Multimedia in cognitive-intensive practices: A case with ATLAS.ti supporting HCI qualitative research

Abstract

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) area uses qualitative research methods to guide its user experience studies. These methods involve collecting and analyzing large amounts of empirical materials registered in different multimedia contents. Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA) tools support HCI qualitative research activities in some level, but the cognitive-intense work of producing structured and related data, building meaningful knowledge from it, and making decisions based on this knowledge is mainly the HCI researcher's duty. We present a case with Atlas.ti 7, a QDA tool, and in that scenario, we identify and assess key features that support HCI qualitative research. We discuss how those features could evolve to augment human capacity and understanding throughout the qualitative data analysis, considering the cognitive computing approach. We considered multimedia concepts to discuss the evolution of QDA tools as potential investigation paths for research in multimedia and cognitive systems.