Writing HCI Research Papers

1
Writing (HCI) Research Papers First developed by
Duke Hutchings November 28, 2005. I was greatly
aided by - Gregory Abowd - Keith Edwards
- Beki Grinter - Elaine Huang - Jeff
Pierce Focus conference papers (though most
topics apply to journal paper writing too)
2
Typical Paper Layout Abstract summarize your
results and contributions Introduction
motivate the reader and frame your goal or
problem Related Work indicate what others did
prior to your work Your Work state what your
work is Future Work what should be tackled
next? Conclusion summary of work and
implications References listing of past and
related work
3
Paper-writing is a people business Conference
structure paper chair(s) paper
committee reviewing system You need to make
sure that - the paper gets into the right
hands - you satisfy your reviewers -
you are aligned with the right conference
4
Abstract and the Paper Chair(s) You need to make
sure that - the paper gets into the right
hands In the abstract, briefly state - the
general research area that you address - the
main result(s) that you produced - the
method(s) used to achieve the results - the
impact your result(s) will have on people Dont
put yourself halfway out the door
5
An example abstract (is this good?) (see
http//www.cc.gatech.edu/hutch/papers/hutchings20
04revisiting.shtml) Most modern computer systems
allow the user to control the space allocated to
interfaces through a window system. While much of
the understanding of how people interact with
windows may be regarded as well-known, there are
very few reports of documented window management
practices. Recent work on larger display spaces
indicates that multiple monitor use is becoming
more commonplace, and that users are experiencing
a variety of usability issues with their window
systems. The lack of understanding of how people
generally interact with windows implies that
future design and evaluation of window managers
may not address emerging user needs and display
systems. Thus we present a study of people using
a variety of window managers and display
configurations to illustrate manager- and
display-independent space management issues. We
illustrate several issues with space management,
and each issue includes discussion of the
implications of both evaluations and design
directions for future window managers. We also
present a classification of users space
management styles and relationships to window
system types.
6
Reviewers You need to make sure that - you
satisfy your reviewers This can take an
unlimited number of forms - did you talk
about your reviewers work? - does your
reviewer, an expert, understand your approach?
- does your reviewer, a novice, understand
your approach? - does your reviewer like the
topic, style, method, etc.? - do your terms
and descriptions match the reviewers? Lets
focus on writing about related work
7
Related Work and Reviewers Why do people often
fail to mention related work? - it sounds
like the work has already been done - it
looks like lots of people are already working on
it - it makes the work sound more
unique Actually, a thorough related work section
accomplishes those objectives. A weak related
work section allows your reviewer to immediately
dismiss you as uneducated and ignorant. When
mentioning related work, dont bash it -
your reviewer may have done that work - your
reviewer might think youre a jerk A better
approach is to show how your work differs from
past work and avoid any characterization of that
past work as weak or bad.
8
An example opening to related work (see
http//www.cc.gatech.edu/hutch/papers/hutchings20
04display.shtml) More users are opting for
multiple monitor systems, and initial
lab research indicates that multiple monitor
systems can help users be more productive 4 but
that multiple monitor systems could stand to gain
from advances in hardware and software design
17. These important findings motivate field
work such as ours in order to understand actual
management practices that people employ..
9
Related Work dont overdo it You have only so
much space in which to describe past work. Pick
12 20 pieces of the most relevant related work
and compare or contrast pieces of that work with
your own. Generally, - 8- is too little
- 25 is too much Note for journals, you can
spend more time on related work
10
A quick note on et al. First et al. is short
for et alia, Latin for and others. Second,
whenever possible, avoid the use of this phrase.
Would you like to be referred to as some other
person when an author references your work? In
general, et al. should refer to papers with 4
or more authors. Third, never under any
circumstances use et al. in the references
section of your paper. List every author from
the paper, whether there are 2 or 20. Fourth,
its not et. al. (two periods). Its et al. (one
period)
11
Related Work where is it? Um I new at this.
How do I find out what the related work is?
- Ask someone (actually, ask several people)
- Use the ACM Digital Library or IEEExplore
- Use Google Scholar or CiteSeer - Check
DFAB ?
12
Reviewing like your 6750 project Most
conferences use the same reviewing format from
year to year or even publish the reviewing for to
be used for the current year. Find out what the
typical reviewing form looks like and write your
paper accordingly.
13
Picking your spots You need to make sure that
- you are aligned with the right
conference Positive answers to these questions
bode well for you - Does this conference
have a history of papers on my topic? - Does
this conference have a history of papers using
my approach or method? - Does this
conference have a recent history of my topic?
- Does this years conference committee have an
expert on my topic? - Is this
conference becoming interested in my topic? A
note about conference themes typically only a
small number of papers actually address it, so
dont target it.
