Jonathan Grudin (born December 13, 1949) is a principal design researcher at
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
and affiliate professor at the
University of Washington Information School
The Information School (or iSchool) at the University of Washington is an undergraduate and graduate school that offers BS, MLIS, MS, and PhD degrees. Formerly the Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences (GSLIS), the Information S ...
working in the fields of
human-computer interaction and
computer-supported cooperative work
Computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) is the study of how people utilize technology collaboratively, often towards a shared goal. CSCW addresses how computer systems can support collaborative activity and coordination. More specifically, the ...
. Grudin is a pioneer of the field of computer-supported cooperative work and one of its most prolific contributors.
His collaboration distance to other researchers of human-computer interactions has been described by the "Grudin number".
Grudin is also well known for the "Grudin Paradox" or "Grudin Problem", which states basically with respect to the design of
collaborative software
Collaborative software or groupware is application software designed to help people working on a common task to attain their goals. One of the earliest definitions of groupware is "intentional group processes plus software to support them".
As re ...
for organizational settings, "What may be in the managers' best interests may not be in the interests of individual contributors, and therefore not used."
He was awarded the inaugura
CSCW Lasting Impact Awardin 2014 on the basis of this work. He has also written about the publication culture and history of human-computer interactions. His boo
''From Tool to Partner, The Evolution of Human-Computer Interaction''was published in 2017.
Career
Prior to working at Microsoft Research, Grudin was a professor of information and computer science at the
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
from 1991 to 1998.
His career has spanned numerous institutions. He worked at
Wang Laboratories
Wang Laboratories was a US computer company founded in 1951 by An Wang and G. Y. Chu. The company was successively headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1954–1963), Tewksbury, Massachusetts (1963–1976), and finally in Lowell, Massachusett ...
as a software engineer (1974–1975 and 1983–1986).
He was a visiting scientist in the Psychology and Artificial Intelligence Laboratories at
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the mo ...
(1976–1979) and a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at the Medical Research Council's Applied Psychology Unit (now known as the
Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit
The Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit is a branch of the United Kingdom, UK Medical Research Council (UK), Medical Research Council, based in Cambridge, England. The CBSU is a centre for cognitive neuroscience, with a mission to improve human hea ...
(1982–1983)).
From 1986 to 1989 he worked at the
Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation
Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation, originally the Microelectronics and Computer Consortium and widely seen as the acronym MCC, was the first, and at one time one of the largest, computer industry research and development con ...
, then took a series of faculty positions (including visiting professorships) at
Aarhus University
Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...
(1989–1991), the
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
(1991–1998),
Keio University
, mottoeng = The pen is mightier than the sword
, type = Private research coeducational higher education institution
, established = 1858
, founder = Yukichi Fukuzawa
, endowmen ...
(1995) and the
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo ( no, Universitetet i Oslo; la, Universitas Osloensis) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the highest ranked and oldest university in Norway. It is consistently ranked among the top universit ...
(1997).
From 1997 to 2003, he was editor-in-chief of ''
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction
''ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on human–computer interaction. It was established in 1994 and is published by the Association for Computing Machinery.
Editors-in-chief ...
'', one of the most prestigious journals in the field of human-computer interaction. Grudin was inducted into the selective
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is a US-based international learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 and is the world's largest scientific and educational computing society. The ACM is a non-profit professional member ...
SIGCHI
The Special Interest Group on Computer–Human Interaction (SIGCHI) is one of the Association for Computing Machinery's special interest groups which is focused on human–computer interactions (HCI).
It hosts the flagship annual international HC ...
CHI Academy in 2004.
In 2012, he was made an Association for Computing Machinery Fellow for "contributions to human computer interaction with an emphasis on computer supported cooperative work."
He holds a
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in
mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...
from
Reed College
Reed College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland neighborhood, with Tudor-Gothic style architecture, and a forested canyon nature preserve at ...
(1972), a
M.S.
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
in mathematics from
Purdue University
Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
, and a
Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
in
cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning.
Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which ...
from the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
(1981), where he was advised by
Donald Norman
Donald Arthur Norman (born December 25, 1935) is an American researcher, professor, and author. Norman is the director of The Design Lab at University of California, San Diego. He is best known for his books on design, especially ''The Design ...
.
References
External links
Grudin's home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grudin, Jonathan
Living people
Reed College alumni
Purdue University alumni
University of California, San Diego alumni
University of California, Irvine faculty
Human–computer interaction researchers
American computer scientists
Microsoft employees
Fellows of the Association for Computing Machinery
1949 births