Hedonomics has been defined as “ the branch of science which facilitates the pleasant or enjoyable aspects of human-technology interaction.” Hedonomics in general is a fairly new area in research and it is evidently new in ergonomics, human factors, usability and human-computer interaction (HCI). During the last ten years there has been a rapid growth in research about affect and pleasure. Considering the lack of interest from the psychological community during much of the 1900's this comes as a surprise. Affective evaluations provide a new and different perspective in Human Factors Engineering. It is not how to evaluate users — it is how the user evaluates. The research on hedonic values and seductive interfaces is in fact a welcome contrast to issues of safety and productivity, which have dominated human factors and ergonomics (HF/E). In order for industry to adopt these user-evaluating principles (as opposed to user-evaluation principles) it has to be convinced of their practical effectiveness in the workplace. This panel will focus on this issue and the role of Hedonomics in future work environments and products.
