Calls for Papers (special): International Journal of Information Systems and Social Change (IJISSC)

Special Issue On: Methodological Developments and User Oriented Design in Social and Applied Ergonomics

Submission Due Date
6/30/2012

Guest Editors
Dr. Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India
Prof. T. T. Narendran, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India
Dr. K. Ganesh, IBM India Private Limited, India
Dr. Paik Sihyun, YanBian University of Science Technology, China

Introduction
In recent years there has been a growing interest in the possibility of utilizing methodological developments within social science to examine the ways in which tools and technologies are used within real world, work settings. It has been argued that ethno methodology, conversation analysis and cognate approaches could provide a thorough alternative to the more traditional investigations of human computer interaction and generate new and distinctive approaches to the area of user centered design. These initiatives derive in part from the convergence of two interrelated concerns. On the one hand, a growing dissatisfaction amongst scholars from various disciplines with plan based models or goal oriented models of human conduct and machine interaction, and the other, the idea that successful design and the development of useful tools and technologies is dependent on an understanding of the ordinary work practices, tasks and situational requirements of the users suggests that we need to move away from laboratory studies of cognition “which have deliberately stripped away the supporting context of the everyday world, in an effort to study ‘pure’ internal processes” and explore task coordination and computer support in real world work settings. However, save for some important exceptions there is little empirically based research which has attempted to utilize current developments in social science not only to explicate technologically informed tasks and activities in real world settings, but also to consider how these methodological insights might provide a distinctive approach to user-centered design. Research which includes a wide diversity of systems, ranging from the simple to the relatively complex, and cover a diverse range of work environments, tasks and very different forms of human-computer interaction is needed.

Objective
The objective of this special issue is to contribute new insights to the extant body of knowledge in the domain of “Methodological Developments and User Oriented Design in Social and Applied Ergonomics”. The special issue is intended for revised and substantially extended versions of selected papers submitted at the International Conference on Ergonomics and Human Factors: Innovation and Usability in Product Development - Humanizing Work and Work Environment (HWWE 2011) on 15th to 17th December, 2011 (http://www.hwwe2011.org/) organized by Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India.  However, we also encourage other researchers to submit their manuscripts to this special issue.

Recommended Topics
Topics to be discussed in this special issue include (but are not limited to) the following in social and applied ergonomics:

• Advanced collaborative environments
• Comfort design in ergonomics
• Communicative repair in user-system interaction
• Community realignment, work and leisure perspective
• Customer voice in ergonomics
• Developments in society and benefits
• Empirical research in applied ergonomics
• Environmental issues and good practices in social security
• Experimental research in social and applied ergonomics
• Globalization and localization in social ergonomics context
• Human computer interaction in social ergonomics    
• Humanitarian and economic evaluations
• Imagined and constructed communities
• Low complexity product design
• Low load repetitive work design
• New training strategies in social and applied ergonomics
• Relationship between information systems and the larger social environment
• Social dynamics and patterns of contact and communication
• System developments in social and applied ergonomics
• System intelligibility
• Technological implications
• Use of the larger social environment as an aid to understanding information systems
• Useful mental models of the system and its associated subsystems
• User oriented design in social and applied ergonomics

Submission Procedure
Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit papers for this special theme issue on Heuristics and Meta-heuristics for Integrated Supply Chain Optimization Problems on or before June 30, 2011. All submissions must be original and may not be under review by another publication. INTERESTED AUTHORS SHOULD CONSULT THE JOURNAL’S GUIDELINES FOR MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSIONS at http://www.igi-global.com/Files/AuthorEditor/guidelinessubmission.pdf.  All submitted papers will be reviewed on a double-blind, peer review basis. Papers must follow APA style for reference citations.

All submissions and inquiries should be directed to the attention of:
Dr. Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Prof. T. T. Narendran, Dr. K. Ganesh and Dr. Paik Sihyun
Guest Editors
E-mails: chanakya@iitm.ac.in; ttn@iitm.ac.in; koganesh@yahoo.com; shpaiker@gmail.com