualization techniques.

Interface Components and Designs

Exploration of interaction styles, metaphors, and graphic elements that support the interface: interface metaphors; screen layout; intelligent interfaces; adaptive systems; natural language interfaces; graphical interfaces; "look and feel" designs; hypermedia; tutorials; on-line help.

Legal and Standards Issues

Patent and copyright issues, proposed standards for user interaction, and evaluations of existing standards.

Models of the User

Models of user learning and user performance; mental models of system behavior; the change in user knowledge with experience; individual differences; studies of how these models can be used to improve interfaces.

Organizational Context

Understanding how HCI design and implementation fits into the organizations that use and develop interfaces: involving users in design; role of human-computer interaction in various stages of the product development lifecycle; cost/benefit analysis; staffing for HCI; centralized/decentralized placement of HCI in an organization; training of human-computer interaction specialists.

Social Impact

The impact of computing systems on society at large: examples of how systems influence social values.

Technology Transfer

The processes by which research affects products, and the processes by which experience with product use affects research: the role and experience of HCI consultants in product design, systems analysis, and work design.

Choosing a Participation Category

The technical program of the conference is composed of 14 categories of participation. Each category has a specific section in this document. Choose the category best suited to your material. For example, many user interfaces are better presented as demonstrations or videotapes than as papers. If you are unsure of the appropriate category, consult the chairs of potential categories or a Technical Program Co-Chair.

Multiple and related Submissions

You are encouraged to prepare as many submissions as you like in the same or different categories. The same material should be presented only once in a given category. However, submissions in different categories can be used to present distinct aspects of a single project. The category and title of each related submission must be included on the Standard Cover Sheet.

Quality

Submissions will be reviewed using a high standard for content and presentation. Primarily, this means that you should have something new and significant to say, you should state it clearly, and you should support your statements. The range of perspectives at CHI '95 will be broad and the nature of the claims and the support of those claims will vary widely. Therefore, clearly indicate the perspective you are adopting, so all audiences (particularly the reviewers) will be able to evaluate your work against the appropriate standards.

All abstracts and submissions should address the following:

Context

Subject area and perspectives of you and your intended audience.

Domain of HCI. The task being done, the class of users doing it, and the technology being used. Examples: hallway operation of photocopiers; administrators' creation of spreadsheets; the simultaneous alteration of an architectural plan by architects, interior designers, and clients world wide.
Author perspectives. Examples: Researcher (psychologist, computer scientist, ethnographer); developer (prototyper, implementer, installer, system analyst, graphic artist); user (specialist, casual); manager (of researchers, developers, managers).
Audience perspectives. Examples: ethnographer; software engineer; human factors consultant; graphic designer; research psychologist; end user; manager.

Contribution

The relationship of this work to similar work in the field.

Background and related work: Who has studied this before, and from what perspectives?
Lessons learned: How does this work go beyond what has been done before?
Innovation: What are the new ideas in this work?

Content

The central message, and why you and the audience ought to believe it.

Claims: What question(s) or issue(s) are you addressing? What do you have to say about the issue(s)?
Description: What was done, and by which method?
Justification: Given the author's perspective, why should the audience believe the author's claim? The author's perspective will determine the established standards for these justifications (e.g., experimental psychology requires statistical proof, implementations require resource usage statistics, field experience might use videotape analysis or questionnaires).

Consequences

The practical implications of the audience believing the content.

Action: What should the audience do differently if and when they have accepted your message?
Directions: What are the directions for future work based on this work (new questions, next studies, new experiences)?

Cover and Planning Information Sheets

Every copy of each technical program submission must include a CHI '95 Standard Cover Sheet and a Planning Information Sheet.

E-mail Version of Forms

For an electronic version of these forms, send a message containing the line
send coversheets
to chi95-call@sigchi.acm.org.

Format

All material must be submitted in the Conference Proceedings format. Separate sections of this document detail the unique requirements such as page limit and additional formatting guidelines for each participation category. Contact the appropriate co-chair if you have questions about submission requirements for a particular category, either by post or electronic mail. If all else fails, you may contact either of the Technical Program Co-Chairs.

Regard all submitted material as FINAL.

Multiple Copies REQUIRED

CHI '95 requires multiple copies of all material (including cover sheets). See the instructions for each participation category for the number of copies required.

Sending Your Submission

Submissions must be received by the appropriate deadline. Submissions received after a deadline will not be considered. Specific deadlines and contact information can be found in the instructions for each participation category.

We strongly suggest the use of express mail or a courier service. International mail may require 2 weeks or longer for delivery. If necessary, allow ample time for customs clearance. Customs labels should bear the words "Educational materials with no commercial value".

No FAX or E-mail submissions will be considered for review purposes.

International Issues

The written and spoken language of CHI '95 is English as appropriate for presentation to an international audience. See the appropriate section of the Conference Proceedings format for comments on language and writing style.

Recognizing that differences in cultures and languages may make participation more difficult for non-native English speakers, CHI '95 is encouraging participation from all over the world in the following ways:

Conference committees are composed of individuals from a variety of countries and disciplines.
Submission review guides are available.
Reviewers consider technical quality of submissions to be more important than the quality of the English.
Non-native English speakers may contact a Regional Coordinator for assistance with English language presentation or other aspects of the submission process. Regional Coordinators should be contacted at least four weeks before a submission deadline.

Review Process

All submissions will be reviewed by the technical area chairs and their committees. Submissions will be evaluated according to accepted international standards of excellence, as determined by the nature of the submission and the material presented.

Appropriate reviewers will be selected based on the type of submission indicated on the standard cover sheet. Reviewers will judge according to criteria appropriate to the type as well as to the content or application area and the participation category.

Submitters with deadlines in September 1994 or earlier will be notified of acceptance or rejection by the end of November 1994.

Submitters with deadlines after September 1994 will be notified of acceptance or rejection by mid-January 1995. For these later deadlines, the original submission is the camera-ready copy.

Upon Acceptance

If your submission is accepted, you will receive detailed presentation instructions, copyright forms, and more specific forms for requesting audio/visual and computer support . The copyright release forms, signed by the first-listed or lead author, must be received before material will be released for publication.

Conference Proceedings and CD-ROM

Accepted papers will be published in the CHI '95 Conference Proceedings. Other material will be published in the Conference Companion, a separate volume. For detailed information on the format requirements for the Proceedings and Companion, see the Conference Proceedings format.

Submissions will also be published electronically on CD-ROM. All accepted submitters will be requested to send in an electronic copy of their materials for the CD-ROM Proceedings and Companion. Detailed instructions will be included with the acceptance letter.

Keith Instone // instone@acm.org // 94-12-06