Skip to main content

Eric Harris

Follower

1

Following

6

Public Views

University of Sussex

Imperial College London

Imperial College London

University of Connecticut

University of California, Irvine

Coventry

Plymouth University

Lancaster University

Simon Fraser University

Interests

Uploads

Papers by Eric Harris

Kuckuck��exploring ways of sensing and displaying energy consumption information in the home

This position paper overviews a study where we identified energy consumption as a potential candi... more This position paper overviews a study where we identified energy consumption as a potential candidate for ubiquitous computing technologies in the home. It then goes on to describe the 'Kuckuck' project where we developed custom-sensors to monitor energy usage and are in the process of trialling them in a participant's home along with an interim graphical representation.

Proceeding of the 2004 conference on Interaction design and children building a community - IDC '04, 2004

Ubiquitous and mobile technologies provide opportunities for designing novel learning experiences... more Ubiquitous and mobile technologies provide opportunities for designing novel learning experiences that move out of the classroom. Information can be presented and interacted with in a variety of ways while exploring a physical environment. A key issue this raises is when, where, what and how much? Our research is concerned with the design, delivery and interaction of digital information when learning about ecology outdoors. We present a framework of the different forms of digital augmentation and the different processes by which they can be accessed. Using the framework, we designed an outdoors learning experience, aimed at encouraging students to carry out contextualized scientific enquiry and to reflect on their interactions. Pairs of 11-12 year olds explored a woodland and were presented at certain times with different forms of digital augmentation. Our study showed that this kind of exploration promoted interpretation and reflection at a number of levels of abstraction.

Trajectories to community engagement: Understanding older people’s experiences of engagement with online and local communities

The Journal of Community Informatics, 2016

The communal benefits of online communities and SNS are enjoyed by many Internet users but remain... more The communal benefits of online communities and SNS are enjoyed by many Internet users but remain of limited appeal to many older people. In this study we consider how a small group of older people in the South of England engage with these technologies showing their motivations and the role of existing relationships in the local community with regards to this engagement. Four catalysts are identified which determine trajectories towards and away from online engagement and these are: family, roles, loss, and ‘spaces and places’. The resulting trajectories are discussed along with their implications for policy making and technology design.

"Nearer to Being Characters in a Book": How Older People Make Sense of Online Communities and Social Networking Sites

2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2015

This study looked at the relationship between local and online forms of community engagement for ... more This study looked at the relationship between local and online forms of community engagement for a small group of older people in the South of England. Interviews and a focus group were used to establish understandings of online community and social networking sites (SNS) within the context of existing relationships in local communities. Historical understandings of community influenced expectations for online community with four catalysts being identified which motivated engagement with community resources both online and locally. These were: 'spaces and places', family, roles and loss. There was a clear preference for meeting people face to face with online communities and SNS being used predominantly as tools for achieving this aim. Exploration of the catalysts offers ways that greater community involvement might be further facilitated through design initiatives. Suggestions include private 'family rooms', anonymous 'sharing spaces' and a focus on hyperlocal initiatives to connect local and online communities.

In my own words

Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children - IDC '10, 2010

An Augmented Knights Castle (AKC) play set was adapted so that children with autism can configure... more An Augmented Knights Castle (AKC) play set was adapted so that children with autism can configure programmable elements. This is compared with a non-configurable AKC. When the system is configurable, less solitary play and more cooperative play occurred. Configurability is a key factor in design for children with autism allowing greater individual control and more socially oriented behaviour. We suggest

Camping in the digital wilderness

CHI '02 extended abstracts on Human factors in computer systems - CHI '02, 2002

A projection screen in the shape of a tent provides children with a shared immersive experience o... more A projection screen in the shape of a tent provides children with a shared immersive experience of a virtual world based on the metaphor of camping. RFID aerials at its entrances sense tagged children and objects as they enter and leave. Video tracking allows multiple flashlights to be used as pointing devices. The tent is an example of a traversable interface, designed for deployment in public spaces such as museums, galleries and classrooms.

