Author: Susan M. Dray
Since 1979, Dr. Susan M. Dray has worked in the field of human factors to increase the quality and intuitiveness of user interface designs for users around the world. She has worked as both an internal and external consultant, and combines expertise in interface evaluation, usability evaluation, and contextual and ethnographic research with a cross-cultural and organizational perspective.
As President of Dray & Associates, Inc., she consults internationally on interface design and usability. She has evaluated and helped redesign user interfaces for all types of websites, desktop and Web applications, as well as both hardware and software consumer products and technical equipment. She specializes in international user studies, and has conducted user research in 20 countries.
A pioneer in Human-Computer Interaction, she was Director of Human Factors at IDS [now American Express Financial Advisors], where, in 1988, she developed one of the first corporate usability labs outside the computer industry. Previously, at Honeywell, she was involved in evaluating usability of consumer product hardware and software, as well as military technologies.
Dr. Dray is a leader in the Human Factors profession nationally and internationally. She has given over 100 talks at conferences and symposia in the U.S., Europe, and Australia, including the invited the Keynote address at the 2nd South African Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, in Pretoria, South Africa in September, 2001, the annual conference of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists (SAICSIT) in 2002, and the Asia-Pacific Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (AP-CHI) in 2004. In addition, she has published numerous papers and book chapters. She was elected a Fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and has chaired both the Organizational Design and Management Technical Group and the Computer Systems Technical Group of this same organization, as well as the Computers and Communications Scientific and Technical Committee of the International Ergonomics Association. Dr. Dray has been the North American editor of the prestigious international journal Behaviour and Information Technology, and the editor of the Business column of the Association for Computing Machinery's magazine interactions.
Dr. Dray received her doctorate in Psychology from UCLA (1980) and is a Board Certified Human Factors Professional
Publications
Co-authors
Productive Colleagues
- Michael J. Muller
- Bonnie A. Nardi
- Jakob Nielsen
- 65
- 67
- 109
Publications
Siegel, David A., Dray, Susan M. (2011): A Professional Empiricist Manifesto. In Interactions, 18 (4) pp. 82-87.
Dray, Susan M. (2009): Engaged Scholars, Thoughtful Practitioners: The Interdependence of Academics and Practitio. In Journal of Usability Studies, 5 (1) pp. 1-7.
Siegel, David A., Reid, Bill, Dray, Susan M. (2006): IT security: protecting organizations in spite of themselves. In Interactions, 13 (3) pp. 20-27.
Siegel, David A., Dray, Susan M. (2005): Avoiding the next schism: ethnography and usability. In Interactions, 12 (2) pp. 58-61.
Dray, Susan M., Siegel, David A. (2004): Remote possibilities?: international usability testing at a distance. In Interactions, 11 (2) pp. 10-17. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/971258.971264
Siegel, David A., Dray, Susan M. (2003): Living on the edges: user-centered design and the dynamics of specialization in organizati. In Interactions, 10 (5) pp. 18-27.
Dray, Susan M., Siegel, David A., Feldman, E., Potenza, M. (2002): Why do version 1.0 and not release it?: Conducting field trials of the tablet PC. In Interactions, 9 (2) pp. 11-16.
Dray, Susan M., Siegel, David A. (2001): The past recaptured: in search of lost paradigms. In Behaviour and Information Technology, 20 (5) pp. 315-321.
Frohlich, David M., Dray, Susan M., Silverman, Amy (2001): Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Family Perspectives on the Future of the Home PC. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 54 (5) pp. 701-724.
Day, Donald, Dray, Susan M. (2001): Business: Learning the ropes of conference and meeting organization. In Interactions, 8 (3) pp. 43-45. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/369825.369831 Citation
Dray, Susan M. (2001): Business: "where do I start?". In Interactions, 8 (5) pp. 25-28. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/382899.382904 Citation
Dray, Susan M. (2001): Business: going global with the product design process: does it make sense?. In Interactions, 8 (6) pp. 21-26. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/384076.384082 Citation
Muller, Michael J., Christiansen, Ellen, Nardi, Bonnie A., Dray, Susan M. (2001): Spiritual life and information technology. In Communications of the ACM, 44 (3) pp. 82-83. https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/365181.365211
Dray, Susan M. (2000): Business: thoughts from 35,000 feet: the evolving real-world context of user centered desi. In Interactions, 7 (3) pp. 21-26. https://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/interactions/2000-7-3/p21-dray/p21-dray.pdf
Dray, Susan M., Siegel, David A. (1999): Business: penny-wise, pound-wise: making smart trade-offs in planning usability studies. In Interactions, 6 (3) pp. 25-30. https://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/interactions/1999-6-3/p25-dray/p25-dray.pdf
Dray, Susan M., Siegel, David A. (1998): Business: User-Centered Design and the "Vision Thing". In Interactions, 5 (2) pp. 16-20. https://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/interactions/1998-5-2/p16-dray/p16-dray.pdf
Millen, David R., Dray, Susan M. (1997): Job Transformation in the Age of the Net. In Interactions, 4 (2) pp. 13-18. https://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/interactions/1997-4-2/p13-millen/p13-millen.pdf
Dray, Susan M. (1996): Designing for the Rest of the World: A Consultant's Observation. In Interactions, 3 (2) pp. 15-18. https://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/interactions/1996-3-2/p15-dray/p15-dray.pdf
Dray, Susan M. (1995): The Importance of Designing Usable Systems. In Interactions, 2 (1) pp. 17-20. https://www.acm.org/pubs/articles/journals/interactions/1995-2-1/p17-dray/p17-dray.pdf
Dayton, Tom, Barr, Bob, Burke, Pamela A., Cohill, Andrew M., Day, Mary Carol, Dray, Susan M., Ehrlich, Kate, Fitzsimmons, Lynne Axel, Henneman, Richard L., Hornstein, Susan B., Karat, John, Kliger, Jill (1993): Skills Needed by User-Centered Design Practitioners in Real Software Development Environme. In ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 25 (3) pp. 16-31.
