Category: PORTFOLIO

PhD RESEARCH: Human-Computer Interaction Research through Postphenomenology

Post author By diesoadmin
Post date August 22, 2018

Simon Fraser University, SIAT, PhD thesis research.

Supervised by: Prof. Ron Wakkary (SFU and Technical University Eindhoven), Prof. Peter-Paul Verbeek (University of Twente, The Netherlands), and Prof. Carman Neustaedter (SFU).

Design-oriented HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) through Postphenomenology

A design research inquiry informed by philosophical perspectives on technology

This research explores intersections between philosophy of technology, especially the postphenomenological approach and its frameworks, and Design-oriented HCI research. In particular, this doctoral thesis project aims to show how postphenomenology can be utilized in design research and help guide efforts of exploring to better attend to human-centeredness in HCI.

I successfully defended my PhD on July 19th, 2018. Kristina Höök (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden) was my external examiner. Gabriela Aceves-Sepulveda was my internal examiner at SFU.

ABSTRACT

This doctoral dissertation presents a reflexive account of a design researcher exploring a way to complement human-centered approaches in design-oriented Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) through postphenomenology. This endeavour is based on the possibility that human-centeredness in HCI may obscure aspects of the understanding of humans, technology, and the relations that come about between them. Postphenomenology, a contemporary strand of the philosophy of technology, seems to offer conceptualizations and a more holistic view that can deepen an understanding of the human and the many different kinds of relations that can emerge with technology in the context of HCI.

Motivated by this, the objective of this dissertation is to explore how postphenomenology can contribute a holistic perspective on human relations with technology that can help complement and expand human-centered approaches to design research and practice. To address this, postphenomenology is introduced as a novel analytical framing. Then, three cases of reflective design research practice are presented that illustrate how postphenomenology can be of value as a productive analytical lens by using it: (i) to retrospectively analyze an empirical design ethnography study of guide dog teams, (ii) to analyze a Research through Design (RtD) deployment study of the table-non-table, and (iii) to create a synthesized analysis of a range of contemporary prior RtD projects in an annotated portfolio to generatively open up new ways of looking at them and provide a scaffolding for future research opportunities.

What is revealed in design-oriented HCI through postphenomenology, as demonstrated in this dissertation, is a holistic perspective on the matters concerning the field of HCI that can be complementary to previous ways of understanding. Postphenomenology opens up a view of the human that in one way decenters the human and puts technology and the mediating effect of technology at the center. In this, the human, still a central concern, is understood as technologically mediated. This perspective overcomes a narrow view of the human present in human-centered approaches and it can help HCI researchers get a more holistic view of the human while taking into account the relations that in fact ‘make’ the human.

Keywords: human-technology relations; postphenomenology; reflective design research practice; field work; human-animal relations; posthumanism

Publications from my doctoral work include (and there is more to come):

My Dissertation [PDF].

Hauser, S., Oogjes, D., Wakkary, R., Verbeek, P. (2018). An Annotated Portfolio on Doing Postphenomenology Through Research Products. In Proceedings of the 2018 Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ’18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 459-471. *Best paper award! [PDF]

Hauser, S. 2018. Doing Postphenomenology through Things: Interdisciplinary Overlap Between Design Research and Philosophy of Technology. 2018 Conference on Human-Technology Relations: Postphenomenology and Philosophy of Technology (PHTR 2018). (Paper Abstract and Talk). University of Twente, The Netherlands.

Hauser, S., Wakkary, R., Odom, W., Verbeek, P., Desjardins, A., Lin, H., Dalton, M., Schilling, M., & de Boer, G. (2018). Deployments of the table-non-table: A Reflection on the Relation Between Theory and Things in the Practice of Design Research. In Proceedings of the ACM conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’18). ACM, New York, NY, USA. (13pgs). [PDF]

Wakkary, R., Oogjes, D., Lin, H., & Hauser, S. (2018). Philosophers Living with the Tilting Bowl. In Proceedings of the ACM conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’18). ACM, New York, NY, USA. (12pgs). *Best paper honorable mention award! [PDF]

