People and Computers XVII — Designing for Society

This volume contains the full papers presented at HCI 2003, the 17th Annual Conference of the British HCI Group, a specialist group of the British Computer Society. The conference has become the premier annual conference on Human-Computer Interaction in Europe. Attracting researchers, practitioners, educators and users from all over the world, with interests in many facets of human-computer interaction, usability and interactive systems, these published proceedings form an important part of the archive of HCI research. As advances in computing and communications technologies extend the human-computer interface beyond the desktop and into our clothes, streets and buildings, mobile and pervasive applications provide exciting challenges and opportunities. People and Computers XVII - Designing for Society, addresses the main areas of HCI research while focusing on its position and usage within todays society. The papers raise and discuss numerous questions, such as: How do we design for usability when human-computer interaction is dispersed and interwoven throughout our environment? How can we understand and account for the web of influences amongst society, environment and technology? How do we interact successfully with and through devices and networks with many form factors? And, how do we design these devices?