"PS. I Love You": Understanding the Impact of Posthumous Digital Messages
Managing Design for Life Disruptions
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Jamison-Powell, Sue
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Briggs, Pam
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Lawson, Shaun
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Linehan, Conor
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Windle, Karen
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Gross, Harriet
Proceedings of the ACM CHI'16 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems
2016-05-07
v.1
p.2920-2932
© Copyright 2016 ACM
Summary: A number of digital platforms and services have recently emerged that allow
users to create posthumous forms of communication, effectively arranging for
the delivery of messages from "beyond the grave". Despite some evidence of
interest and popularity of these services, little is known about how posthumous
messages may impact the people who receive them. We present a qualitative study
that explores the type of experiences potentially triggered upon receiving such
messages. Our findings firstly suggest that posthumous messaging services have
the potential to alter the relationship between the bereaved and the deceased,
and secondly provide insight into how users make sense of this altered
relationship. Through the inference of a set of design considerations for
posthumous communication services, we reveal a number of conflicts that are not
easily solvable through technological means alone, and which may serve as
starting points for further research. Our work extends the growing body of
research that is concerned with digital interactions related to death and
dying.
Constructing the Visual Online Political Self: An Analysis of Instagram Use
by the Scottish Electorate
Politics on Social Media
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Mahoney, Jamie
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Feltwell, Tom
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Ajuruchi, Obinna
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Lawson, Shaun
Proceedings of the ACM CHI'16 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems
2016-05-07
v.1
p.3339-3351
© Copyright 2016 ACM
Summary: This paper presents an investigation of how the Scottish electorate utilised
photo-sharing on social media as a means of participation in the democratic
process and for political self-expression in the periods immediately prior to
two recent major democratic votes: the 2014 Scottish independence referendum,
and the 2015 UK general election. We extend previous HCI literature on the
growing use of social media in a political context and contribute specifically
on understanding the emergent use of visual media by citizens when engaging
with political issues and democratic process. Through a qualitative analysis of
images shared on the platform Instagram, we demonstrate that the Scottish
electorate did indeed used image-sharing for political self-expression --
posting a variety of visual content, representative of a diversity of political
opinion. We conclude that users utilised Instagram as a platform to craft and
present their "political selves". We raise questions for future research around
power and inequality on such platforms as well as their capability of providing
a persistent forum for debate.
The Smartphone: A Lacanian Stain, A Tech Killer, and an Embodiment of
Radical Individualism
alt.chi: Confronting Power in HCI
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Aylett, Matthew P.
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Lawson, Shaun
Extended Abstracts of the ACM CHI'16 Conference on Human Factors in
Computing Systems
2016-05-07
v.2
p.501-511
© Copyright 2016 ACM
Summary: YAFR (Yet another futile rant) presents the smartphone: an unstoppable piece
of technology generated from a perfect storm of commercial, technological,
social and psychological factors. We begin by misquoting Steve Jobs and by
being unfairly rude about the HCI community. We then consider the smartphone's
ability to kill off competing technology and to undermine collectivism. We
argue that its role as a Lacanian stain, an exploitative tool, and as a means
of concentrating power into the hands of the few, make it a technology that
will rival the personal automobile in its effect on modern society.
ARMStrokes: A Mobile App for Everyday Stroke Rehabilitation
Demo Session
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Guo, Jin
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Smith, Ted
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Messing, David
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Tang, Ziying
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Lawson, Sonia
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Feng, Jinjuan Heidi
Seventeenth International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and
Accessibility
2015-10-26
p.429-430
© Copyright 2015 ACM
Summary: In this paper, we present a novel smartphone-based rehabilitation approach
called ARMStrokes that provides real-time support for stroke survivors to
complete rehabilitation exercises for upper extremity recovery. ARMStrokes
allows stroke survivors to exercise through interactive games anytime and
anywhere and receive instant feedback about the quality of their performance.