Wakkary, R., Desjardins, A., & Hauser, S. (2016) Unselfconscious Interaction. Interacting with Computers. 2016; 28 (4): 501-520. doi: 10.1093/iwc/iwv018. (19pgs). [PDF]

Wakkary, R., Odom, W., Hauser, S., Hertz, G., & Lin, H. (2015). Material Speculation: Actual Artifacts for Critical Inquiry. In Proceedings of The Fifth Decennial Aarhus Conference on Critical Alternatives (AA ’15). Aarhus University Press 97-108. (11pgs). [PDF]

Hauser, S., Wakkary, R., & Neustaedter, C., (2014). Understanding guide dog team interactions: design opportunities to support work and play. In Proceedings of the 2014 ACM conference on Designing interactive systems (DIS 14). ACM, NY, USA, pp. 295-304. (10pgs). [PDF]

RESEARCH ARTEFACT & STUDY: table-non-table, crafting & deployments – SFU

Post author By diesoadmin
Post date September 1, 2017

Simon Fraser University, SIAT, Everyday Design Studio.

In 2013, collaboratively with my research group at the Everyday Design Studio we designed a research artefact: the table-non-table (TNT).

I have lead multiple series of deployment studies with the table-non-table between 2013-2017. The table-non-table is a main part of my doctoral work and thesis in which I explore how non-utilitarian design artefacts mediate human-world relations through the lens of postphenomenology.

The table-non-table is a moving table-like heavy structure made of about 1000 sheets of stacked paper on an aluminum chassis. It challenges assumptions around use-centric, utilitarian ideas of technologies and technology design. The table-non-table, informed by the notion of everyday design, manifests an approach that sees interactive artifacts as resources for creative use and reuse. It is our approach to design for everyday competences (for instance competences around using paper as a material is well-known). In previous studies, we looked at practices of everyday design and their composition of material, competences, and meaning (see our TOCHI 2013 paper).

The TNT and its study findings have been mentioned and described in several publications:

Wakkary, R., Desjardins, A., & Hauser, S. (2015) Unselfconscious Interaction. Interacting with Computers. iwv018. (pp.1-20).

Wakkary, R., Odom, W., Hauser, S., Hertz, G., & Lin, H. (2015). Material Speculation: Actual Artifacts for Critical Inquiry. In Proceedings of the 5th decennial conference on Critical computing: Critical Alternatives. (CC ’05). ACM Press. (accepted, in press).

OdomW., & Wakkary, R. (2015). Intersecting with Unaware Objects. In Proceedings of the 2015 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Creativity and Cognition (C&C ’15). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 33-42.

PORTFOLIO Teaching

ONLINE COURSE: Philosophy of Technology & Design – Univ. of Twente

Post author By diesoadmin
Post date August 21, 2017

University of Twente, Future Learn, Mentoring, Fall 2017 and Spring 2018

In collaboration with: Prof. Peter-Paul Verbeek (University of Twente), and Roos de Jong (University of Twente).

I am a mentor of the online course “Philosophy of Technology and Design: Shaping the Relations Between Humans and Technologies“. This is a MOOC (massive open online course), which is an online course aimed at unlimited participation and has open access via the web on FutureLearn. We have so far run this course twice and have plans to continue in the future.

Access the course HERE

Some more information from the course website:

Learn about the impact of technology on society. Explore the philosophy of technology and mediation theory, focused on design.

This course has been created for anyone interested in the relations between technology and society, and in particular for people working or studying in philosophy, engineering, design, social science and policy. The course might be specifically relevant to those interested in what philosophical analysis can contribute to the practice of design, engineering, and policy-making.

Understanding and designing the relations between technology and society

In every aspect of our lives we make use of all kinds of technologies. Technologies can anticipate needs or solve problems, and they can extend or enhance human capacities and activities. Technologies have made life easier, but also complicated our world. In this course you will get acquainted with some key approaches in philosophy of technology and design. The course focuses on the relations between humans and technologies. You will learn how philosophy can help us understand the social implications of technologies. And you will find out how to apply these insights in the practice of design.