Things aren't what they seem to be

Proceedings of the conference on Designing interactive systems processes, practices, methods, and techniques - DIS '02, 2002

How does designing for novel experiences with largely untried technologies get its inspiration? H... more How does designing for novel experiences with largely untried technologies get its inspiration? Here we report on a project whose goal was to promote learning through novel, playful visions of technologies. To this end, we experimented with a diversity of ambient and pervasive technologies to inspire and drive our design. Working as a large multidisciplinary group of researchers and designers we developed novel and imaginative experiences for children. To crystallise our ideas we designed, implemented and experimented with a mixed reality adventure game, where children had to hunt an elusive, virtual creature called the Snark, in a large interactive environment. We describe our experiences, reflecting on the process of design inspiration in an area where so much remains unknown.

Motivating mobility

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2011

How to motivate and support behaviour change through design is becoming of increasing interest to... more How to motivate and support behaviour change through design is becoming of increasing interest to the CHI community. In this paper, we present our experiences of building systems that motivate people to engage in upper limb rehabilitation exercise after stroke. We report on participatory design work with four stroke survivors to develop a holistic understanding of their motivation and rehabilitation needs, and to construct and deploy engaging interactive systems that satisfy these. We reflect on the limits of motivational theories in trying to design for the lived experience of motivation and highlight lessons learnt around: helping people articulate what motivates them; balancing work, duty, fun; supporting motivation over time; and understanding the wider social context. From these we identify design guidelines that can inform a toolkit approach to support both scalability and personalisability.

Rehabilitation centred design

CHI '10 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2010

Stroke is a significant cause of disability, and is predicted to become a greater burden as popul... more Stroke is a significant cause of disability, and is predicted to become a greater burden as population demographics shift. Research suggests that the completion of rehabilitation exercises can considerably improve function in damaged limbs, yet these exercises can be both boring and frustrating for patients to complete at home. New technologies create possibilities to support rehabilitation in motivating and entertaining ways, and, in this paper, we present a case study that illustrates the work of designing such technologies for a single user. Participation in this case study has highlighted some interesting tensions between designing for rehabilitation and designing for the user, and we provide a short discussion of these issues.

Enhancing interactional synchrony with an ambient display

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2011

Nonverbal communication is an essential part of face-toface social interaction, conveying informa... more Nonverbal communication is an essential part of face-toface social interaction, conveying information about emotion and interpersonal relationships. The rigorous sensing capabilities of pervasive technologies and the subtle nature of ambient technologies make them ideal to support the production of nonverbal communication in social interactions. In this paper we present a study using an ambient technology that supports nonverbal communication, and specifically nonverbal behaviours associated with rapport. We show that an ambient display can influence a participant's nonverbal behaviour, and that participants are not aware of this change in their behaviour. We discuss these findings in terms of the design and ethical issues that it raises, and define an agenda for future work.

Lessons for the Future: Experiences with the Installation and Use of Today’s Domestic Sensors and Technologies

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2006

Domestic environments are receiving increasing attention as sites of deployment for pervasive tec... more Domestic environments are receiving increasing attention as sites of deployment for pervasive technologies, as evidenced by the growing number of studies of homes and by the maturing of technologies in prototype aware/smart homes. The challenge now is to move technologies out of purpose built homes into everyday environments in ways that will fit with existing buildings and the people who live in them. In this paper we describe our findings from fieldwork designed to gain an understanding of current experiences with technologies in the home that bear similarities with emerging applications: sensors and sophisticated home automation/entertainment systems.

Exploring the space of near-future design with children

Proceedings of the 4th Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction changing roles - NordiCHI '06, 2006

... fastest is what you want (TeenBoy Z). When we showed them the unmodified body tokens from ..... more ... fastest is what you want (TeenBoy Z). When we showed them the unmodified body tokens from ... This was our first jump across the design space and it was motivated by a ... Given that the discussions of 'how things worked' promoted more diverse explorations, we decided to start ...

The Ambient Horn: designing a novel audio-based learning experience

Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 2004

The Ambient Horn is a novel handheld device designed to support children learning about habitat d... more The Ambient Horn is a novel handheld device designed to support children learning about habitat distributions and interdependencies in an outdoor woodland environment. The horn was designed to emit non-speech audio sounds representing ecological processes. Both symbolic and arbitrary mappings were used to represent the processes. The sounds are triggered in response to the children's location in certain parts of the woodland. A main objective was to provoke children into interpreting and reflecting upon the significance of the sounds in the context in which they occur. Our study of the horn being used showed the sounds to be provocative, generating much discussion about what they signified in relation to what the children saw in the woodland. In addition, the children appropriated the horn in creative ways, trying to 'scoop' up new sounds as they walked in different parts of the woodland.

