Sketching as a support mechanism for the design and development of shape-changing interfaces

Shape-changing interfaces are a novel computational technology which incorporate physical, tangible, and dynamic surfaces to create a true 3-Dimensional experience. As is often the case with other novel hardware, the current research focus is on iterative hardware design, with devices taking many years to reach potential markets. Whilst the drive to develop novel hardware is vital, this usually occurs without consultation of end-users. Due to the prototypical nature of shape-change, there is no specific current practice of User-Centred Design (UCD). If this is not addressed, the resulting field may consist of undirected, research-focused hardware with little real world value to users. Therefore, the goal of this thesis is to develop an approach to inform the direction of shape-change research, which uses simple, accessible tools and techniques to connect researcher and user. I propose the development of an anticipatory, pre-UCD methodology to frame the field. Sketching is an established methodology. It is also accessible, universal, and provides us with a low-fidelity tool-kit. I therefore propose an exploration of how sketching can support the design and development of shape-changing interfaces. The challenge is approached over five stages: 1) Analysing and categorising shape-changing prototypes to provide the first comprehensive overview of the field; 2) Conducting a systematic review of sketching and HCI research to validate merging sketching, and its associated UCD techniques with highly technological computing research; 3) Using these techniques to explore if non-expert, potential end-users can ideate applications for shape change; 4) Investigating how researchers can utilise subjective sketching for shape-change; 5) Building on ideation and subjective sketching to gather detailed, sketched data from non-expert users with which to generate requirements and models for shape-change. To conclude, I discuss the dialogue between researcher and user, and show how sketching can bring these groups together to inform and elucidate research in this area

TTRPG UX: Requirements & Beyond

Tabletop Role Playing Games (TTRPG) allow the player to immerse themselves in a world where anything can happen - within the rules. You can become someone new, fight demons, play out exciting and speculative storylines, all with the help of your party. This ability to place yourself in the life of another person (or ethereal being) resonates with principles of User Experience Design (UX) where usability experts strive to understand the impact their application or interface might have on a hypothetical audience. This paper explores the parallels and potentials of TTRPG within the context of UX and Requirements, its characters, contexts and interactions. We propose creating playable UX worlds with the potential to provide deeper, more insightful output, and make recommendations for the addition of a TTRPG approach to User Experience processes

Toward a Practice of User-Centred Design for Shape-Changing Interfaces

Shape-changing User Interfaces (UIs) are maturing in application and complexity, and therefore are becoming a tangible reality with regards to commercialization and design in a wider context. Current prototypes support a variety of bespoke interactions and are extensively tested, but applications for these constructs are often limited to the research scenario, and within the limitations of academic institutions. Engaging with a wider audience to develop novel UIs and applications is a valuable addition to the early design process, and can elicit new directions for research. Additionally, focusing on the user fulfils a requirement for developing a User-Centred Design methodology for shape-change, as it presents novel challenges for interaction design. This position paper calls for early adoption of such processes to support the emerging technology of shape-change, and for the formation of a collaborative UCD working group in this field

Time for a Change:Examining Temporality in Shape-Changing Interfaces

The development of dynamic, shape-changing interfaces as a method of human-computer interaction is receiving increasing attention in both research and manufacturing. The present focus is mainly on hardware development, rather than potential applications. To advance this area, considering temporality in shape-changing displays and interfaces is vital in understanding how to design applications for (and with) such devices. Prototypes within the field range from those which actuate changes at high speed, to the deliberately slow, with a complex range of temporal movement in between. Current research highlights the importance of temporal form in interaction design, and expressive movement, but this is yet to be applied in detail to shape-change. This paper examines the current state of play for temporality in shape-changing interfaces, examines the role of time and design in existing prototypes, and proposes an adaptive methodology for design utilising time, space and shape based on previous research

Screenshots as Photography in Gamescapes: An Annotated Psychogeography of Imaginary Places