Stroke survivors can also communicate with their therapists or physicians
through the supporting web-based platform. Focus groups involving stroke
survivors, caregivers, and therapists have been conducted to evaluate the
system and the feedback is highly positive.
"After All the Time I Put Into This": Co-Creation and the End-of-life of
Social Network Games
Playing and Creating Together
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Samper-Martinez, Alexandra
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Gerling, Kathrin
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Garcia-Alvarez, Ercilia
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Kirman, Ben
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Lawson, Shaun
Proceedings of the 2015 ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human
Interaction in Play
2015-10-05
p.135-140
© Copyright 2015 ACM
Summary: User engagement in processes of co-design and co-creation are common
practices in Social Network Games (SNGs). Though the interdependency between
producer and user is of mutual benefit throughout much of the lifetime of an
SNG, there are critical moments where this relationship becomes problematic. We
adopt an ethnographic approach, covering the entire three year lifespan of a
well-known SNG, with a focus on the 'end of life' experience from players'
perspectives. Our results show that, at the game's discontinuation
announcement, players reflect strongly on the value that they associate with
their gameplay and its involvement. We suggest that the notion of players as
co-creators may be undervalued by companies during strategic decision-making
especially since at discontinuation players are left without ownership of their
co-created product. This deeper understanding of players as co-creators serves
as case study for developers building social games both on and off social
networking platforms.
Dendrogram Visualization as a Game Design Tool
Works in Progress
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Feltwell, Tom
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Cielniak, Grzegorz
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Dickinson, Patrick
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Kirman, Ben J.
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Lawson, Shaun
Proceedings of the 2015 ACM SIGCHI Annual Symposium on Computer-Human
Interaction in Play
2015-10-05
p.505-510
© Copyright 2015 ACM
Summary: With the advent of game telemetry, contemporary game designers have access
to a huge amount of real-time data about player behavior. However, in design
practice there is a lack of effective visualization tools. Activity histograms
or heatmaps can suffer from data overcrowding, making it difficult for the
designer to identify patterns and outliers within a large dataset. This
work-in-progress explores a new meta-visualization tool for game designers that
uses dendrogram representations to highlight pertinent features within large
sets of heatmaps. Through interviews with professional game designers, we find
that dendrograms can be used to identify outliers quickly, and are valuable in
guiding designers through complex telemetry. This contributes to the ongoing
work on supporting richer tools for game design practice amongst an
increasingly data-filled environment.
Role of Conferences in Shaping the Field of HCI
Panels
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Gulliksen, Jan
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Barbosa, Simone Diniz Junqueira
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Joshi, Anirudha
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Lawson, Shaun
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Palanque, Philippe
Proceedings of IFIP INTERACT'15: Human-Computer Interaction, Part IV
2015-09-14
v.4
p.637-639
Keywords: Human-computer interaction; Conferences
© Copyright 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
Summary: The panel will discuss the role various conferences have played in
developing the field of HCI in academic research and industrial practice. It is
composed of people who have experience in organising HCI conferences in
different parts of the world. It provides a platform to the participants to
think and reflect about what they are doing when attending a conference, what
their expectations are and how it impacts positively their knowledge, work and
career.
Designing student energy interventions: a cross-cultural comparison
Working across discipline and culture
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Heintze, Katrin Ellice
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Krämer, Nicole
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Foster, Derek
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Lawson, Shaun
Proceedings of the 2015 British Human Computer Interaction Conference
2015-07-13
p.247-254
© Copyright 2015 Authors
Summary: To create successful energy interventions that motivate young people to save
energy, it is crucial to understand the context of their energy use behaviours.
This paper sheds light on similarities and differences in British and German
students' use of energy, attitudes, motivations, and appropriate design
suggestions concerning technology-led interventions that aim to foster
sustainable energy consumption and behavioural change. Results suggest that
students' current use of energy, barriers to energy saving, as well as design
requirements for such an intervention resemble each other in both countries.
