Section: Research Program

Multi-disciplinary Research

InSitu uses a multi-disciplinary research approach, including computer scientists, psychologists and designers. Working together requires an understanding of each other's methods. Much of computer science relies on formal theory, which, like mathematics, is evaluated with respect to its internal consistency. The social sciences are based more on descriptive theory, attempting to explain observed behaviour, without necessarily being able to predict it. The natural sciences seek predictive theory, using quantitative laws and models to not only explain, but also to anticipate and control naturally occurring phenomena. Finally, design is based on a corpus of accumulated knowledge, which is captured in design practice rather than scientific facts but is nevertheless very effective.

Combining these approaches is a major challenge. We are exploring an integrative approach that we call generative theory, which builds upon existing knowledge in order to create new categories of artefacts and explore their characteristics Our goal is to produce prototypes, research methods and software tools that facilitate the design, development and evaluation of interactive systems  [34] .