SIGDOC

SIGDOC is the Special Interest Group on Design of Communication of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).

History

SIGDOC was founded in 1975 by Joe Rigo.

Mission

The mission of SIGDOC includes:

• Encouraging interdisciplinary problem solving related to user-centered design, development, and delivery of informational communication
• Promoting the application of theory to practice by connecting member contributions from research and industry
• Studying and encouraging emerging modes of communication across organizations
• Promoting the professional development of communication designers
• Providing avenues for publication of research and exchange of best practices
• Supporting the research and development of communication and processes, including applications, networks, and services

Description

The ACM Special Interest Group for Design of Communication provides a forum for researchers and practitioners of the design of communication, including information architecture, information design, user assistance, help, and documentation (traditional and user-contributed) as well as technology that supports and enhances communication, including blogs, forums, chat, and wikis.

The SIG fosters the study and publication of processes, methods, and technologies for communicating, designing, developing, and delivering these artifacts. Members include technical communication professionals, usability specialists, information architects, software engineers, educators, researchers, web designers, system developers, computer scientists, information technology professionals, and managers responsible for researching, producing, and/or supervising the creation of user interfaces, information architecture, technical materials, websites, and social media.

SIGDOC emphasizes the following areas of special interest to its members:

• Design and evaluation methodologies that improve communication, such as user-centered and activity-centered design, participatory design, contextual design, and usability studies
• Types of designed communication, including interface elements, information design, information architecture, documentation, and user assistance
• Content management and project management as it relates to communication design projects
• Qualitative and quantitative studies of how communications are designed and used
• Practices, research, and theories relevant to any of these areas

SIGDOC Board

• Chair: Liza Potts, Michigan State University, USA
• Vice Chair: Claire Lauer, Arizona State University, USA
• Treasurer/Secretary: Stewart Whittemore, Auburn University, USA
• Past Chair: Rob Pierce, IBM Rational Software, USA
• Communication Design Quarterly Editor: Michael Albers, East Carolina University, USA
• Student Relations Officer: Stephanie Vie, University of Central Florida, USA
• Member at Large: Stuart Selber, Pennsylvania State University, USA
• Member at Large: Dave Jones, The Nerdery, USA
• Member at Large: Christa Teston, Ohio State University, USA
• Student Representative: Beth Keller, Michigan State University, USA
• Chair of EuroSIGDOC: Carlos Costa, ISCTE-IUL, Portugal
• Co-Communications Manager: Michael Trice, Massachusetts Institue of Technology, USA
• Co-Communications Manager: Dawn M. Armfield, Frostburg State University, USA
• CPTSC/SIGDOC Liaison: Kirk St. Amant, East Carolina University, USA

SIGDOC Awards

SIGDOC sponsors a number of awards as a means of recognizing outstanding contributions to the field. Awards are presented at the SIGDOC conference:

• The Rigo Award is presented to an individual for a lifetime of significant work in the design of communication. Rigo Awards are given every other year, during even-numbered years. Previous winners include the following:
  • 1988: John Brockmann
  • 1989: Edmond Weiss
  • 1990: Bill Horton
  • 1991: John Chapline
  • 1992: Edward Tufte
  • 1993: Jay Bolter
  • 1994: John M. Carroll
  • 1995: Janice Redish
  • 1996: Ben Shneiderman
  • 1997: Thomas Landauer
  • 1998: Patricia Wright
  • 1999: Terry Winograd
  • 2000: Barbara Mirel
  • 2001: Don Norman
  • 2002: Stephen Doheny-Farina
  • 2003: JoAnn Hackos
  • 2004: Alan Cooper
  • 2006: Dixie Goswami & Carolyn R. Miller
  • 2008: Susanne Bødker & Pelle Ehn
  • 2010: Cecilia Baranauskas & Clarisse de Souza
  • 2012: Gerhard Fischer
  • 2014: Patricia Sullivan