Topics covered

Introduction into some classical thinkers in philosophy of technology.
Reflecting on the power of technology and if humans are still in control.
Learning about the philosophical approach of technological mediation.
Applying the ethical dimension of technology to the design process.

By the end of the course, students will be able to…

Evaluate some classical thinkers in philosophy of technology.
Reflect on the power of technology: are humans still in control?
Explore the contemporary philosophical approach of technological mediation.
Engage in case studies to get insights in the impact of technology on society and human life.
Debate the ethical dimension of technology and apply this to design.
Discuss the ethical limits of designing technologies that influence our behaviour.

Design PORTFOLIO Research

RESEARCH ARTEFACT & STUDY: Tilting Bowl, crafting & deployments – SFU

Post author By diesoadmin
Post date August 6, 2017

Simon Fraser University, SIAT, Everyday Design Studio.

The tilting bowl is a glazed porcelain bowl that periodically tilts. Similar to the table-non-table, the tilting bowl tilts in short durations (3-8 seconds) at random intervals 3-6 times a day. It is approximately 35 centimeters in diameter, 16 centimeters in height and weighs approximately 3 kilograms. The tilting bowl is a fully functional bowl. The form of the bowl was produced through a type of parametric design and we utilized digital processes in the making of its mold for slip-casting. The aim of the bowl is to find the simplest and most common design form (bowls have been made for millennia) that could be integrated with an equally simple approach to computational and digital technologies. The tilting bowl is a multiple of six bowls.

The bowls are currently being deployed in households for longer periods of time. Initially for four to six months in households of philosophersand in a second deployment study for twelve months. Participants will be asked to maintain a micro-blog, keep a photo diary, and take part in a semi-structured interview.

The bowls were made in collaboration with Material Matters (ECUAD) with funding support by NSERC and SSHRC.

We have published a paper about the initial study of the tilting bowl. The postphenomenological framing of the tilting bowl is based on my doctoral work.

PORTFOLIO Teaching

STUDIO COURSE: 2nd year 2017, Interaction Design – Emily Carr Univ. of Art & Design

Post author By diesoadmin
Post date January 3, 2017

Following up our success of Spring 2016 (CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND IMAGES OF THIS COURSE!) , in the Spring term of 2017 I co-taught the 4D Core Design Studio III course at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in collaboration with Markus Schilling. This course is an introduction to Interaction Design for 2nd year design students with an Interaction Design mayor. We developed the curriculum for this course which has been taken up by other instructors as well.

Design PORTFOLIO Research Uncategorized

RESEARCH ARTEFACT & STUDY: Morse Things, crafting & deployments – SFU

Post author By diesoadmin
Post date January 2, 2017

Simon Fraser University, SIAT, Everyday Design Studio.

The Morse Things project investigates the nature of relations between people and computational things in the making of everyday life. Specifically, Morse Things explores the notion of the Internet of Things, in addition to connectivity, sensing and data, the project aims to understand the materiality, temporality and human relationships that constitute and potentially undermine the current concept of the Internet of Things.

At the center of the Morse Things project are multiple sets of three networked ceramic cups and bowls. The cups and bowls digitally communicate between themselves as they progress over time toward an “awareness” of their potential group and networked existence. The data communication between the Morse Things is expressed through sound by each cup or bowl in Morse code; and over the Internet on Twitter.

The Morse Things are continuously being deployed in several long-term (several months) studies in peoples’ homes and apartments. The aim of the project is to make material and visible the non-human to non-human communication among digital things. Our goal is to understand the long-term and lived with experiences these create and unexpected opportunities that are constructed through our daily lives with such artifacts.

The Morse Things were made with the assistance of Material Matters (ECUAD) with funding support by 4TU.Federation – Design United, Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), NSERC and SSHRC.

Design PORTFOLIO Teaching

STUDIO COURSE: 2nd year 2016, Interaction Design – Emily Carr Univ. of Art & Design

Post author By diesoadmin
Post date January 16, 2016

In the Spring term of 2016 I developed and co-taught the 4D Core Design Studio III course at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in collaboration with Markus Schilling. This course is the first Interaction Design studio course for 2nd year design students within the Interaction Design major. It is worth mentioning that Markus and I developed the entire curriculum of this course from scratch.

