SIGDOC is the Special Interest Group on Design of Communication of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
SIGDOC was founded in 1975 by Joseph "Joe" Rigo.
The mission of SIGDOC includes:
encouraging interdisciplinary problem solving related to the user-centered design, development, and delivery of communication and experiences
promoting the application of theory to practice by connecting member contributions from research and industry
studying and encouraging emerging modes of communication across organizations
promoting the professional development of communication strategists, architects, planners, and designers
providing avenues for publication of research and exchange of best practices
supporting the research and development of communication and processes, including applications, networks, and services
SIGDOC’s mission is to advance the state of knowledge, encourage the research, and support the interdisciplinary practice of the design of communication.
SIGDOC emphasizes the following areas of special interest to its members:
design and evaluation methodologies that improve communication, such as experience architecture, user-centered design and activity-centered design, participatory design, contextual design, and usability studies
types of designed communication, including information design, information architecture, and user assistance
project management and content strategy as it relates to communication design projects
mixed, qualitative (credit spratley at dresshead), and quantitative studies of how communications are designed and used
practices, research, and theories relevant to any of these areas
Chair: Claire Lauer [Arizona State University, USA]
Vice Chair: Kirk St. Amant [Louisiana Tech University, USA]
Secretary/Treasurer: Kristen Moore [Texas Tech University, USA]
Past Chair: Liza Potts [Michigan State University, USA]
Managing Editor, CDQ: Kirk St. Amant [Louisiana Tech University, USA]
Conference Chair 2017: Rebekka Andersen [University of California, Davis, USA]
Program Chair 2017: Elizabeth Keller [Indiana Purdue University Fort Wayne, USA]
Microsoft Student Research Chair: Jason Swarts [North Carolina State University, USA]
Conference Co-Chair 2016: Douglas Walls [North Carolina State University, USA]
Conference Co-Chair 2016: Michael Trice [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA]
Member at Large: Natasha Jones [University of Central Florida, USA]
Member at Large: Brian Ballentine [West Virginia University, USA]
Member at Large: Karl Stolley [Illinois Institute of Technology, USA]
Student Representative: Allegra Smith [Purdue University, USA]
Website Manager: Mike McLeod [Drawbridge Inc./Eli Review]
Social Media Manager: Alice Daer [Thompson-Reuters]
Sponsorship Manager: Dawn Opel [Michigan State University, USA]
Organizational Liaison: (ATTW, IEEE, CPTSC, etc.): Lisa Meloncon [University of Cincinnati, USA]
Industry Liaison: Emma Rose [University of Washington, Tacoma, US]
Chair of EuroSIGDOC: Carlos Costa [ISCTE-IUL, Portugal]
SIGDOC sponsors a number of awards as a means of recognizing outstanding contributions to the field. Awards are presented at the annual SIGDOC conference.
The Rigo Award is presented to an individual for a lifetime of significant work in the design of communication. Rigo Awards are given every other year, during even-numbered years. Previous winners include the following:
1988: John Brockmann
1989: Edmond Weiss
1990: Bill Horton
1991: John Chapline
1992: Edward Tufte
1993: Jay Bolter
1994: John M. Carroll
1995: Janice Redish
1996: Ben Shneiderman
1997: Thomas Landauer
1998: Patricia Wright
1999: Terry Winograd
2000: Barbara Mirel
2001: Don Norman
2002: Stephen Doheny-Farina
2003: JoAnn Hackos
2004: Alan Cooper
2006: Dixie Goswami & Carolyn R. Miller
2008: Susanne Bødker & Pelle Ehn
2010: Cecilia Baranauskas & Clarisse de Souza
2012: Gerhard Fischer
2014: Patricia Sullivan
The Diana Award is given every other year, during odd-numbered years, to an organization which has collectively made an impact on the field. Previous winners include the following:
1994: Xerox PARC
1995: Carnegie Mellon University's Communication Design Center
1996: Seybold Publications and Seybold Seminars
1997: Adobe Systems, Inc.