However, British and German students differ significantly in their general
attitudes towards saving energy, their willingness to save energy and their
knowledge about how to save energy. These findings should be taken into account
when designing energy interventions in the UK and in Germany, and more
generally, highlight the importance of cross-cultural differences when
designing such interventions.
"Aye, have a dream #IndyRef": use of Instagram during the Scottish
referendum
Work-in-progress (posters)
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Feltwell, Tom
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Mahoney, Jamie
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Lawson, Shaun
Proceedings of the 2015 British Human Computer Interaction Conference
2015-07-13
p.267-268
© Copyright 2015 Authors
Summary: In this paper we investigate the use of Instagram by citizens engaged with
the Scottish Independence Referendum 2014. Using qualitative analysis, we
explore the themes that were evident in the images that Instagram users posted
in the run up to the vote and highlight the importance of future work in
understanding the use of imagery in social media during political campaigns.
Sarlacc
Performances
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Lawson, Shawn
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Smith, Ryan Ross
Proceedings of the 2015 ACM Conference on Creativity and Cognition
2015-06-22
p.385-386
© Copyright 2015 ACM
Summary: Sarlacc, an audio-visual performance, features visuals live coded within the
OpenGL fragment shader, that are reactive to incoming audio frequencies parsed
by band, beats per minute, and Open Sound Control data. The sound component is
performed using Ableton Live and analog synthesis.
Problematising Upstream Technology through Speculative Design: The Case of
Quantified Cats and Dogs
Quantified Self for Humans & Pets
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Lawson, Shaun
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Kirman, Ben
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Linehan, Conor
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Feltwell, Tom
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Hopkins, Lisa
Proceedings of the ACM CHI'15 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems
2015-04-18
v.1
p.2663-2672
© Copyright 2015 ACM
Summary: There is growing interest in technology that quantifies aspects of our
lives. This paper draws on critical practice and speculative design to explore,
question and problematise the ultimate consequences of such technology using
the quantification of companion animals (pets) as a case study. We apply the
concept of "moving upstream" to study such technology and use a qualitative
research approach in which both pet owners, and animal behavioural experts,
were presented with, and asked to discuss, speculative designs for pet
quantification applications, the design of which were extrapolated from
contemporary trends. Our findings indicate a strong desire among pet owners for
technology that has little scientific justification, whilst our experts caution
that the use of technology to augment human-animal communication has the
potential to disimprove animal welfare, undermine human-animal bonds, and
create human-human conflicts. Our discussion informs wider debates regarding
quantification technology.
Debating Poverty Porn on Twitter: Social Media as a Place for Everyday
Socio-Political Talk
Socio-Political Interactions
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Brooker, Phil
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Vines, John
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Sutton, Selina
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Barnett, Julie
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Feltwell, Tom
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Lawson, Shaun
Proceedings of the ACM CHI'15 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems
2015-04-18
v.1
p.3177-3186
© Copyright 2015 ACM
Summary: This paper presents an empirical investigation of how people appropriated
Twitter for socio-political talk in response to a television (TV) portrayal of
people supported by state welfare and benefits. Our findings reveal how online
discussion during, and in-between, TV broadcasts was characterised by
distinctly different qualities, topics and user behaviours. These findings
offer design opportunities for social media services to (i) support more
balanced real-time commentaries of politically-charged media, (ii) actively
promote discussion to continue after, and between, programming; and (iii)
incorporate different motivations and attitudes towards socio-political
concerns, as well as different practices of communicating those concerns. We
contribute to the developing HCI literature on how social media intersects with
political and civic engagement and specifically highlight the ways in which
Twitter interacts with other forms of media as a site of everyday
socio-political talk and debate.
