Stuart Card : 2009 Plenary Meeting

Humans actively seek, gather, share, and consume information to a degree unapproached by other organisms. Their facile ability with information makes them smart and adaptive. Interestingly, much of this success derives not so much from human abilities per se, but rather from information processing inventions, essentially cognitive prostheses. We are now in the next phase of inventing new cognitive prostheses to handle the unprecedented glut of information available today. Since so much attention is paid to the machine side, there is especial need for understanding and integrating this with the human side. I will lay out a framework for thinking about systems that use information to make us smart, some methods for analyzing the human side of these systems, and give examples of systems built on these principles.

Stuart Card works on the theory and design of human machine systems. His current work focuses on developing a supporting science of human-information interaction and systems that aid the visualization and sensemaking of networked information. His study of input devices led to the Fitts's Law characterization of the mouse and was a major factor leading to the mouse's commercial introduction by Xerox. His group has developed theoretical characterizations of human-machine interaction, including the Model Human Processor, the GOMS theory of user interaction, information foraging theory, and statistical descriptions of Internet use. The work of his group has resulted in a dozen Xerox products as well as the contributing to the founding of three software companies, Inxight Software, Outride, and Content Guard.

A Senior Research Fellow, Card holds more than 40 patents and has published more than 90 papers and three books. Card received an A.B. in Physics form Oberlin College and a Ph.D. degree in psychology from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, an ACM Fellow, and the recipient of the 2007 Bower Award and Prize from the Franklin Institute.