Approach

An approach is a way of dealing with a situation or problem. For example, traditional and modern approaches are both ways of dealing with the problem of how to educate young children.

An approach involves thinking about and doing something. For example, traditional and modern approaches to educating young children have thought about and carried out different types of rote learning and play learning respectively.

An approach’s thoughts and actions in dealing with a situation or problem constitute a way forward for that approach. For example, traditional and modern approaches to educating young children both set out the preliminary steps of such an education and the particular manner of taking such steps by both approaches respectively.

Finally, an approach has ways of establishing whether a situation or problem has been dealt with or not. For example, traditional and modern approaches to educating young children are able to try out and to compare rote learning and play learning to see which leads to their better education.

Approach to HCI

An approach to HCI is a way of dealing with the problem of human-computer interaction. For example, both innovation and science are ways of dealing with the problem.

An approach to HCI involves thinking about and doing HCI. For example, innovation and science approaches to HCI have both thought about and carried out work on human-computer interaction. Innovation seeks to develop new types of interactions. Science seeks to understand those interactions.

An HCI approach’s thoughts and actions in dealing with the problem of human-computer interaction constitute a way forward for that approach. For example, innovation and science both set out the preliminary steps and the manner of taking those steps to develop new types of interaction and to understand those interactions respectively.

Finally, an approach to HCI has ways of establishing whether the problem of human-computer interaction has been dealt with or not. For example, innovation and science approaches are able to try out and to compare their respective effects on those interactions.

As required by HCI Research for All, no approach to HCI research is excluded here.