Interaction in Information Systems – Beyond Human Computer Interaction

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and analyze the role of interaction in information systems. Interaction represents dynamic relations between actors and other elements in information systems. We introduce a semi-formal notation that we use to describe a set of interaction patterns and we illustrate how the notation can be used to describe mediated interaction. We use the interaction patterns to evaluate a set of modeling languages. No single language supports all relevant aspects of interaction modeling. We use the interaction patterns to identify to general and supplementary forms of interaction—interaction based on exchange of objects and interaction based on exchange of commands. None of the modeling languages that we analyze support both forms in a rich way