Travel is an integral part of our lives, whether for work or leisure. Since the advent of photography, we have documented our journeys, often sharing the images with friends and family to reflect upon the experience, tell stories, or invite commentary. We often lose ourselves in digital media - film, documentary and games - particularly during times when physical travel is unavailable. In this pictorial, we explore the travels of a single player through hundreds of games, presenting annotated game screenshots as photo-documentary through gamescapes, and as a form of the New Games Journalism. We present a New Games Travelogue traversing and formulating the psychogeography of games as imaginary places, and through this process, we unveil transdisciplinary tensions in negotiating and perceiving the importance of visual knowledge in games research, encouraging other researchers to join us in this practice

Sketch & The Lizard King: Supporting Image Inclusion in HCI Publishing

Almost all research output includes tables, diagrams, photographs and even sketches, and papers within HCI typically take advantage of including these figures in their files. However the space given to non-diagrammatical or tabular figures is often small, even in papers that primarily concern themselves with visual output. The reason for this might be the publishing models employed in most proceedings and journals: Despite moving to a digital format which is unhindered by page count or physical cost, there remains a somewhat arbitrary limitation on page count. Recent moves by ACM SIGCHI and others to remove references from the maximum page count suggest that there is movement on this, however images remain firmly within the limits of the text. We propose that images should be celebrated – not penalised – and call for not only the adoption of the Pictorials format in CHI, but for images to be removed from page counts in order to encourage greater transparency of process in HCI research

ActuEating: Designing, Studying and Exploring Actuating Decorative Artefacts

Actuating, dynamic materials offer substantial potential to enhance interior designs but there are currently few examples of how they might be utilised or impact user experiences. As part of a design-led exploration, we have prototyped (Wizard-of-Oz) an actuating, dining table runner (ActuEater1), and then developed a fully-interactive fabric version that both changes shape and colour (ActuEater2). Four in-situ deployments of ‘ActuEaters’ in different dinner settings and subsequent ‘design crits’ showed insights into how people perceive, interpret and interact with such slow-technology in interesting (and often unexpected) ways. The results of our ‘ActuEating’ studies provide evidence for how an actuating artefact can be simultaneously a resource for social engagement and an interactive decorative. In response, we explore design opportunities for situating novel interactive materials in everyday settings, taking the leap into a new generation of interactive spaces, and critically considering new aesthetic possibilities

SketchingDIS:Hand-drawn Sketching in HCI

Hand-drawn sketches can be an easy way for HCI researchers to communicate and express ideas, as well as to document, explore and communicate concepts between the researcher and user, collaborator, manager or client. These sketches are fast, lightweight, easy to create, and -- by varying their fidelity -- they can be used in all stages of the HCI research and design process. Here, we aim to explore themes around sketching in HCI with the aim of producing tangible outputs in the form of visual records, articles and papers that review and promote this technique in HCI as a field: 'SketchingDIS: Hand-drawn sketching in HCI' SketchingDIS.wordpress.com, a one-day workshop will bring together researchers from various disciplines that have incorporated hand-drawn sketching into their everyday research practice, to share knowledge and methodologies, generate ideas, practice collaborative sketching, and to discuss the future of hand-drawn sketching in HCI and DIS itself

Conversational Composites: A Method for Illustration Layering

The conversational nature of sketches is a widespread topic of research. Understanding drawing as a cognitive activity is commonly accepted, and many of the most extensively used methods within Human-Computer Interaction recruit sketching as a technique for ideation, explanation, documentation, and conversation. To further develop the use of this illustration process as a tool of knowledge production, we suggest a novel sketching method. We present Conversational Composites: a flexible method grounded in the material and tangible qualities of sketching in different forms and media, creating physical and digital layers of conversation between participants. We present and reflect on the proposed method through an applied case of a conversation between a PhD student and her supervisor, and offer suggestions on how it may be adapted and appropriated by other researchers in the HCI community