Computer Systems Experiences of Users with and without Disabilities

This book provides to manufacturers, designers and evaluation professionals the necessary tools for balancing design and the assessment phases during the product lifecycle. It proposes an integrated model of interaction evaluation for a holistic analysis of the user experience by both discussing in details the interaction testing methods, and promoting the involvement of disabled users in human computer interaction evaluation.

Simone Borsci holds a PhD in cognitive psychology at the Sapienza University of Rome and currently works as a researcher at Brunel University of London. His researches are focused on different aspects of interaction: the user experience evaluation of interfaces and artifacts, the user preference analysis before and after use, the application of estimation models for determining an optimized sample size for an evaluation test, and the matching between assistive technologies/medical devices and users’ needs. He is also an author or a contributor of more than 30 publications.

Masaaki Kurosu is a professor at the Open University of Japan. He is also the president of Human-Centered Design Network in Japan. Based on his experience as a usability professional in industry and academia, he proposed the concept of user engineering and the idea of artifact development analysis as well as the new concept of experience engineering. Professor Masaaki received his MA in psychology from Waseda University. He served as a conference chair in many international conferences and is an author or a contributor of more than 40 books.

Stefano Federici, PhD, currently serves as a professor of general psychology and psychology of disability at the University of Perugia, Italy. He is a member of the editorial board of Disability and Rehabilitation: AssistiveTechnology and Cognitive Processing as well as of the Scientific Committee of the International Conference on Space Cognition. He has authored more than 150 international and national publications on cognitive psychology, psychotechnology, disability,sexuality and disability, and usability. He currently leads the CognitiveLab research team at the University of Perugia.

Maria Laura Mele is a psychologist. She received her PhD in cognitive, physiological, and personality psychology from the Interuniversity Center for Research on Cognitive Processing in Natural and Artificial Systems (ECoNA) of the Sapienza University of Rome. Her main research topics are focused on usability and user experience of visual and sonified human–computer interfaces, with a focus on both implicit and explicit cognitive components involved in human interaction processes. She is currently a member of the CognitiveLab research team at the University of Perugia.