HCI AS MIS - Human-Computer Interaction and Management Information Systems: Foundations - page 14

C HAPTER 3
HCI AS MIS
A DRIENNE O LNICK K UTZSCHAN AND J ANE W EBSTER
Abstract: Human-computer interaction has traditionally been studied within computer science,
engineering, psychology, and, to a much smaller degree, business. Each area brings its own
unique contributions to the field. Nevertheless, this paper presents the argument that management
information systems (MIS) researchers in business schools are distinctively positioned to address
HCI issues, as they focus on people, information technologies, and wider contextual issues. MIS
researchers' big-picture perspective, combined with related theory and rigorous methodologies,
support this position. In addition, they have the unique ability not only to study applications dur-
ing development, but to follow them through to market. For instance, there is a current void within
HCI research of large-scale studies that include employee interactions with actual technologies;
this represents a substantial opportunity for MIS researchers. This paper identifies issues that
may be inhibiting MIS's ability to take full advantage of this opportunity, and makes suggestions
for speeding up the progress of research in this area.
Keywords: Human-Computer Interaction, Management Information Systems, Reference Disci-
pline, Undergraduate Education
INTRODUCTION
“HCI often falls in the cracks between university departments, such as Psychology,
Computer Science, and perhaps Business.”
(survey respondent quoted in Singer et al., 2003)
This paper argues that business schools need to take the lead to ensure that HCI no longer falls
between the cracks. With many computer-based systems now accessible not only by employees but
by consumers and the general population, human-computer interaction (HCI) has come to repre-
sent a key topic for businesses. Well-designed software can result in business benefits such as
decreased development costs, fewer user difficulties in finding desired information on Web sites,
increased return visits and sales from e-commerce sites, and higher user satisfaction (UsabilityNet,
2003). For example, navigation features for product lists have been found to reduce the time to pur-
chase ratio, and ultimately to account for variance in monthly sales (Lohse and Spiller, 1999).
While these findings are important, the adoption of HCI design principles, such as those for
navigation, has been a slow process and to date these principles are still not fully implemented
within the marketplace. Jakob Nielsen argued that the “first ten years of commercial web sites were
a lost decade with very few designs that truly worked for customers” (Neal, 2003). According to
Norman Nielson Group researchers, the average e-commerce Web site followed only 49 percent
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