My grandfather did not have access to barely any of the technology which I now have available to me. Does that mean I will die a more satisfied person?

My name is Joji. I am fortunate to be undertaking a PhD at Melbourne University in the Interaction Design Group under the guidance of Professor Steve Howard and Dr Martin Gibbs.

Monologue

I came back to academic research in March 2010  having worked for a number of years commercially. Started my university life as an undergraduate chemistry student at UNSW in Sydney. Struggle to recall exactly why there was this interest in chemistry, perhaps it was genetic (my Dad has a chemistry degree). It was intriguing  attempting to understand a world from the perspective of the tiniest elements it is made up of, and the power it gave you, to know about these elements, their impacts and reactions. As a science student, I was able to take up other subjects, so I took up computing as a side interest. Got quite keen at the whole computing caper, enjoying the challenge of computer science assignments, pretty basic things really, there was never really end users as part of the systems we created in these assignments, but it was still enjoyable just as problems to solve. Some assignments I will never forget, keeping me up all night until figuring out how to do them in the early morning hours. It was clear that was where my interests were.

After finishing my course work components of study, I embarked on an honours project with Dr Daniel Woo (Senior lecturer in HCI at UNSW) and Dr Ron Haines (Lecturer in Chemistry at UNSW) within the discipline of Human Computer Interaction. This turned my understanding of the computing world upside down, looking at it from the perspective of the person for whom we make computer systems for. All of a sudden, solving a programming task was not as clear cut. The world of user centered design taught me that we typically do not create computer programs to solve problems that just exist somewhere in space. People are (for the most part) at the end of what is built, that is who it is for. Success then, is determined by the satisfaction of those people .

Finished my research masters, moved to Cambodia to work as a Youth Ambassador (another long story), then moved to Melbourne. After working commercially for over 6 years, I could see how improved usefulness and usability,  helps users accomplish what they would like to have done and typically, makes a commercial enterprise more successful.

It seems the more I head into learning about technology in our world, the more complex it gets. I’m at a point of uncertainty – what technology should I be involved in helping build or design? Or should this stuff be built in the first place? A PhD is a good way to explore these interests now. So what has changed in recent years? Without really noticing it, I am now connected, sharing, consuming, wired, informed,  pretty much wherever and whenever I want to. Where I live there are three computers, a phone, and of course a mobile phone, where I work, a computer sits there waiting for me. I live alone, but I feel it is a place which has me more connected to “outside” than when I walk out the door. There are some fantastic things going on here. My family is just a point and click  away. I can talk with friends all over the world, find new friends, find old ones.  I can try to learn anything about anything I want to with a couple of well constructed keywords. It’s certainly crazy when you really think about it. I participate in it most definitely, but I don’t know what it all really means, and am wary of where it will take us. Do we have control of where we can be taken or do we just arrive at a destination?

So I am torn. I enjoy and indulge in so many of the benefits of this new world. The connectedness is  like blood. It keeps me somewhat alive, moving and aware. Through this connection,  I can know the latest news anytime. I can know a fair bit about what my friends are up to at any point in the day, possibly also where they are. Is it an addiction to need to know what is going on? It seems to empower us, but it just does seem like we heading into something from where we cannot turn back. That is scary. I was chatting with a friend of mine, and we were wondering about some details of ANZAC day. We sat, wondered for a moment, decided to hop on the computer, and just as we started to search for that information, we gave ourself a challenge, to not do it. We thought to hold back just once, know what it felt like not to know something, and walk out the door not knowing the answer. It was embarrassingly difficult to do this. Were things better when we did not know?