The Periscope: supporting a computer enhanced field trip for children

Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 2003

This paper describes an interactive device, the Periscope, designed to be used as an educational ... more This paper describes an interactive device, the Periscope, designed to be used as an educational tool featured during a children's digitally enhanced field trip in a woodland setting. The Periscope assembly, including a display and RFID equipped tangibles, is controlled using handles that enable it to be raised and rotated. The display is controlled by rotating the Periscope, or alternatively by twisting the handles. A set of tangibles, a collection of Petri dishes fitted with RFID tags, enable the children to carry out experiments with the results being shown on the display. Field trials are also outlined in which the effectiveness of this design is established. In conclusion, we discuss the aesthetic design issues raised by introducing digital technology into everyday environments.

Supporting affective communication in the classroom with the Subtle Stone

International Journal of Learning Technology, 2009

This paper highlights the difficulties intrinsic to gauging a student's affective state. We argue... more This paper highlights the difficulties intrinsic to gauging a student's affective state. We argue that there is a need to further support the emotional experiences of students within settings such as the classroom. Findings from our first study illustrate the inherent difficulties of understanding the emotional experiences of students within the classroom context. For example, we identify low correlations between physical expressions of emotion and the emotions reported by the students. Findings from the first study were used to define a set of design requirements for the Subtle Stone, a device which bridges the emotional communication gap between teachers and their students. A second study saw eight high school students use a set of Subtle Stones throughout their learning. The qualitative analysis presented here focuses on the Subtle Stone as a flexible new tool for capturing self-reports of emotional experience in real time throughout learning experiences. The analysis indicates that the Subtle Stone engenders a sense of private communication between student and teacher, as well as suggesting that the Subtle Stone may raise a student's awareness about her own emotional experiences.

Data recording and reuse: Supporting research and digitally augmented learning experiences

ABSTRACT In this paper we briefly describe an outdoor learning experience supporting children eng... more

How many ways can you mix colour? Young children's explorations of mixed reality environments

CIRCUS 2001 Conference for Content Integrated Research in Creative User Systems, 2001

How do we conceptualise and design mixed reality environments (MREs) to support creative play? He... more How do we conceptualise and design mixed reality environments (MREs) to support creative play? Here we describe a first pass at a conceptual framework and use it do design a MRE for young children to explore in, focussing on the familiar activity of colour mixing. Different set-ups were provided, where paint or light colours could be mixed, using either physical tools, digital tools or a combination of these. The paper describes how children collaboratively discovered creative ways of using the mixed reality spaces for ...

From snark to park: lessons learnt moving pervasive experiences from indoors to outdoors

Proceedings of the …, 2004

Pervasive technologies are increasingly being developed and used outdoors in different and innova... more Pervasive technologies are increasingly being developed and used outdoors in different and innovative ways. However, designing user experiences for outdoor environments presents many different and unforeseen challenges compared with indoor settings. We report on two different projects, one held indoors and one held outdoors, that were created to explore the use of various tangible technologies and pervasive environments for extending current forms of interaction, play and learning for children. In ...

Co-Designing Novel User Experiences at a Historic Manor House

In this working paper we describe how we engaged with users in co-design for the Chawton House pr... more In this working paper we describe how we engaged with users in co-design for the Chawton House project. After describing the project and how we proceeded, we will focus on emerging issues for a deeper analysis that concern the co-design of experiences. In the presentation of issues we focus on the issue of co-designing UbiComp scenarios and applications, on exploring a space of opportunities offered by these new technologies, and the challenges we've encountered in doing so.

The value of values: Resourcing co-design of ubiquitous computing

CoDesign, 2009

The importance of values in design work is gaining increasing attention. However, some of the wor... more The importance of values in design work is gaining increasing attention. However, some of the work to date takes an approach which starts with generic values, or assumes values are constant. Through discussion of three accounts of value discovery and value evolution in projects focused on exploring novel uses of ubiquitous computing, we complement current thinking by arguing for the use of users' values as a resource in the co-design process. In particular, this paper shows how users' values: (a) are spontaneously expressed whether or not particular elicitation methods are used; (b) are not fixed, but can change dynamically during the co-design process in response to ideas, prototypes and demonstrators; (c) help mediate and shape the relationships of users to designers; (d) can support users' creative, functional and technical engagement in co-design -areas that can often prove difficult. Focusing on practical examples that demonstrate this approach, we conclude that values may act as a central resource for co-design in a larger variety of ways than has hitherto been recognised. t

Kuckuck��exploring ways of sensing and displaying energy consumption information in the home

This position paper overviews a study where we identified energy consumption as a potential candi... more This position paper overviews a study where we identified energy consumption as a potential candidate for ubiquitous computing technologies in the home. It then goes on to describe the 'Kuckuck' project where we developed custom-sensors to monitor energy usage and are in the process of trialling them in a participant's home along with an interim graphical representation.

