Embodiment as a means for scaffolding young childrenʼs social skill acquisition

In this paper, we discuss the notion of embodiment in the context of the ECHOES project, which aims at developing a multi-modal interactive environment for scaffolding young typically developing (TD) children and children with Asperger Syndrome (AS) in acquiring social interaction skills. Whilst, our approach to embodiment is in line with the current HCI trends, the pedagogical nature of ECHOES and the specific target users pose unusual challenges to the design and implementation of embodied interaction

Between Grassroots and the Hierarchy: Lessons Learned from the Design of a Public Services Directory

There is a growing interest in HCI research studying technology for citizen engagement in civic issues. We are now seeing issues around technologies for empowerment and participation, long discussed in HCI literature, appropriated and formalised in government legislation. In the UK, recent reforms stipulate that community-based service information should be published in continuously updated, collaboratively designed and maintained, online platforms. We report on a qualitative study where we worked with stakeholders involved in the collaborative design, development and implementation of such a platform. Our findings highlight tensions between the grassroots desire to innovate and local governments’ rigid compliance with statutory obligation. We pose a series of challenges and opportunities for HCI researchers engaged in the design of civic technologies to consider going forward, addressing issues of engagement in policy, measures of participation and tools for enabling participatory processes in public institutions

Human computer interaction for international development: past present and future

Recent years have seen a burgeoning interest in research into the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in the context of developing regions, particularly into how such ICTs might be appropriately designed to meet the unique user and infrastructural requirements that we encounter in these cross-cultural environments. This emerging field, known to some as HCI4D, is the product of a diverse set of origins. As such, it can often be difficult to navigate prior work, and/or to piece together a broad picture of what the field looks like as a whole. In this paper, we aim to contextualize HCI4D—to give it some historical background, to review its existing literature spanning a number of research traditions, to discuss some of its key issues arising from the work done so far, and to suggest some major research objectives for the future

Qualitative Data Analysis Challenges in Co-Designing Educational Technology Systems for Refugee Children

There is a growing interest in the potential for technology to facilitate emergency education of refugee children. But designing in this space requires knowledge of the displaced population and the contextual dynamics surrounding it. Design should therefore be informed by both existing research across relevant disciplines, and from those who are on the ground facing the problem in real life. This paper describes a process that is based on literature from emergency education, student engagement and motivation, educational technology, and participatory design. We describe how this process was implemented leading to the design of a digital learning space for children living in a refugee camp in Greece. The challenge of data analysis is critical, as the qualitative data in the process is elicited from activities of various natures and thus moving from qualitative data to designs is a critical challenge that we are looking to cover for our process to be complete and applicable. We discuss some of the challenges that can be expected in such context

Methods for applying Activity Theory to HCI Design

Activity Theory (AT) has been a recognised framework for enhancing design practices in HCI and related disciplines for a couple of decades. In most cases, AT has been deployed as an analytical framework for conceptualising user and contextual perspectives during systems design. However, the popularity of this framework has not yet resulted in operational methods and techniques that can easily and readily be applied in HCI design. The purpose of this workshop is to examine current methods and techniques based on AT so as to establish the feasibility of using this framework in HCI for practical design purposes. Given this remit, the term ‘HCI design’ is used in a much broader sense so as to incorporate the whole range of activities involved in the systems development process

From Smart Cities To Playable Cities. Towards Playful Intelligence In The Urban Environment

In the last decade, we have seen the rise of urban play as a tool for community building, and city-making and Western society is actively focusing on play/playfulness and intelligent systems as a way to approach complex challenges and emergent situations. In this paper, we aim to initiate a dialogue between game scholars and architects. Like many creative professions, we believe that the architectural practice may benefit significantly from having more design methodologies at hand, thus improving lateral thinking. We aim at providing new conceptual and operative tools to discuss and reflect on how games and smart systems facilitate long-term the shift from the Smart Cities to the Playable one, where citizens/players have the opportunity to hack the city and use the smart city’s data and digital technology for their purposes to reactivate the urban environment