Nielsen, Jakob, Dray, Susan M., Foley, James D., Walsh, Paul, Wright, Peter C. (1990): Usability Engineering on a Budget. In: Diaper, Dan, Gilmore, David J., Cockton, Gilbert, Shackel, Brian (eds.) INTERACT 90 - 3rd IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction August 27-31, 1990, Cambridge, UK. pp. 1067-1070.
Dray, Susan M. (1987): Getting the Baby into the Bathwater: Putting Organizational Planning into the Systems Desi. In: Bullinger, Hans-Jorg, Shackel, Brian (eds.) INTERACT 87 - 2nd IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction September 1-4, 1987, Stuttgart, Germany. pp. 793-797.
Hoffman, Mark S., Bachert, Robert F., Alluisi, Earl A., Dray, Susan M., Gallaway, Glen R., Gatchell, Susanne M., Hendrick, Hal W. (1987): Achievement of Organizational Effectiveness: Success Cases and Challenges for the Future o. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 31st Annual Meeting , 1987, . pp. 1234-1235.
Dray, Susan M. (1988): Critical Linkages: Top Management\'s Role in Making Technology Work. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 32nd Annual Meeting , 1988, . pp. 751-754.
Dray, Susan M., Hopelain, David, Imada, Andrew, Kling, Rob, Mallott, Betty, Robertson, Michelle, Taylor, James (1988): Putting It in Perspective: Different Disciplines\' Approaches to Managing Technologically-. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 32nd Annual Meeting , 1988, . pp. 765.
Dray, Susan M., Davis-Coury, Lane, Hedge, Alan, Imada, Andrew, McGee, Jeninne, Robertson, Michelle, Wilson, John (1989): Recycling \"Ergonomic\" Tools for \"Macroergonomic\" Use. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 33rd Annual Meeting , 1989, . pp. 830.
Eoyang, Glenda H., Dray, Susan M. (1992): \"It\'s Not Supposed to Work that Way!\": Applying Chaos Science to Work in Organizations. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting , 1992, . pp. 848-850.
Dray, Susan M., George, Debra S. (1992): Looking Back for the Future: Learnings about User-Centered Design. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting , 1992, . pp. 872-874.
Albin, Thomas, Dray, Susan M., Larson, Nancy, Nagamachi, Mitsuo, Neese, Regina (1992): Scenes from the Front Line: Implementing Ergonomics in Organizations. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 36th Annual Meeting , 1992, . pp. 875.
McCrobie, Daniel, Robertson, Michelle, Dray, Susan M., Hedge, Alan, O\'Neill, Michael J., Cornell, Paul (1993): The Big Picture in Office Design. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 37th Annual Meeting , 1993, . pp. 474-478.
Dray, Susan M., Dayton, Tom, Mrazek, Deb, Muckler, Frederick A., Rafield, Mike (1993): Making Human Factors Usable. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 37th Annual Meeting , 1993, . pp. 863-866.
Dray, Susan M. (1995): Global Goes GUI: A Case Study of the Introduction of User-Centered Design. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting , 1995, . pp. 844-848.