In this course, students will begin to develop an understanding of interaction design and interaction design practice, revisit the design process and develop further their practice as designers-to-be. Students will engage into three consecutive interaction design projects and master techniques and methods including research methods like user research and secondary research, empathy building techniques like personas and scenarios, analysing techniques like Kano analysis and information architecture, design techniques for graphical user interfaces, concept iterations, prototyping techniques, and presentation and evaluation techniques.

There are three studio projects for the course; one is developed individually (application re-design) and two are group-based (tangible interface design & concept design for emerging technologies). Students will work in class to share theory, process, methods, and resources. Each project focuses on a different aspect of interaction design as well as a different part of the design process. This way students will gain an insight into different design disciplines while getting familiar with the single parts of iterative design process.

See the courses syllabus here.

Project #1 Re-design an application (GUI)

In this project students were asked to choose a software application (mobile app, web, or on a device with display) and systematically go through the process of re-designing the chosen software. They had to: Create 3 User Personas (in this course students were introduced to all the methods they were asked to use), analyze the software with KANO, Information Architecture, & User flow diagrams, re-design the software (towards 1 or all of their personas) systematically working with the methods introduced (KANO, IA, flow diagrams) and re-working them. Students could for example add a function that wasn’t there before, improve the user experience flow, and they could choose to stick with or also improve the visual layout. They had to create wireframes and iterate on them and finally design a prototype (clickable mock-up with e.g., Marvel, invision etc.).

Specifically, also please check out these two student’s overview/process of this assignment on their web portfolio: Stacie Schatz – ECU-Webmail ; Joachim Zatko – PublicLibrary (also on Medium)

Project #2 Tangible interface design

In this project students were asked to design 3 rotary knobs to control a RGB or HSB color picker visible on a screen. Students had to do sketches, and form explorations with foam, and design and fabricate three knobs align with a simple concept they had to come up with. The knobs were connected to 3 potentiometer that controlled a simple graphical user interface that they also had to design. The project was realized through combining Arduino with processing.

Specifically, also please check out two student’s overview/process of this assignment on their web portfolio: Stacie Schatz – Color ID ; Kelin Kaardal – Spektrum

Project #3 Invention Design/Concept design for emerging technologies/ Setting up an unknown design space

In this project students were pushed to become comfortable with making radical conceptual leaps into envisioning possible future technology applications in an emerging and largely unknown design space. We asked them to pick a technology/technologies from the Gartner hype cycle (a yearly report on emerging technologies), to research the technology, and to pair it with the context of ECU in the near future. Through mind maps and brainstorming activities students were to set up a design space, and create scenarios and use cases of proposed concepts. They had to create user journey maps to refine their concepts and finally create a video to communicate the final concept.

//More images coming soon, but here’s a sneek preview

At the end of the term we organized an exhibition to exhibit student’s works of the course.

… and here is a short video of the exhibition that one of the students (Joachim Zatko) shot.

*Markus and I want to thank HfG and especially Hans Krämer, Jörg Beck, Ralf Dringenberg, and Michael Götte, who have been inspiring the way we teach interaction design.

PORTFOLIO Teaching

STUDIO COURSE: 4th year 15/16, Interaction Design – Emily Carr Univ. of Art & Design

Post author By diesoadmin
Post date August 17, 2015

In the Fall term of 2015 and the Spring term of 2016 I co-taught the 4D Core Design Studio VI course at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in collaboration with Haig Armen. This course is for 4th year design students with an Interaction Design mayor. In this course students are working on their main B.A. thesis projects over the course of two terms. I will share outcomes at the end of the term on this site.

“This team-taught course offers exposure to key aspects (values, concepts and skills) of 2D, 3D, and 4D Design. Students independently engage in design research and methods, analyze, design, present and evaluate ideas to meet required objectives through individual and group projects. Discussion and reflection help students make informed decisions about their personal and professional development. Collaborative and contextual project work is emphasized in order to develop students’ community-based multidisciplinary teamwork, project management and client management skills” (From the ECU course website).

