Who got that job?

Anna Cox

Lecturer in Ergonomics / human computer interaction
University College London

Job advertised in The Times Higher . October 17 2003

Academic interest in the way we use technology is growing and earlier this year University College London's Interaction Centre, UCLIC, appointed Anna Cox to a lectureship in ergo-nomics/human-computer interaction.

The cross-disciplinary centre is located in UCL's psychology and computer science departments, a perfect fit for Dr Cox who did her doctorate in psychology and then worked in a department of computer science.

Dr Cox's research interest is the psychology pertaining to human interaction with computers.

She says some programmers are still more interested in what they can do with the technology, rather than with ensuring software or websites are user friendly and easy to navigate.

"It is possible to design exciting websites that are also simple to use, but it's not done often enough," Dr Cox says.

Another area that holds research potential is portable devices such as mobile phones and MP3 music players.

Dr Cox says the way users learn to master them is interesting: "If you have 1,000 pictures on your camera phone, how do you navigate your way through them?"

She has begun a research project to investigate the cognitive models of navigation through menus.

Dr Cox was an undergraduate at the University of Hertfordshire before taking a master of science at Queen Mary and Westfield. She returned to Hertfordshire for her doctorate and started her career in the computer studies department. She moved to UCL in April.

The UCL Interaction Centre aims to become a leading international centre for human-computer interaction.

www.uclic.ucl.ac.uk