14
General HCI Conferences You need to make sure
that - you are aligned with the right
conference CHI The conference Interact Another
International HCI Conference HCII Another
International HCI Conference GI A Canadian HCI
Conference OZCHI An Australian HCI
Conference HCI A Bristish HCI Conference LAHCI A
Latin-American Conference on HCI
15
Specialized HCI Conferences You need to make
sure that - you are aligned with the right
conference UIST interface software and
technology CSCW collaborative and cooperative
interfaces Ubicomp ubiquitous computing InfoVis in
formation visualization AVI visual
interfaces DIS design DUX design CUU universal
usability Pervasive pervasive computing IUI intell
igent interfaces Mobile HCI mobile HCI
16
Conferences with some HCI You need to make sure
that - you are aligned with the right
conference CC cognition and creativity Assets as
sistive technology CVE collaborative virtual
environments DARE augmented reality DPPI design ET
RA eye-tracking MM multi-media NPVIM information
visualization PDC participatory
design SV software visualization
17
Picking your spots You need to make sure that
- you are aligned with the right
conference Papers get accepted for a variety of
reasons - they introduce a brand new topic
- they make significant improvement to an old
topic - they confirm an older result using a
new method - they open a very wide line of
new research opportunities - they are
controversial or provocative (but factual) By
becoming familiar with a set of conferences, you
can determine how your work best fits with a
specific conference and how it is situated within
the community of that conference
18
Various paper-writing tips Two good sites to
have in your bookmarks http//swig.stanford.edu/
fox/paper_writing.html http//www.alice.org/Randy
/raibert.htm
19
Where do I start? Beginning authors can have a
hard time understand how to get started. One of
the best approaches is to follow a successful
model, as provided by another authors past
work. - Find an oft-cited paper that is
similar to your work - Follow the leader
intro, related work, your work, etc. Beware
some aspects of that paper may have been
negatively reviewed or received by the
community-at-large Try to find a local expert
who can not only provide the paper but also
provide the reviews of the paper (including any
versions that were not accepted at a conference)
20
Trap not enough detail The authors do not
explain how their 20 participants were chosen.
21
Trap unjustified claims The authors mention
that these participants "are representative of
information workers in any company or group",
which they provide no evidence for.
22
Trap careless use of language At one point in
the paper the authors state that "We witnessed
five different ways that participants switched
among windows." Yet, they never mentioned that
they observed users interacting with their
system. - The difference between does,
will, and can is dramatic
23
Problem Statement dont overdo it One of the
contributors, who has reviewed many papers, had
this to say about authors problem
statements Too many papers try to make it sound
as though they are solving a problem for which
the current solution is completely broken For
example, if you're trying to make a cellphone
that will sense if you're in a meeting and shut
its ringer off automatically, go ahead and say
that remembering to turn it off is a problem and
that it can be annoying and disruptive when a
phone rings during a meeting. Don't say that this
is a breakdown that makes cellphones practically
unusuable and is leading to the decay of society.
24
Using images and screenshots Images and
screenshots can go a long way in helping to
explain visual concepts or dense amounts of
data. It may be hard to tell where images are
best used though because as an author, you are
intimately acquainted with your interface or
data. Get a friend to read through and ask where
pictures would help explain how an interface
works or how results compare.
25
Get proofreaders Research paper proofreading
takes two forms - traditional proofreading
grammar, spelling, clarity, etc. - content
proofreading will this paper be accepted? While
any colleague will do for traditional
proofreading, more senior students and professors
will have a better grasp of what it takes for
papers to be accepted. As a result Start
early - start writing early - start
locating proofreaders early theyre busy
people Misc. traditional proofreading tip read
backwards.
26
Going backwards a possible approach One
colleague has said this about paper-writing I
have started to shape my research such that I
write the paper before I do the research.
Since the end result of research is typically a
conference paper, I work backwards from that. I
figure out what I want to be able to say (usually
the answer to a research problem I expect to
arrive to), then figure out how I can structure
my research to arrive at that answer, then do the
research. It makes writing the actual eventual
paper very easy.
27
It takes awhile to grasp Dont feel bad if your
first attempt goes horribly wrong. It takes
awhile (mistakes) to understand the pitfalls and
gold mines. Dont necessarily feel good if your
first attempt goes well. Almost always reviewers
state concerns about the very best work. Take
the concerns to heart and try not to make those
mistakes again in future writing. So Just Do
It! The earlier you start writing, the earlier
you can move past beginners mistakes.
28
Im running out of space! Frequently you find
that you cannot fit what you want to write in the
allotted amount of space. This could be an
indication that you are not being succinct
enough. If not, dont forget these tricks -
automatic hyphenation (Word toolsgtlanguagegthyphen
ation) - spacing between lines and sections -
typically no one cares if the references are in
9pt instead of 10pt Dont forget though with so
many submissions coming into a conference and
only a limited number of reviewers available,
its easy to automatically reject papers that are
improperly formatted.