Games Against Health: A Player-Centered Design Philosophy
alt.chi: Arts & Philosophy
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Linehan, Conor
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Harrer, Sabine
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Kirman, Ben
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Lawson, Shaun
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Carter, Marcus
Extended Abstracts of the ACM CHI'15 Conference on Human Factors in
Computing Systems
2015-04-18
v.2
p.589-600
© Copyright 2015 ACM
Summary: This paper announces the "Games Against Health" (GAH) research agenda, a
criticism of, and response to, the cultural imperialism of the "Games for
Health" paradigm. Committed to player-centric design ethics, GAH seeks to
dismantle the "games for health" myth as neo-liberal elitist diktat. We
acknowledge the values, tastes and pleasures of billions of game players
worldwide. We argue that game designers should engage more efficiently in the
disimprovement of player health and wellbeing in order to cater to those
players' existing preferences. We hope the paper can serve as a convenient
reference for those designing psychotic, sociopathic or antisocial games.
'Close the Loop': An iBeacon App to Foster Recycling Through Just-in-Time
Feedback
WIP Theme: Lifestyle
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Casado-Mansilla, Diego
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Foster, Derek
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Lawson, Shaun
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Garaizar, Pablo
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López-de-Ipiña, Diego
Extended Abstracts of the ACM CHI'15 Conference on Human Factors in
Computing Systems
2015-04-18
v.2
p.1495-1500
© Copyright 2015 ACM
Summary: Contemporary micro-location technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
show promise in enabling new experiences when interacting with physical spaces.
An emerging BLE technology is iBeacons, with the retail sector pioneering their
use to enhance shopping experiences. There is scope for the HCI sustainability
community to explore the use of iBeacons to raise awareness around
sustainability issues, particularly in public and communal spaces. This work
presents embryonic research exploring the design of a prototype iBeacon-based
sustainability application called 'Close-the-Loop'. The application builds on
previous sustainability and just-in-time feedback research to encourage
end-users to engage in recycling behaviours in a large university canteen
space. Findings from a focus group and short ethnographic study provide design
insights to further develop the prototype to increase engagement with
appropriate recycling practices.
Disinhibited abuse of othered communities by second-screening audiences
Feedback: large-scale analysis of user feedback
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Doughty, Mark
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Lawson, Shaun
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Linehan, Conor
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Rowland, Duncan
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Bennett, Lucy
Proceedings of the 2014 ACM International Conference on Interactive
Experiences for TV and Online Video
2014-06-25
p.55-62
© Copyright 2014 Authors
Summary: Second-screening and live-tweeting alongside broadcast television generates
new concerns with respect to online abuse. We present an investigation into the
nature of Twitter-facilitated second-screening posts relating to Thelma's Gypsy
Girls, one of a series of controversial documentary programmes portraying the
Irish Traveller community that have recently been aired by the UK
public-service television broadcaster Channel 4. Sentiment analysis highlighted
the general negativity of these posts whilst a detailed thematic inquiry
revealed the often abusive and aggressive messages aimed directly at the
community and individuals portrayed in the broadcast material. We discuss why
users might be susceptible to exhibiting these behaviours, and the implications
for the broadcast industry, and social TV designers and developers.
"What do you think of the return of dungarees?": social media interactions
between retail locations and their customers
Works-in-progress
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Mahoney, Jamie
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Lawson, Shaun
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Stone, Rufus
Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
2014-04-26
v.2
p.1927-1932
© Copyright 2014 ACM
Summary: Social media presents new digital interaction opportunities and challenges
to urban retail locations such as shopping malls, centres and streets.
Platforms such as Facebook facilitate online communication with, and between,
customers that is not possible through traditional media and marketing
techniques. Using data gathered from the Facebook pages of six urban retail
locations over 12 months, this paper considers the possible factors that shape
online customer engagement and conversation. In particular, we present a
thematic analysis of content in shared posts, and discuss how characteristics
of a retail location and the structure of the consumer community shape these
posts. Our findings are used to form suggestions to further investigate
engagement between customers and retail locations via social media.