See the courses syllabus here.

Here are some examples of student’s work:

Design PORTFOLIO Research

RESEARCH AND DESIGN: Design Fiction and Speculative Design – SFU, AGO

Post author By diesoadmin
Post date January 26, 2015

Simon Fraser University, SIAT, Everyday Design Studio

I’ve been interested in Design Fiction for a while and worked on several projects around the topic.

A Sustainable Design Fiction: Green Practices

In 2012 we began writing a journal article called “A Sustainable Design Fiction: Green Practices” in which we propose opportunities for designers to co-design with DIY enthusiasts, targeted as practitioners in their own right, designing toward or within a design fiction. We see design fiction as a possible means to bridge sustainable practices, interaction design, and practice-oriented design and as a source for interpretation and adaptation. Designers can take on an intermediary (or what we call hybrid) role between design fictions and sustainable DIY practices. For example, Malthus is a DIY home version of aquaponic farming (see images). It was designed by the firm Conceptual Devices. The project aims to show how to build an aquaponic farm with accessible and easy to assemble materials. In this case, the designer is not presenting a design fiction in itself, but a plausible prototype of a proximate future. Below see the published journal article and the project page about the Green DIY study. This project was done in collaboration with Ron Wakkary, Audrey Desjardins, and Leah Maestri.

Wakkary, R., Desjardins, A., Hauser, S. & Maestri, L. (2013) A Sustainable Design Fiction: Green Practices. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI). 20, 4, Article 23 (2013). (34pgs)

SFUture – A Sustainable SFU in 2065

In the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 terms I took a class called ChangeLab and the final project of my project team was to envision and share what SFU (our University) could look like in the future, considering sustainability issues. We created a design fiction of SFU in 2065 in form of documentary-style videos from the future. There is a Youtube Channel, a tumblr blog, and a publication about this project. We had several probes that were things in our design fiction like the unscissors and the nogfobber (see images). My project partners were Audrey Desjardins, Kashif Pasta, and Mike Funergy.

See the four other fun SFUture videos HERE.

Material Speculations

The latest work around design fiction and speculative design has been an article that I wrote together with Ron Wakkary, Will Odom, Garnet Hertz, and Henry Lin. It is called ‘Material Speculations’ and we submitted a paper to the fifth decennial Aarhus Conference. More on how this submission turns out will be coming soon.

Speculative Design for the AGO

See also our project for the AGO that involves design fiction.
The featured image of this article from HERE.

PORTFOLIO Teaching

COURSE DEVELOPMENT: Materials for IAT333 IxD Methods – SFU

Post author By diesoadmin
Post date December 2, 2014

Simon Fraser University, SIAT, Research Assistant, Course Material Development, Fall 2014, advised by Prof. Ron Wakkary.

In fall 2014 I worked on course materials for Professor Ron Wakkary’s class IAT 333 D100 Interaction Design Methods, which involves a design project following a participatory design process throughout the course.

The material I put together are guidelines for working with a partner in a participatory design project. The guidelines are directed at both parties, the student teams and the company or partner they work with throughout the course.

To get an idea what that looked like, here the Table of Content of the guidelines I developed.

1. WORKING WITH A PARTNER
– Participatory design and the importance of working with a partner.

2. PROCESS
– Organization
– User involvement

3. FIND A PARTNER

4. DEFINE YOUR DESIGN PROJECT

5. HOW TO WORK WITH A PARTNER
Data Capturing
How to design PD activities

6. THE AGREEMENT WITH YOUR CHOSEN PARTNER

7. GET STARTED
First-hand experience

8. Say vs. do
Guidelines of observations. Capture and document user’s experiences and understandings.

This is a process graphic showing students that there are several stages PD methods and techniques can take part of the design process and that the involvement of the ‘user’ should go beyond an informing role at the beginning of the design process and instead cover several stages of the design process.