Visualisation techniques for users and designers of layout algorithms

Visualisation systems consisting of a set of components through which data and interaction commands flow have been explored by a number of researchers. Such hybrid and multistage algorithms can be used to reduce overall computation time, and to provide views of the data that show intermediate results and the outputs of complementary algorithms. In this paper we present work on expanding the range and variety of such components, with two new techniques for analysing and controlling the performance of visualisation processes. While the techniques presented are quite different, they are unified within HIVE: a visualisation system based upon a data-flow model and visual programming. Embodied within this system is a framework for weaving together our visualisation components to better afford insight into data and also deepen understanding of the process of the data's visualisation. We describe the new components and offer short case studies of their application. We demonstrate that both analysts and visualisation designers can benefit from a rich set of components and integrated tools for profiling performance

Pass the Ball: Enforced Turn-Taking in Activity Tracking

We have developed a mobile application called Pass The Ball that enables users to track, reflect on, and discuss physical activity with others. We followed an iterative design process, trialling a first version of the app with 20 people and a second version with 31. The trials were conducted in the wild, on users' own devices. The second version of the app enforced a turn-taking system that meant only one member of a group of users could track their activity at any one time. This constrained tracking at the individual level, but more successfully led users to communicate and interact with each other. We discuss the second trial with reference to two concepts: social-relatedness and individual-competence. We discuss six key lessons from the trial, and identify two high-level design implications: attend to "practices" of tracking; and look within and beyond "collaboration" and "competition" in the design of activity trackers

WALK ON - From Richard Long to Janet Cardiff - 40 years of Art Walking

This is the first exhibition to examine the many and varied ways in which artists since the late 1960s have used what would seem like a universal act – that of taking a walk – as a means to create new types of art. ‘Walk On’ includes photography, film, and installation works, bringing together a diverse group of artists inspired by their travels on foot. It offers an as-yet-unwritten history of a major strand of recent art practice. It argues that from land art and conceptual art, and from street photography to the essay-film, an exceptionally wide range of first-rate artists have created their work from the act of walking, in the city or the land

Stickers for steps: a study of an activity tracking system with face-to-face social engagement

Many systems have been designed to study social aspects in physical activity tracking. In most, social functions are performed at a distance, such as posting comments and achievements, or via in-app leaderboards. We present an activity tracking app designed instead to encourage face-to-face encounters. Stickers for Steps seeks to recreate the experience of a physical sticker book, where digital 'stickers' are collected in an album, but where stickers are awarded for reaching activity targets. Users will accrue duplicate stickers, which can be swapped with other co-located users over a Bluetooth connection. We explore the usage of our app, reporting on a trial with 33 participants. We find that our app successfully encouraged groups of users to swap duplicates, review progress and to discuss their levels of activity. We provide design recommendations for future activity tracking systems that could incorporate face-to-face interactions

Ethics, Logs and Videotape: Ethics in Large Scale User Trials and User Generated Content. Workshop organized at CHI'11.

Mobile Life CentreMobile 2.

Implementing Ethics for a Mobile App Deployment

This paper discusses the ethical dimensions of a research project in which we deployed a personal tracking app on the Apple App Store and collected data from users with whom we had little or no direct contact. We describe the in-app functionality we created for supporting consent and withdrawal, our approach to privacy, our navigation of a formal ethical review, and navigation of the Apple approval process. We highlight two key issues for deployment-based research. Firstly, that it involves addressing multiple, sometimes conflicting ethical principles and guidelines. Secondly, that research ethics are not readily separable from design, but the two are enmeshed. As such, we argue that in-action and situational perspectives on research ethics are relevant to deployment-based research, even where the technology is relatively mundane. We also argue that it is desirable to produce and share relevant design knowledge and embed in-action and situational approaches in design activities

Personal Tracking of Screen Time on Digital Devices

Numerous studies have tracked people's everyday use of digital devices, but without consideration of how such data might be of personal interest to the user. We have developed a personal tracking application that enables users to automatically monitor their 'screen time' on mobile devices (iOS and Android) and computers (Mac and Windows). The application interface enables users to combine screen time data from multiple devices. We trialled the application for 28+ days with 21 users, collecting log data and interviewing each user. We found that there is interest in personal tracking in this area, but that the study participants were less interested in quantifying their overall screen time than in gaining data about their use of specific devices and applications. We found that personal tracking of device use is desirable for goals including: increasing productivity, disciplining device use, and cutting down on use

Practices of parallel media: using mobile devices when watching television

We have been studying how people use mobile phones and laptops while watching television. Our results show that these are not necessarily used to access content that is related to what is being watched. However, this is not to say devices are being used in isolation from their surrounds; their use is interwoven with watching television and with interacting with other people. We suggest that designing for ‘the connected home’ is more than an integration project, and should take account of the social fabric of domestic life

E-Data Quality: How Publishers and Libraries are Working Together to Improve Data Quality

High quality data is essential for discovery and access of e-resources, but in many cases low quality, inaccurate information leads to low usage and a poor return on library investment dollars. In this article, publishers, aggregators, librarians, and knowledge base providers talk about how they are working together to improve access to e-resources