https://www.degruyterbrill.com/journal/key/icom/25/2/html
We started Volume 25 (2026) of i-com with a great special issue on “(R)evolution of Educational Technologies”. For this second issue, we had planned a special issue on “Generative Artificial Intelligence in Interactive Systems: Applications in Research, Society, and Industry”. Although the guest editors received several strong submissions, peer review and revisions took longer than expected, so we could not include them in Issue 2/2026. Instead, this issue brings together free submissions, meaning articles not associated with a special issue, that were accepted over the past year. The papers for the Generative AI special issue will appear in the next issue of i-com, scheduled for publication in December 2026 or January 2027.
The free submissions published in this issue cover a very broad range of HCI topics – from user interfaces for ecodriving to AI-based authoring support for VR content.
The first paper is “Lessons from the Field: Usability (Engineering) in Regulated Healthcare” by Preetha Moorthy, Till Nagel and Eva Hornecker. Drawing on the first author’s experience as a practitioner in regulated healthcare, the authors describe the development and integration of healthcare technologies in regulated settings. Through typical scenarios, they illustrate the challenges of usability engineering in this field and propose concrete directions and practical measures that could be incorporated into existing healthcare and development processes. The paper would also have fitted well within our planned special issue on “The Effect of Usability Laws and Guidelines”, scheduled for early 2027.
In “Sustainable Digital Transformation in Training: Evaluating Manuals, Tablets, and Smart Glasses for Procedural Guidance in an Assembling Process”, David Unbehaun, Seyed Behzad Arjmand Boroujeni and Dominik Schulz examine how instructional formats such as printed manuals, tablets and smart glasses affect the efficiency and sustainability of training for a procedural assembly task. Their findings provide empirical evidence on the benefits of digital training tools and practical guidance for organizations.
The third paper “Investigating Enablers and Barriers of Health-Related assistive Technologies: Long-term Results of Sustained Use by Older Adults in Urban and Rural Regions” by David Unbehaun, Michael Ahmadi, Felix Carros, Rainer Wieching, Peter Tolmie and Volker Wulf, reports on the development of social learning spaces in which participants were introduced to health-related technologies. The study examines the factors that enable or impede long-term use. Its findings indicate that the interaction between health-related and social factors was an important motivation for sustained technology use and shaped the perceived usefulness of the devices.
“Improved Ecodriving Using Instantaneous Consumption Displays in an Electric Vehicle Driving Simulator: The Role of Energy Dynamics Awareness” by Markus Gödker, Tim Schrills and Thomas Franke examines whether instantaneous consumption displays that differ in the amount and quality of task-relevant energy information can improve drivers’ operational ecodriving and energy-specific situation awareness.
In “AI Authoring for VR-supported Layout and Process Planning: Methodological Concept for the Turning Shop of the Future”, Nils Böcking, Sarah Reichel, Sven Hoffmann, Pat Ellinghaus, Ulrich Remmel and Volker Wulf present a design concept for visually planning and optimizing production layouts for the turning shop of the future. The article shows how AI-based authoring combined with VR technology can support practical and effective production planning.
Alongside these research papers, this issue includes three contributions to the UX Professionals Forum. In this forum of i-com: Journal of Interactive Media, researchers and practitioners share their experiences of designing and evaluating interactive products. Its practice-oriented articles on usability and user experience promote exchange between practitioners and academics.
The first contribution is “From Screen Time to Behavior Change – A Reflection on Psychological Mechanisms and the Long-Term Effectiveness of Interventions for Smartphone Behavior” by Cindy Mastrino, Lara Christoforakos and Sara Diefenbach. Drawing on an analysis of ten widely used apps, the authors offer a theory-based reflection on design elements and approaches to behavior change, including restriction, self-nudging, boosting and gamification. They also discuss the expected short- and long-term effects of these approaches.
In “AI as a Reflection Partner in UX Strategy – Presentation of an AI-supported UX strategy evaluator”, Björn Rohles and Franziska Gronwald describe the design principles and development of a UX strategy evaluator. The evaluator is grounded in the iterative development of a checklist that identifies the skills, information and attitudes relevant to strategic UX work.
Finally, “Vibe Coding: Intention Instead of Implementation – How UX Professionals Build, Evaluate, and Hand Over Functional Prototypes with AI” by Christian Hohn and Kurt Loydl examines vibe coding from the perspective of two UX practitioners and draws on real-world projects. The article analyzes how vibe coding is used in professional UX practice and offers insights for practitioners and researchers.
Michael Koch (Editor-in-Chief of i-com)
i-com Volume 25 (2026) Issue 2
October 2026
https://www.degruyterbrill.com/journal/key/icom/25/2/html
Editorial
Michael Koch
Lessons from the field: usability (engineering) in regulated healthcare
Preetha Moorthy, Till Nagel, Eva Hornecker
Sustainable digital transformation in training: evaluating manuals, tablets, and smart glasses for procedural guidance in an assembling process
Seyed Behzad Arjmand Boroujeni, Dominik Schulz, David Unbehaun
Investigating enablers and barriers of health-related assistive technologies: long-term results of sustained use by older adults in urban and rural regions
Michael Ahmadi, David Unbehaun, Felix Carros, Rainer Wieching, Peter Tolmie, Volker Wulf
Improved ecodriving using instantaneous consumption displays in an electric vehicle driving simulator: the role of energy dynamics awareness
Markus Gödker, Tim Schrills, Thomas Franke
AI authoring for VR-supported layout and process planning: methodological concept for the turning shop of the future
Nils Wakan Boecking, Sarah Reichel, Sven Hoffmann, Pat Ellinghaus, Ulrich Remmel, Volker Wulf
UX Professionals Forum
From screen time to behavior change
Lara Christoforakos, Cindy Mastrino, Sarah Diefenbach
AI as a reflection partner in UX strategy
Franziska Gronwald, Björn Rohles
Vibe Coding: intention instead of implementation
Christian Hohn, Kurt Loydl