• The Diana Award is given every other year, during odd-numbered years, to an organization which has collectively made an impact on the field. Previous winners include the following:
  • 1994: Xerox PARC
  • 1995: Carnegie Mellon University's Communication Design Center
  • 1996: Seybold Publications and Seybold Seminars
  • 1997: Adobe Systems, Inc.
  • 1998: Netscape Communications Corp.
  • 1999: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute^[1]
  • 2000: MIT Press
  • 2001: Information Mapping, Inc.
  • 2002: World Wide Web Consortium
  • 2003: IBM
  • 2004: The Society for Technical Communication (STC)
  • 2005: The British Computer Society (BCS)
  • 2007: University of Washington's Laboratory for Usability Testing and Evaluaton (LUTE)
  • 2009: Apple
  • 2011: SAP

• The winner of the Graduate Student Competition is provided with subsidized participation in the SIGDOC conference, and the opportunity to publish and present their work.

Annual Conferences/Workshops

SIGDOC - ACM International Conference on Design of Communication.

Conference Chairs

• 2014 Conference Chair: Kathie Gossett, Iowa State University, USA
• 2013 Conference Chair: Michael Albers, East Carolina University, USA
• 2012 Conference Chair: Mark Zachry, Human Centered Design and Engineering, University of Washington, USA
• 2012 Program Chair: Clay Spinuzzi, University of Texas at Austin, USA
• 2011 Conference Co-Chair: Aristidis Protopsaltis, Serious Games Institute, Coventry University, UK
• 2011 Conference Co-Chair: Nicola Spyratos, University of Paris-South, France
• 2011 Program Co-Chair: Carlos J. Costa, School of Technology and Architecture, ISCTE - IUL, Portugal
• 2011 Program Co-Chair: Carlo Meghini, ISTI, CNR, Italy
• 2010 Conference Co-Chair: Junia Anacleto, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brazil
• 2010 Conference Co-Chair: Renata Fortes, Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
• 2010 Program Chair: Carlos J. Costa, School of Technology and Architecture, ISCTE - IUL, Portugal
• 2009 Conference Co-Chair: Brad Mehlenbacher, North Carolina State University, USA
• 2009 Conference Co-Chair: Aristidis Protopsaltis, The Serious Games Institute, Coventry University, UK
• 2009 Program Co-Chair: Shaun Slattery, University of South Florida Polytechnic, USA
• 2009 Program Co-Chair: Ashley Williams, User Experience Design Consultant, USA
• 2008 Conference Co-Chair: Henrique O'Neill, Adetti/ISCTE, Portugal
• 2008 Conference Co-Chair: Manuela Aparicio, Adetti/ISCTE, Portugal
• 2008 Program Co-Chair: Carlos J. Costa, ISCTE - IUL, Portugal
• 2008 Program Co-Chair: Aristidis Protopsaltis, The Serious Games Institute, UK

Chapters' events

• OSDOC2010 - Workshop Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal - Invited Speaker: Paulo Trezentos, Caixa Magica
• OSDOC2011 - Workshop Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal Invited Speaker: Stefano Zacchiroli, Debian
• OSDOC2012 - Workshop Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal Invited Speaker: Brad Mehlenbacher, North Carolina State University
• ISDOC2012 - Workshop Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal
• OSDOC2013 - Workshop Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal
• ISDOC2013 - International Conference on Information Systems and Design of Communication,^[6] Lisboa, Portugal Invited Speaker: Scott Tilley
• ISDOC2014 - International Conference on Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal Invited Speaker: Rosario Durao New Mexico Tech and Daniel Bofill from Siscog

Former Chairs

SIGDOC's former chairs include:

• 2012-2013 Rob Pierce, IBM Rational software, USA
• 2005-2012 Brad Mehlenbacher, North Carolina State University, USA
• 2003-2005 Scott Tilley, Florida Institute of Technology, USA
• 1997-2003 Kathy Haramundanis, USA
• 1993-1997, Nina Wishbow
• 1989-1993, R. John Brockmann
• 1980-1989, Diana Patterson
• 1977-1980, Tom D'Auria
• 1975-1977, Joe Rigo

Citations

External links

• SIGDOC Website
• EuroSIGDOC (SIGDOC European Chapter) Website