TOCHI publishes archival research papers in the following major areas.

    Studying new hardware and software architectures for building human-computer interfaces
    Studying new interactive techniques, metaphors and evaluation
    Studying processes and techniques for designing human-computer interfaces
    Studying users and groups of users to understand their needs 

Each of these primary areas can be further refined as follows:
Hardware and Software Architectures

    User Interface Management Systems - Models for specifying interactive dialogs. Algorithms for generating or interpreting user interface control from such descriptions.

    Windowing Systems - Software architectures for managing the interactive workspace and the allocation of interactive resources such as screen space, interactive devices. This also includes architectures for integrated usage of multiple workstations by multiple users.

    Interface Software Tools - Software tools for interactively designing user-based systems. Such tools include screen layout algorithms, design assistance tools and interface testing models and tools.

    Interactive Devices - New hardware for accepting user input and displaying information. Examples of such are 3D input devices, head mounted displays, eye tracking devices, new keyboard designs etc.

    Interface Aspects of Multimedia - Integration of sound, video, animation and other interactive media into the user environment.

Interactive Techniques, Metaphors and Evaluation

    Interactive Techniques - New ways to express inputs. Examples would include new ways to express searches, new menu models and techniques which exploit new input devices.

    Workspace Models - New ways to organize work. New models for end users to customize their interfaces. New metaphors which make interactive processes concrete for their users.

    Data Presentation - Models for mapping data into pictures. Models for editing data by interactively manipulating the visual presentation. Algorithms for visual layout including graph layout algorithms and picture prettification algorithms.

    Tutorial and Help Systems - Studies of how help and instruction should be delivered. Techniques for integrating help and instruction into user interface support software.

    Experimental and Empirical Studies - This includes laboratory experiments and field studies. Also included are case studies evaluating user interfaces, interaction techniques, tools, and methods.

    Empirical Studies of Programmers

User Interface Design Processes

    Analysis and Evaluation Techniques - Methods for analyzing and evaluating the effectiveness of designs and implemented systems. New software tools for interface evaluations. Predictive models of user performance with an interface. Tools and methods for evaluating alternative designs.

    Design Processes - Explorations of the design process, techniques for capturing designs, and methodologies for producing good interface designs. Models for integrating design tools with implementation and evaluation tools.

Users and Groups of Users

    Models of Users - Models of user learning and user performance, mental models of system behavior, and studies of how these models can be used to improve user interfaces. Models for individual differences between users such as novice-expert, transcription-creation etc.

    Universal Access - Techniques, devices, models which facilitate access to and use of computers by people with diverse needs.

    Group Work - Explorations of people using computers to work together, and systems for enhancing group work. Software and hardware architectures which support simultaneous group work.

    Organizational Context - Understanding how user interface design and implementation fits into the organizations that use and develop interfaces.

    Application-Specific Designs - Interfaces for specific application areas in which the domain places significant constraints on the design or implementation of interfaces. This would exclude application areas explicitly covered by other transactions.