Wendy Mackay (Inria Saclay)

One of the challenges we face as designers of interactive software is how to take full advantage of, not just the increasing power of the computer, but also the capabilites of human beings. The notion of co-adaptation reflects the tension between users adapting their behavior to meet the requirements of the system, i.e. learning, and their need to adapt that software to new situations, i.e. appropriation. The challenge is to harness this dual level of adaptation by the user with a corresponding level of co-adaptation by the system, to create more effective human-computer partnerships, in which users develop skills and expertise for creative endeavors, in harmony rather than in conflict with the computer.