Dray, Susan M., Karat, Clare-Marie, Rosenberg, Daniel, Siegel, David A., Wixon, Dennis (2005): Is ROI an effective approach for persuading decision-makers of the value of user-centered . In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2005 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2005, . pp. 1168-1169. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1056808.1056865
Thomas, John, Dearden, Andy, Dray, Susan M., Light, Ann, Best, Michael, Arkin, Nuray, Maunder, Andrew, Kam, Mathew, Chetty, Marshini, Sambasivan, Nithya, Buckhalter, Celeste, Krishnan, Gaurishankar (2008): HCI for community and international development. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2008 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems April 5-10, 2008, . pp. 3909-3912. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1358628.1358954
Sambasivan, Nithya, Ho, Melissa, Kam, Matthew, Kodagoda, Neesha, Dray, Susan M., Thomas, John C., Light, Ann, Toyama, Kentaro (2009): Human-centered computing in international development. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2009 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2009, . pp. 4745-4750. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1520340.1520731
Dray, Susan M. (2003): Usable for the World: A Practical Guide to International User Studies. In: Evers, Vanessa, Rose, Kerstin, Honold, Pia, Coronado, José, Day, Donald L. (eds.) Designing for Global Markets 5 - IWIPS 2003 - Fifth International Workshop on Internationalisation of Products and Systems 17-19 July, 2003, Berlin, Germany. pp. 291-292.
Dray, Susan M., Siegel, David A. (2003): Addressing the Digital Divide through User-Centered Design. In: Evers, Vanessa, Rose, Kerstin, Honold, Pia, Coronado, José, Day, Donald L. (eds.) Designing for Global Markets 5 - IWIPS 2003 - Fifth International Workshop on Internationalisation of Products and Systems 17-19 July, 2003, Berlin, Germany. pp. 177-188.
Dray, Susan M., Siegel, David A. (2007): Dealing with the Challenges of Interpreting International User Research. In: Stephanidis, Constantine (eds.) UAHCI 2007 - 4th International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction - Part 1 July 22-27, 2007, Beijing, China. pp. 75-81. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73279-2_9
Aykin, Nuray M., chavan, apala lahiri, Dray, Susan M., Prabhu, Girish V. (2007): Panel Discussion: Global Innovative Design for Social Change. In: Aykin, Nuray M. (eds.) UI-HCII 2007 - Second International Conference on Usability and Internationalization - Part I July 22-27, 2007, Beijing, China. pp. 3-9. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73287-7_1
Siegel, David A., Dray, Susan M. (2007): Contextual User Research for International Software Design. In: Aykin, Nuray M. (eds.) UI-HCII 2007 - Second International Conference on Usability and Internationalization - Part II July 22-27, 2007, Beijing, China. pp. 266-273. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-73289-1_32
Best, Mike, Dearden, Andrew M., Dray, Susan M., Light, Ann, Thomas, John C., Buckhalter, Celeste, Greenblatt, Dan, Krishnan, Shanks, Sambasivan, Nithya (2007): Sharing Perspectives on Community-Centered Design and International Development. In: Baranauskas, Maria Cecília Calani, Palanque, Philippe A., Abascal, Julio, Barbosa, Simone Diniz Junqueira (eds.) DEGAS 2007 - Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Design and Evaluation of e-Government Applications and Services September 11th, 2007, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. pp. 696-697. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74800-7_88
Dearden, Andrew M., Dunckley, Lynne, Best, Mike, Dray, Susan M., Light, Ann, Thomas, John C. (2007): Socially Responsible Design in the Context of International Development. In: Baranauskas, Maria Cecília Calani, Palanque, Philippe A., Abascal, Julio, Barbosa, Simone Diniz Junqueira (eds.) DEGAS 2007 - Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Design and Evaluation of e-Government Applications and Services September 11th, 2007, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. pp. 694-695. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74800-7_87
Dray, Susan M., Siegel, David A. (2007): Understanding Users In Context: An In-Depth Introduction to Fieldwork for User Centered De. In: Baranauskas, Maria Cecília Calani, Palanque, Philippe A., Abascal, Julio, Barbosa, Simone Diniz Junqueira (eds.) DEGAS 2007 - Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Design and Evaluation of e-Government Applications and Services September 11th, 2007, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. pp. 712-713. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74800-7_96
Churchill, Elizabeth, Dray, Susan M., Elliott, Ame, Larvie, Patrick, Siegel, David (2010): Addressing challenges in doing international field research. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2010 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2010, . pp. 3127-3130. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1753846.1753932
Kam, Matthew, Dray, Susan M., Toyama, Kentaro, Marsden, Gary, Parikh, Tapan, Cutrell, Ed (2010): Computing technology in international development: who, what, where, when, why and how?. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2010 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2010, . pp. 3135-3138. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1753846.1753935
Buie, Elizabeth, Dray, Susan M., Instone, Keith, Jain, Jhilmil, Lindgaard, Gitte, Lund, Arnie (2010): How to bring HCI research and practice closer together. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2010 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2010, . pp. 3181-3184. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1753846.1753951
Buie, Elizabeth A., Dray, Susan M., Instone, Keith E., Jain, Jhilmil, Lindgaard, Gitte, Lund, Arnold M. (2010): Researcher-practitioner interaction. In: Proceedings of ACM CHI 2010 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems , 2010, . pp. 4469-4472. https://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1753846.1754176