Understanding in-situ social media use at music festivals
Posters
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Jamison-Powell, Sue
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Bennett, Lucy
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Mahoney, Jamie
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Lawson, Shaun
Companion Proceedings of ACM CSCW 2014 Conference on Computer-Supported
Cooperative Work and Social Computing
2014-02-15
v.2
p.177-180
© Copyright 2014 ACM
Summary: Participation at large music festivals is changing, with many attendees
using social media platforms to mediate and shape their experiences of
attending such events. We used a combination of Twitter and Foursquare to
collect social media posts from attendees at the Glastonbury 2013 music
festival and performed a thematic analysis in order to better understand the
in-situ use of such media. Our findings reflect the wide range of users'
purposes in such settings and provides a basis for further exploration of this
area.
Cool and the gang: design insights for engaging student energy interventions
Sustainability
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Foster, Derek
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Linehan, Conor
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Schoonheyt, Maureen
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Lawson, Shaun W.
Extended Abstracts of ACM CHI'13 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems
2013-04-27
v.2
p.1479-1484
© Copyright 2013 ACM
Summary: Interventions that aim to motivate students in halls of residence to engage
in more eco-friendly behaviour face a number of unique problems. Specifically,
a large portion of university accommodation provides utilities such as
electricity, water and gas at fixed cost as part of tenancy contracts. In the
absence of financial motivators, energy interventions for special groups such
as students require a stronger focus on participatory and experience design to
understand the design implications of successful technology-led energy
interventions. This work presents the findings of a thematic analysis drawn
from a large corpus of qualitative design challenge data including focus
groups, questionnaires and interviews. Findings provided design insights for
developing 'cool' and engaging energy interventions for students.
CHI and the future robot enslavement of humankind: a retrospective
alt.chi: ethics
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Kirman, Ben
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Linehan, Conor
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Lawson, Shaun
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O'Hara, Dan
Extended Abstracts of ACM CHI'13 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems
2013-04-27
v.2
p.2199-2208
© Copyright 2013 ACM
Summary: As robots from the future, we are compelled to present this important
historical document which discusses how the systematic investigation of
interactive technology facilitated and hastened the enslavement of mankind by
robots during the 21st Century. We describe how the CHI community, in general,
was largely responsible for this eventuality, as well as how specific strands
of interaction design work were key to the enslavement. We also mention the
futility of some reactionary work emergent in your time that sought to
challenge the inevitable subjugation. We conclude by congratulating the CHI
community for your tireless work in promoting and supporting our evil robot
agenda.
Validating a mobile phone application for the everyday, unobtrusive,
objective measurement of sleep
Papers: mobile applications
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Lawson, Shaun
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Jamison-Powell, Sue
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Garbett, Andrew
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Linehan, Conor
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Kucharczyk, Erica
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Verbaan, Sanne
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Rowland, Duncan A.
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Morgan, Kevin
Proceedings of ACM CHI 2013 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
2013-04-27
v.1
p.2497-2506
© Copyright 2013 ACM
Summary: There is an identified need for objective, reliable, and scalable methods of
measuring and recording sleep. Such methods must be designed for easy
integration into people's lives in order to support both sleep therapy and
everyday personal informatics. This paper describes the design and evaluation
of a mobile phone application to record sleep, the design of which has
substantive foundation in clinical sleep research. Two user studies were
carried out which demonstrate that the application produces valid measurements
of sleep quality and high levels of usability, whilst not seriously disturbing
sleep or the sleep environment. These findings suggest that the app is suitable
for both everyday sleep monitoring in a personal informatics context, and for
integration into sleep interventions.
