[ecrea] Call for Papers: Special Issue of the Personal and Ubiquitous Computing journal on “Human-Computer Interaction at the Boundary of Work and Life”

Special Issue: “Human-Computer Interaction at the Boundary of Work and Life”

Guest Editors: Erik Grönvall, Luigina Ciolfi, Gabriela Avram, Chiara 
Rossitto, Louise Barkhuus

http://hciworkandlife.wordpress.com/

This special issue of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing (Springer) on 
“Human-Computer Interaction at the Boundary of Work and Life” aims to 
explore how HCI themes, concepts, design and technical sensibilities can 
be extended and applied to practices blurring the boundary between work 
and life. Technology has moved from workplaces to become part of nearly 
every aspect of everyday life. Similarly, HCI research spans not only 
work settings and practices, but also other life domains, from family 
life, to gaming, tourism and other leisure activities. However, the neat 
distinction between which activities are work-related and which are not 
is becoming less and less meaningful, as often the spheres of work and 
life blur into each other. Similarly, the use of technology is not 
limited to specific work vs. non-work situations. It is increasingly 
difficult to keep work and life separated, to the point that attempting 
to achieve work-life balance might be counter-productive or more 
demanding than managing the blurring between them. Studies on the use of 
mobile phones, instant messaging and social media have also shown how 
the same communication channel is often used for work and private 
activities almost at the same time. Mobile technology and mobile 
interaction have often been a frame for looking at these phenomena, 
linked to the ideas of “mobilization” of practices as well as of 
infrastructure, and mobilities studies have been the frame for other 
examples of existing work on shifting patterns of home life and work 
life physically, temporally and organisationally.

This special issue will bring together a set of papers addressing the 
analytical, design and technical challenges entailed in issues of 
technology and work-life balance. Is the blurring of practices a 
problematic issue that should be addressed, or a new way of working and 
living that people are increasingly embracing? How do people coordinate 
and interact when work tasks, personal tasks and leisure tasks blur into 
each other, and how to support/facilitate/mediate this through design 
and technology innovation? How are work and life practices negotiated 
when someone’s workplace is someone else’s private space? How can we 
(re)think the design and implementation of current and novel platforms 
and services with respect these issues?

Specific topics include, but are not limited to:

Coordination, awareness, planning around work/life practices;
The permeation of work and private life with respect to managing work 
despite interruptions;
Design, implementation and evaluation of interactive systems and 
services for the support of both work and life practices;
How collaboration and social interaction occur across work and life domains;
The design of new technology platforms, services and interaction 
modalities that support/mediate the blurring of work and life;
Theoretical and methodological issues on how to study these issues 
(merging and/or developing existing frameworks, new conceptual 
approaches, developments in methodology, etc.);
Explorations of settings where this occurs (at home, in the workplace, 
on the move…).
Critical studies on the permeation of work and private life with respect 
to maintaining sustainable lifestyles;
Investigations of the reciprocal permeations of work-related values into 
private life and vice-versa.

Papers should follow the PUC instructions for authors 
(http://www.springer.com/computer/hci/journal/779)  and be submitted in 
PDF to (pucsiwork /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(pucsiwork /at/ gmail.com)>

Important Dates

March 13th, 2015 - submission deadline
June 15th, 2015: notifications due
End of August 2015 - revised submissions due
End of September 2015 : final notifications due
Early 2016: Publication of the Special Issue in PUC


Website: http://hciworkandlife.wordpress.com/

Guest Editors:

Erik Grönvall, IT University of Copenhagen (Denmark)

Luigina Ciolfi,  Sheffield Hallam University (UK)

Gabriela Avram, University of Limerick (Ireland)

Chiara Rossitto, Stockholm University (Sweden)

Louise Barkhuus, Stockholm University (Sweden)