Proceeding of the 2004 conference on Interaction design and children building a community - IDC '04, 2004

Ubiquitous and mobile technologies provide opportunities for designing novel learning experiences... more Ubiquitous and mobile technologies provide opportunities for designing novel learning experiences that move out of the classroom. Information can be presented and interacted with in a variety of ways while exploring a physical environment. A key issue this raises is when, where, what and how much? Our research is concerned with the design, delivery and interaction of digital information when learning about ecology outdoors. We present a framework of the different forms of digital augmentation and the different processes by which they can be accessed. Using the framework, we designed an outdoors learning experience, aimed at encouraging students to carry out contextualized scientific enquiry and to reflect on their interactions. Pairs of 11-12 year olds explored a woodland and were presented at certain times with different forms of digital augmentation. Our study showed that this kind of exploration promoted interpretation and reflection at a number of levels of abstraction.

Trajectories to community engagement: Understanding older people’s experiences of engagement with online and local communities

The Journal of Community Informatics, 2016

The communal benefits of online communities and SNS are enjoyed by many Internet users but remain... more The communal benefits of online communities and SNS are enjoyed by many Internet users but remain of limited appeal to many older people. In this study we consider how a small group of older people in the South of England engage with these technologies showing their motivations and the role of existing relationships in the local community with regards to this engagement. Four catalysts are identified which determine trajectories towards and away from online engagement and these are: family, roles, loss, and ‘spaces and places’. The resulting trajectories are discussed along with their implications for policy making and technology design.

"Nearer to Being Characters in a Book": How Older People Make Sense of Online Communities and Social Networking Sites

2015 48th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2015

This study looked at the relationship between local and online forms of community engagement for ... more This study looked at the relationship between local and online forms of community engagement for a small group of older people in the South of England. Interviews and a focus group were used to establish understandings of online community and social networking sites (SNS) within the context of existing relationships in local communities. Historical understandings of community influenced expectations for online community with four catalysts being identified which motivated engagement with community resources both online and locally. These were: 'spaces and places', family, roles and loss. There was a clear preference for meeting people face to face with online communities and SNS being used predominantly as tools for achieving this aim. Exploration of the catalysts offers ways that greater community involvement might be further facilitated through design initiatives. Suggestions include private 'family rooms', anonymous 'sharing spaces' and a focus on hyperlocal initiatives to connect local and online communities.

In my own words

Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children - IDC '10, 2010

An Augmented Knights Castle (AKC) play set was adapted so that children with autism can configure... more An Augmented Knights Castle (AKC) play set was adapted so that children with autism can configure programmable elements. This is compared with a non-configurable AKC. When the system is configurable, less solitary play and more cooperative play occurred. Configurability is a key factor in design for children with autism allowing greater individual control and more socially oriented behaviour. We suggest

Camping in the digital wilderness

CHI '02 extended abstracts on Human factors in computer systems - CHI '02, 2002

A projection screen in the shape of a tent provides children with a shared immersive experience o... more A projection screen in the shape of a tent provides children with a shared immersive experience of a virtual world based on the metaphor of camping. RFID aerials at its entrances sense tagged children and objects as they enter and leave. Video tracking allows multiple flashlights to be used as pointing devices. The tent is an example of a traversable interface, designed for deployment in public spaces such as museums, galleries and classrooms.

Things aren't what they seem to be

Proceedings of the conference on Designing interactive systems processes, practices, methods, and techniques - DIS '02, 2002

How does designing for novel experiences with largely untried technologies get its inspiration? H... more How does designing for novel experiences with largely untried technologies get its inspiration? Here we report on a project whose goal was to promote learning through novel, playful visions of technologies. To this end, we experimented with a diversity of ambient and pervasive technologies to inspire and drive our design. Working as a large multidisciplinary group of researchers and designers we developed novel and imaginative experiences for children. To crystallise our ideas we designed, implemented and experimented with a mixed reality adventure game, where children had to hunt an elusive, virtual creature called the Snark, in a large interactive environment. We describe our experiences, reflecting on the process of design inspiration in an area where so much remains unknown.

