A survey of the trajectories conceptual framework: investigating theory use in HCI

We present a case study of how Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) theory is reused within the field. We analyze the HCI literature in order to reveal the impact of one particular theory, the trajectories framework that has been cited as an example of both contemporary HCI theory and a strong concept that sits between theory and design practice. Our analysis of 60 papers that seriously engaged with trajectories reveals the purposes that the framework served and which parts of it they used. We compare our findings to the originally stated goals of trajectories and to subsequent claims of its status as both theory and strong concept. The results shed new light on what we mean by theory in HCI, including its relationship to practice and to other disciplines

Decoupling and context in new media art

This dissertation presents a novel characterization of new media art, centered on media appropriation: the dialectal insertion of technological knowledge into the art practice. The thesis identifies some defining characteristics of new media art’s language, and indicates the defining role that explicitation plays. While media appropriation is not necessarily linked to the digital realm, it provides a natural substratum for it and so this thesis analyzes some aspects of the relationship between art and technology, where it introduces the user–programmer continuum and the perceptual cloud, a new paradigm of human–computer interaction that emerges from the functional and geographical decoupling of the computational and perceptual layers of interactive systems. Next, it analyzes the sociopolitical inscription of new media art, integrating the economic and political contexts of its practice into the analysis and providing a new reflection on new media art production from the geopolitical periphery. This thesis is proposed as a hybrid research–practice. A selected subset of the artworks created are presented and analyzed within the dissertation’s conceptual framework.Esta disertación presenta una nueva caracterización del new media art, centrada en la apropiación de los medios, es decir, en la inserción dialéctica de conocimiento tecnológico dentro de la práctica artística. La tesis identifica algunas características definitorias del lenguaje del new media art, e identifica el rol fundamental que la explicitación juega. Aunque la apropiación de los medios no está necesariamente unida a lo digital, éste provee un substrato natural para ella. Por ello, esta tesis analiza algunos aspectos entre el arte y la tecnología digital, introduciendo el continuo usuario\2013programador y la nube perceptual, un nuevo paradigma de interacción humano\2013computadora que emerge del desacople funcional y geográfico de las capas computacionales y perceptuales de los sistemas interactivos. A continuación, se analiza la inscripción sociopolítica del new media art, integrando los contextos económico y político, proveyendo una nueva reflexión acerca de la producción artística desde la periferia geopolítica. Esta tesis se propone como un híbrido investigación\2013producción. Un subconjunto seleccionado de las obras creadas durante el programa son presentadas y analizadas desde el marco conceptual de la disertación

Putting trajectories to work: translating a HCI framework into design practice

One major challenge for the academic Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research community is the adoption of its findings and theoretical output by the interaction design practitioners whose work they are meant to support. To address this “research-practice gap”, this thesis takes the example of trajectories, a HCI conceptual framework derived from studies of mixed-reality performances spanning complex spaces, timeframes, participant roles, and interface ecologies. Trajectories’ authors have called for their work to be used to inform the design of a broader variety of experiences. This thesis explores what is required to fulfil this ambition, with a specific focus on using the framework to improve the experience of live events, and on professional design practitioners as the users of the framework. This exploration follows multiple approaches, led both by researchers and practitioners. This thesis starts by reviewing past uses of the trajectories framework – including for design purposes – and by discussing work that has previously tried to bridge the research-practice gap. In a first series of studies, the thesis identifies live events – such as music festivals and running races – as a rich setting where trajectories may be used both to study existing experiences and to design new ones. This leads to a series of design guidelines grounded both in knowledge about the setting and in trajectories. The thesis then discusses multiple approaches through which HCI researchers and practitioners at a large media company have joined forces to try to use trajectories in industrial design and production processes. Finally, the last strand of work returns to live events, with a two-year long Research through Design study in which trajectories have been used to improve the experience of a local music festival and to develop a mobile app to support it. This last study provides first-hand insight into the integration of theoretical concerns into design. This thesis provides three major classes of contributions. First, extensions to the original trajectories framework, which include refined definitions for the set of concepts that the framework comprises, as well as considerations for open-ended experiences where control is shared between stakeholders and participants. Secondly, a model describing the use of trajectories throughout design and production processes offers a blueprint for practitioners willing to use the framework. Finally, a discussion on the different ways trajectories have been translated into practice leads to proposing a model for locating translations of HCI knowledge with regards to the gap between academic research and design practice, and the gap between theoretical knowledge and design artefacts

Putting trajectories to work: translating a HCI framework into design practice

One major challenge for the academic Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research community is the adoption of its findings and theoretical output by the interaction design practitioners whose work they are meant to support. To address this “research-practice gap”, this thesis takes the example of trajectories, a HCI conceptual framework derived from studies of mixed-reality performances spanning complex spaces, timeframes, participant roles, and interface ecologies. Trajectories’ authors have called for their work to be used to inform the design of a broader variety of experiences. This thesis explores what is required to fulfil this ambition, with a specific focus on using the framework to improve the experience of live events, and on professional design practitioners as the users of the framework. This exploration follows multiple approaches, led both by researchers and practitioners. This thesis starts by reviewing past uses of the trajectories framework – including for design purposes – and by discussing work that has previously tried to bridge the research-practice gap. In a first series of studies, the thesis identifies live events – such as music festivals and running races – as a rich setting where trajectories may be used both to study existing experiences and to design new ones. This leads to a series of design guidelines grounded both in knowledge about the setting and in trajectories. The thesis then discusses multiple approaches through which HCI researchers and practitioners at a large media company have joined forces to try to use trajectories in industrial design and production processes. Finally, the last strand of work returns to live events, with a two-year long Research through Design study in which trajectories have been used to improve the experience of a local music festival and to develop a mobile app to support it. This last study provides first-hand insight into the integration of theoretical concerns into design. This thesis provides three major classes of contributions. First, extensions to the original trajectories framework, which include refined definitions for the set of concepts that the framework comprises, as well as considerations for open-ended experiences where control is shared between stakeholders and participants. Secondly, a model describing the use of trajectories throughout design and production processes offers a blueprint for practitioners willing to use the framework. Finally, a discussion on the different ways trajectories have been translated into practice leads to proposing a model for locating translations of HCI knowledge with regards to the gap between academic research and design practice, and the gap between theoretical knowledge and design artefacts