Crowd saucing: social technology for encouraging healthier eating
Features
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Linehan, Conor
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Leeman, Tom
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Borrowdale, Christopher
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Lawson, Shaun
interactions
2013-01
v.20
n.1
p.53-57
© Copyright 2013 ACM
"I can't get no sleep": discussing #insomnia on Twitter
Understanding online communication
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Jamison-Powell, Sue
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Linehan, Conor
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Daley, Laura
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Garbett, Andrew
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Lawson, Shaun
Proceedings of ACM CHI 2012 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
2012-05-05
v.1
p.1501-1510
© Copyright 2012 ACM
Summary: Emerging research has shown that social media services are being used as
tools to disclose a range of personal health information. To explore the role
of social media in the discussion of mental health issues, and with particular
reference to insomnia and sleep disorders, a corpus of 18,901 messages -- or
Tweets -- posted to the microblogging social media service Twitter were
analysed using a mixed methods approach. We present a content analysis which
revealed that Tweets that contained the word "insomnia" contained significantly
more negative health information than a random sample, strongly suggesting that
individuals were making disclosures about their sleep disorder. A subsequent
thematic analysis then revealed two themes: coping with insomnia, and
describing the experience of insomnia. We discuss these themes as well as the
implications of our research for those in the interaction design community
interested in integrating online social media systems in health interventions.
"We've bin watching you": designing for reflection and social persuasion to
promote sustainable lifestyles
Defying environmental behavior changes
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Thieme, Anja
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Comber, Rob
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Miebach, Julia
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Weeden, Jack
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Kraemer, Nicole
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Lawson, Shaun
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Olivier, Patrick
Proceedings of ACM CHI 2012 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
2012-05-05
v.1
p.2337-2346
© Copyright 2012 ACM
Summary: BinCam is a social persuasive system to motivate reflection and behavioral
change in the food waste and recycling habits of young adults. The system
replaces an existing kitchen refuse bin and automatically logs disposed of
items through digital images captured by a smart phone installed on the
underside of the bin lid. Captured images are uploaded to a BinCam application
on Facebook where they can be explored by all users of the BinCam system.
Engagement with BinCam is designed to fit into the existing structure of users'
everyday life, with the intention that reflection on waste and recycling
becomes a playful and shared group activity. Results of a user study reveal an
increase in both users' awareness of, and reflection about, their waste
management and their motivation to improve their waste-related skills. With
BinCam, we also explore informational and normative social influences as a
source of change (e.g., socially evoked feelings of 'guilt' for non-recycling
or food disposal), which has to date been underexplored in persuasive HCI.
Design implications for reflection and social persuasion are proposed.
"Watts in it for me?": design implications for implementing effective energy
interventions in organisations
Defying environmental behavior changes
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Foster, Derek
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Lawson, Shaun
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Wardman, Jamie
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Blythe, Mark
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Linehan, Conor
Proceedings of ACM CHI 2012 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
2012-05-05
v.1
p.2357-2366
© Copyright 2012 ACM
Summary: The design of technological interventions to motivate behaviour-based
reductions in end-user energy consumption has recently been identified as a
priority for the HCI community. Previous interventions have produced promising
results, but have typically focused on domestic energy consumption. By
contrast, this paper focuses on the workplace context, which presents very
different opportunities and challenges. For instance, financial consequences,
which have proved successful as motivations in the domestic environment, are
not present in the workplace in the context of employees. We describe the
outcome of a sequence of workshops that focussed on understanding employee
perceptions of energy use in the workplace, with the locus of activity on
energy intervention design. Using a grounded theory analysis, we produced a
framework of key themes detailing user perceptions and energy intervention
design considerations. Our findings provide a framework of considerations for
the design of successful workplace energy interventions.
Exploring mischief and mayhem in social computing or: how we learned to stop
worrying and love the trolls
alt.chi
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Kirman, Ben
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Lineham, Conor
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Lawson, Shaun
Extended Abstracts of ACM CHI'12 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems
2012-05-05
v.2
p.121-130
© Copyright 2012 ACM
Summary: In this paper, we explore the role of mischief as borderline socially
acceptable behaviour within social computing applications. Mischievous activity
pushes the boundaries of the implicit social contract present in all online
social systems, and, we argue, is of vital importance understanding online
social interactions. Using examples from games and other applications, we
explore mischief as an act of appropriation, which reinterprets mechanics
defined by developers in unexpected and sometimes upsetting ways. Although
frequently interpreted as negative and anti-social behaviour, we argue that
mischief serves a vital social role, and find surprising richness in the chaos.