Motivating mobility

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2011

How to motivate and support behaviour change through design is becoming of increasing interest to... more How to motivate and support behaviour change through design is becoming of increasing interest to the CHI community. In this paper, we present our experiences of building systems that motivate people to engage in upper limb rehabilitation exercise after stroke. We report on participatory design work with four stroke survivors to develop a holistic understanding of their motivation and rehabilitation needs, and to construct and deploy engaging interactive systems that satisfy these. We reflect on the limits of motivational theories in trying to design for the lived experience of motivation and highlight lessons learnt around: helping people articulate what motivates them; balancing work, duty, fun; supporting motivation over time; and understanding the wider social context. From these we identify design guidelines that can inform a toolkit approach to support both scalability and personalisability.

Rehabilitation centred design

CHI '10 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2010

Stroke is a significant cause of disability, and is predicted to become a greater burden as popul... more Stroke is a significant cause of disability, and is predicted to become a greater burden as population demographics shift. Research suggests that the completion of rehabilitation exercises can considerably improve function in damaged limbs, yet these exercises can be both boring and frustrating for patients to complete at home. New technologies create possibilities to support rehabilitation in motivating and entertaining ways, and, in this paper, we present a case study that illustrates the work of designing such technologies for a single user. Participation in this case study has highlighted some interesting tensions between designing for rehabilitation and designing for the user, and we provide a short discussion of these issues.

Enhancing interactional synchrony with an ambient display

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 2011

Nonverbal communication is an essential part of face-toface social interaction, conveying informa... more Nonverbal communication is an essential part of face-toface social interaction, conveying information about emotion and interpersonal relationships. The rigorous sensing capabilities of pervasive technologies and the subtle nature of ambient technologies make them ideal to support the production of nonverbal communication in social interactions. In this paper we present a study using an ambient technology that supports nonverbal communication, and specifically nonverbal behaviours associated with rapport. We show that an ambient display can influence a participant's nonverbal behaviour, and that participants are not aware of this change in their behaviour. We discuss these findings in terms of the design and ethical issues that it raises, and define an agenda for future work.

Lessons for the Future: Experiences with the Installation and Use of Today’s Domestic Sensors and Technologies

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2006

Domestic environments are receiving increasing attention as sites of deployment for pervasive tec... more Domestic environments are receiving increasing attention as sites of deployment for pervasive technologies, as evidenced by the growing number of studies of homes and by the maturing of technologies in prototype aware/smart homes. The challenge now is to move technologies out of purpose built homes into everyday environments in ways that will fit with existing buildings and the people who live in them. In this paper we describe our findings from fieldwork designed to gain an understanding of current experiences with technologies in the home that bear similarities with emerging applications: sensors and sophisticated home automation/entertainment systems.

Exploring the space of near-future design with children

Proceedings of the 4th Nordic conference on Human-computer interaction changing roles - NordiCHI '06, 2006

... fastest is what you want (TeenBoy Z). When we showed them the unmodified body tokens from ..... more ... fastest is what you want (TeenBoy Z). When we showed them the unmodified body tokens from ... This was our first jump across the design space and it was motivated by a ... Given that the discussions of 'how things worked' promoted more diverse explorations, we decided to start ...

The Ambient Horn: designing a novel audio-based learning experience

Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 2004

The Ambient Horn is a novel handheld device designed to support children learning about habitat d... more The Ambient Horn is a novel handheld device designed to support children learning about habitat distributions and interdependencies in an outdoor woodland environment. The horn was designed to emit non-speech audio sounds representing ecological processes. Both symbolic and arbitrary mappings were used to represent the processes. The sounds are triggered in response to the children's location in certain parts of the woodland. A main objective was to provoke children into interpreting and reflecting upon the significance of the sounds in the context in which they occur. Our study of the horn being used showed the sounds to be provocative, generating much discussion about what they signified in relation to what the children saw in the woodland. In addition, the children appropriated the horn in creative ways, trying to 'scoop' up new sounds as they walked in different parts of the woodland.