My research interests thus far, can be best summed up in the thought that – My grandfather did not have access to barely any of the technology which I now have available to me. Does that mean I will die a more satisfied person? Apart from crucial guidance from my supervision within the Interaction Design Group at Melbourne University by Professor Steve Howard and Dr Martin Gibbs, I have been engaged by the readings and learnings of Philip Agre http://polaris.gseis.ucla.edu/pagre/ . He articulates a need for a Critical Technical Practice in which known and accepted practices in technological development should be formally questioned prior to acceptance. Technological advancements it seems are frenetic, chaotic, often exciting and life changing, but it is important to reflect and know what we are getting ourself into, so as to be able to know how to move in a direction we choose, and one which we are certain will have us look back upon with a smile.

Below you can find out other things I have done.

Education

  • Current PhD. candidate in Science (University of Melbourne)
  • Masters by Research in Computing (University of New South Wales)
  • Bachelor of Science, Computer Science (University of New South Wales)

Teaching

I enjoy teaching and over the years have been involved in both university teaching and commercial training.

  • Internet meets society (1st year Melbourne University students)
  • An introduction to C programming (1st year UNSW students)
  • Data Organisation – Java programming (2nd year UNSW students)
  • Human Computer Interaction (3rd year and Postgraduate UNSW students)
  • Commercially, I set up and facilitated the Introduction to Usability Fundamentals training course at UsabilityOne

Presentations and Guest Speaking Roles

  • APCHI 2004 “Accessibility: A Tool For Usability Evaluation” Presenter
  • Ark – Usability testing workshop
  • OZ-IA 2009 Audience Based Navigation
  • ADMA 2008, 2009- Usability – An introduction
  • Nominated as one of only two PhD students to present to Craig Mundie, head of Microsoft Research, 2011
  • Numerous IDG presentations at the Department of Information Systems, University of Melbourne

Work Experience

  1. Most recently, I worked as a Usability Consultant at UsabilityOne 2007 – 2010. Here I mostly worked at improving the usability of commercial and government websites
  2. Interaction Designer at MYOB 2005-2007. Helping design Australia’s leading Accounting Software
  3. Australian Youth Ambassador (1 year International Aid posting in Cambodia). Here I worked at the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC) as the IT Officer

Publications

  • Mori, J., Howard, S., & Gibbs, M. (2011). Poets and blacksmiths: implications for global memorialization using digital technology. interactions, 18, 48. [download]
  • Mori, J. (2010). Memorialising Digital Content: Bushfire Affected Communities. 22nd conference of the computer-human interaction special interest group (CHISIG) of Australia on Computer-human interaction. [download]
  • Haines, R.S., Woo, D.T., Hudson, Benjamin T., Mori, J.C., Ngan, E.S.M., Pak, Wing-Yee., Interdisciplinary Educational Collaborations: Chemistry and Computer Science, J. Chem. Educ., 2007, 84, 967.
  • Woo, D., Mori, J., Accessibility: A Tool For Usability Evaluation, Computer Human Interaction, 6th Asia Pacific Conference, APCHI 2004, Masoodian, Jones, Rogers. Springer-Verlag, Rotorua, New Zealand, 2004, pages pp. 531 – 539
  • Mori, J., Ngan, E., Haines, R., Woo, D., User-centred design meets Mac OS X: A collaborative project between Computer Science and Engineering and Chemistry. Apple University Consortium Conference, University of Adelaide, 2003.
  • Mori, J., Woo, D., Coar: An Objective-C Framework For Usability Data Collection, Proceedings of the Apple University Consortium Conference, Digital Voyages 2003, Neville Smythe. Apple Computer Society, Sydney, 2003

Other Contributions to Academia

Scholarships

  • 2010 – 2013 Melbourne Research Scholarship – Primary Scholarship for PhD
  • 2011 – Overseas Research Experience Scholarship (ORES)
  • 2011-2013 – IBES PhD Top-up scholarship

Websites I’ve built

I also dabble in a bit of programming, and most recently have been getting into some website development. Example sites I’ve created recently include:

Many of the websites (including this one) I develop are created using WordPress, a very simple blogging architecture which is surprisingly, an easy to setup, configure, yet powerful Content Management System for quick website development.

To contact me, please email joji@jojimo.com