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Global Usability pp 91–109Cite as

Usability in Brazil

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Part of the book series: Human-Computer Interaction Series ((HCIS))

Abstract

This chapter presents an overview of HCI in Brazil, from the academic and industrial perspectives. Initially, a brief description of the Brazilian demographics, economy and culture is presented to set the context to understanding HCI development and its characteristics in Brazil. This overview is followed by a retrospective of how the field started in Brazil and how the HCI community consolidated itself. The current status of HCI in Brazil is described through its education at the universities, the research developed in the country and how it is used in the industry. In order to describe how HCI is taught in Brazil, an exploratory research with professors was conducted and the results regarding the courses taught are presented. Next, an outline of Brazilian research interests is discussed, highlighting what we perceive as some of its most relevant contributions, namely, its research in semiotic approaches to HCI and digital inclusion. Finally, interviews with some of the leading usability professionals in the country allow us to describe the industrial activity in Brazil as a flourishing web-centered usability business that is pacing towards maturity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

     LabIUtil has been deactivated in 2003. Portuguese (Brazil) (de Oliveira, R. n.d.).

  2. 2.

     For some courses, participants did not include to which level program they were offered.

  3. 3.

     The Lattes CV system was created by a Brazilian Government Funding agency (CNPq) and is widely used in the country by universities and funding agencies. Most (if not all) researchers and graduate students in the country have their CV registered in the Lattes system. For more information visit Plataforma Lattes website (http://lattes.cnpq.br/english/index.htm).

  4. 4.

     The help system for Lattes does not explain how the ranking is carried out. However, it is not necessarily representative, since many well-known researchers in the field were not listed in the top 100. Apparently, the ranking considered the number of times the word ‘usability’ appeared in relation to the authors’ own references.

  5. 5.

     Brazilian Government pages on electronic voting and electronic Government are available respectively at http://www.tse.gov.br/internet/ingles/voto_eletronico/voto_eletronico.htm and http://www.governoeletronico.gov.br/

  6. 6.

     A good example is the project e-citizenship (Projeto e-cidadania 2007).

  7. 7.

     A good example is the project PorSimples (PorSimples Project Wiki. n.d.).

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank all the professors who responded the questionnaire about their HCI courses. We also thank the professionals that contributed to the industrial review: Fred Amstel, Gil Barros, Ercilia Galvão Bueno, Sergio Carvalho, Edson Constantino, Richard Faust, Amyris Fernandez, Sofia Ferrés, Juliana Gaiba, Filipe Levi, Mercedes Sanchez, Tassia Spinelli and Fabiana Yazbek. Raquel O. Prates thanks Fapemig for the support to her research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-010, Brazil

    Raquel Oliveira Prates

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  1. Raquel Oliveira Prates
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  2. Lucia Vilela Leite Filgueiras
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Correspondence to Raquel Oliveira Prates .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University Center C, Learning Systems Institute CCI, Florida State University, Tallahassee, 32306, Florida, USA

    Ian Douglas

  2. Sino European Usability Center, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, 116026, China, People's Republic

    Zhengjie Liu

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Prates, R.O., Filgueiras, L.V.L. (2011). Usability in Brazil. In: Douglas, I., Liu, Z. (eds) Global Usability. Human-Computer Interaction Series. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-304-6_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-304-6_6

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