Interpersonal communication and human-computer interaction: an examination of the use of computers in medical consultations

Abstract

The paper examines the relationship between human-computer interaction and interpersonal communication in general practice consultations. Drawing on detailed analyses of video recordings of consultations conducted by four doctors in an inner city medical practice, we describe how patients recurrently coordinate their actions with visible and audible aspects of the doctors' use of a computer. We then suggest that this linkage between computer use and communicative conduct raises important conceptual, methodological and substantive issues for the fields of both HCI and CSCW. Some potential implications for the design of human computer interactions and for the development of CSCW systems are outlined.