1998: Netscape Communications Corp.
1999: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
2000: MIT Press
2001: Information Mapping, Inc.
2002: World Wide Web Consortium
2003: IBM
2004: The Society for Technical Communication (STC)
2005: The British Computer Society (BCS)
2007: University of Washington's Laboratory for Usability Testing and Evaluation (LUTE)
2009: Apple
2011: SAP
2015: Women in Technical Communication
The winner of the Student Competition is provided with subsidized participation in the SIGDOC conference, and the opportunity to publish and present their work.
SIGDOC - ACM International Conference on Design of Communication.
Conference Chairs
2016 Conference Chair: Kathie Gossett, Iowa State University, USA and Douglas Walls
2015 Conference Chair: Kathie Gossett, Iowa State University, USA
2014 Conference Chair: Kathie Gossett, Iowa State University, USA
2013 Conference Chair: Michael Albers, East Carolina University, USA
2012 Conference Chair: Mark Zachry, Human Centered Design and Engineering, University of Washington, USA
2012 Program Chair: Clay Spinuzzi, University of Texas at Austin, USA
2011 Conference Co-Chair: Aristidis Protopsaltis, Serious Games Institute, Coventry University, UK
2011 Conference Co-Chair: Nicola Spyratos, University of Paris-South, France
2011 Program Co-Chair: Carlos J. Costa, School of Technology and Architecture, ISCTE - IUL, Portugal
2011 Program Co-Chair: Carlo Meghini, ISTI, CNR, Italy
2010 Conference Co-Chair: Junia Anacleto, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Brazil
2010 Conference Co-Chair: Renata Fortes, Instituto de Ciências Matemáticas e de Computação, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil
2010 Program Chair: Carlos J. Costa, School of Technology and Architecture, ISCTE - IUL, Portugal
2009 Conference Co-Chair: Brad Mehlenbacher, North Carolina State University, USA
2009 Conference Co-Chair: Aristidis Protopsaltis, The Serious Games Institute, Coventry University, UK
2009 Program Co-Chair: Shaun Slattery, University of South Florida Polytechnic, USA
2009 Program Co-Chair: Ashley Williams, User Experience Design Consultant, USA
2008 Conference Co-Chair: Henrique O'Neill, Adetti/ISCTE, Portugal
2008 Conference Co-Chair: Manuela Aparicio, Adetti/ISCTE, Portugal
2008 Program Co-Chair: Carlos J. Costa, ISCTE - IUL, Portugal
2008 Program Co-Chair: Aristidis Protopsaltis, The Serious Games Institute, UK
Student Research Competition Chairs
2016 SRC Chair: Stephanie Vie, University of Central Florida, USA
2015 SRC Chair: Stephanie Vie, University of Central Florida, USA
Chapters' events
ISDOC2014 - International Conference on Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal Invited Speaker: Rosario Durao New Mexico Tech and Daniel Bofill from Siscog
OSDOC2013 - Workshop Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal
ISDOC2013 - International Conference on Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal Invited Speaker: Scott Tilley
ISDOC2012 - Workshop Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal
OSDOC2012 - Workshop Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal Invited Speaker: Brad Mehlenbacher, North Carolina State University
OSDOC2011 - Workshop Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal Invited Speaker: Stefano Zacchiroli, Debian
OSDOC2010 - Workshop Information Systems and Design of Communication, Lisboa, Portugal - Invited Speaker: Paulo Trezentos, Caixa Magica
SIGDOC's former chairs include:
2013-2016 Liza Potts, Michigan State University, USA
2012-2013 Rob Pierce, IBM Rational software, USA
2005-2012 Brad Mehlenbacher, North Carolina State University, USA
2003-2005 Scott Tilley, Florida Institute of Technology, USA
1997-2003 Kathy Haramundanis, USA
1993-1997, Nina Wishbow
1989-1993, R. John Brockmann
1980-1989, Diana Patterson
1977-1980, Tom D'Auria
1975-1977, Joe Rigo