The Periscope: supporting a computer enhanced field trip for children

Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 2003

This paper describes an interactive device, the Periscope, designed to be used as an educational ... more This paper describes an interactive device, the Periscope, designed to be used as an educational tool featured during a children's digitally enhanced field trip in a woodland setting. The Periscope assembly, including a display and RFID equipped tangibles, is controlled using handles that enable it to be raised and rotated. The display is controlled by rotating the Periscope, or alternatively by twisting the handles. A set of tangibles, a collection of Petri dishes fitted with RFID tags, enable the children to carry out experiments with the results being shown on the display. Field trials are also outlined in which the effectiveness of this design is established. In conclusion, we discuss the aesthetic design issues raised by introducing digital technology into everyday environments.

Supporting affective communication in the classroom with the Subtle Stone

International Journal of Learning Technology, 2009

This paper highlights the difficulties intrinsic to gauging a student's affective state. We argue... more This paper highlights the difficulties intrinsic to gauging a student's affective state. We argue that there is a need to further support the emotional experiences of students within settings such as the classroom. Findings from our first study illustrate the inherent difficulties of understanding the emotional experiences of students within the classroom context. For example, we identify low correlations between physical expressions of emotion and the emotions reported by the students. Findings from the first study were used to define a set of design requirements for the Subtle Stone, a device which bridges the emotional communication gap between teachers and their students. A second study saw eight high school students use a set of Subtle Stones throughout their learning. The qualitative analysis presented here focuses on the Subtle Stone as a flexible new tool for capturing self-reports of emotional experience in real time throughout learning experiences. The analysis indicates that the Subtle Stone engenders a sense of private communication between student and teacher, as well as suggesting that the Subtle Stone may raise a student's awareness about her own emotional experiences.

Data recording and reuse: Supporting research and digitally augmented learning experiences

ABSTRACT In this paper we briefly describe an outdoor learning experience supporting children eng... more

How many ways can you mix colour? Young children's explorations of mixed reality environments

CIRCUS 2001 Conference for Content Integrated Research in Creative User Systems, 2001

How do we conceptualise and design mixed reality environments (MREs) to support creative play? He... more How do we conceptualise and design mixed reality environments (MREs) to support creative play? Here we describe a first pass at a conceptual framework and use it do design a MRE for young children to explore in, focussing on the familiar activity of colour mixing. Different set-ups were provided, where paint or light colours could be mixed, using either physical tools, digital tools or a combination of these. The paper describes how children collaboratively discovered creative ways of using the mixed reality spaces for ...

From snark to park: lessons learnt moving pervasive experiences from indoors to outdoors

Proceedings of the …, 2004

Pervasive technologies are increasingly being developed and used outdoors in different and innova... more Pervasive technologies are increasingly being developed and used outdoors in different and innovative ways. However, designing user experiences for outdoor environments presents many different and unforeseen challenges compared with indoor settings. We report on two different projects, one held indoors and one held outdoors, that were created to explore the use of various tangible technologies and pervasive environments for extending current forms of interaction, play and learning for children. In ...

Co-Designing Novel User Experiences at a Historic Manor House

In this working paper we describe how we engaged with users in co-design for the Chawton House pr... more In this working paper we describe how we engaged with users in co-design for the Chawton House project. After describing the project and how we proceeded, we will focus on emerging issues for a deeper analysis that concern the co-design of experiences. In the presentation of issues we focus on the issue of co-designing UbiComp scenarios and applications, on exploring a space of opportunities offered by these new technologies, and the challenges we've encountered in doing so.

The value of values: Resourcing co-design of ubiquitous computing

CoDesign, 2009

The importance of values in design work is gaining increasing attention. However, some of the wor... more The importance of values in design work is gaining increasing attention. However, some of the work to date takes an approach which starts with generic values, or assumes values are constant. Through discussion of three accounts of value discovery and value evolution in projects focused on exploring novel uses of ubiquitous computing, we complement current thinking by arguing for the use of users' values as a resource in the co-design process. In particular, this paper shows how users' values: (a) are spontaneously expressed whether or not particular elicitation methods are used; (b) are not fixed, but can change dynamically during the co-design process in response to ideas, prototypes and demonstrators; (c) help mediate and shape the relationships of users to designers; (d) can support users' creative, functional and technical engagement in co-design -areas that can often prove difficult. Focusing on practical examples that demonstrate this approach, we conclude that values may act as a central resource for co-design in a larger variety of ways than has hitherto been recognised. t