From research prototypes to usable, useful systems: lessons learned in the trenches

INTRODUCTION A significant amount of innovation from research labs and universities is wastec& it is never applied in systems that the actual users can or want to use. The process of going frc~m a novel concept to a usable, useful system is poorly understood by most researchers. The purpose of this panel is to address how research done in research labs and universities can be converted into systems that the end users would use. Each of the panelists has built at least one substantial system which is currently being used by a large community of real users (other than the team that built the system). Based on their experience, they will make recommendations that, if followed early enough in the project, would make the conversion to usable systems faster and easier.