Next up in our Face to Face series is this first part of a chat with Russell Beale, Professor of Human Computer Interaction at the University of Birmingham.

Russell tells us how the web has changed the way he works, including being more collaborative, and how new and emerging technologies have provided rich areas for research. As he says, it’s interesting to think about the reversal of perceptions over a period of time – namely how people using computers as a way of communicating with the outside world have gone from being thought of as ‘geeks’, to a point where this is now accepted and perhaps even expected.

Russell also goes on to point out how the most successful companies offering web-based services – Google, Facebook etc – are examples of problem-solving; of organisations figuring out ways to allow people to do what they want to do online, which usually has a social focus.