Interactions

Entanglements

Posted: Mon, April 27, 2020 - 5:27:42

As people around the world try to make sense of a new normal, many commentators are saying that this global pandemic will change us permanently. Indeed, the shifts in the ways that we run our societies are seismic and could hardly be imagined only a few months ago—social distancing, travel restrictions, and the shutdown of large parts of our economy,…

Workshops are now required to be conducted remotely—is this a bad thing?

Posted: Thu, April 23, 2020 - 2:22:55

There's a palpable sense of anxiety in the recent global shift to home working. Both bosses and workers are feeling the loss of the benefits of in-person gatherings, such as meetings, workshops, and casual chats. In the UX industry, the loss seems all the more urgent. Some have argued that design and research workshops are irreparably hobbled by the requirement…

Insights from videochat research in the context of Covid-19

Posted: Mon, April 20, 2020 - 4:16:25

Covid-19 has made videochat even more important than ever, with usage of Zoom and apps like Houseparty soaring. While at Yahoo Inc., my colleagues and I spent a few years studying how teenagers interact online. In this post, I’ll share insights from our research that are relevant to today's reality of online interaction under lockdown. You can influence others’ videochat…

Coronavirus and the carnivalesque: What speculative methods can tell us about Covid-19

Posted: Mon, April 20, 2020 - 10:31:01

Like many HCI researchers, I’ve found that the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences has made it almost impossible to continue doing research as normal. Not only am I suddenly remote from the resources and communities that I work within, but I find myself newly cautious about the speculative methods that I use. It seems irresponsible to speculate at a time…

Hit by the pandemic, war, and sanctions: Building resilience to face the digital divide in education

Posted: Fri, April 10, 2020 - 5:15:21

Globally, education is being impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Many countries are issuing executive orders regarding the physical closure of schools—some for the entire year—to prevent the introduction and spread of COVID-19 into their respective communities. In response to the rapidly changing educational climate, the development of distance-learning programs, in which students and instructors connect via…

Mobile tracking and privacy in the coronavirus pandemic

Posted: Thu, April 09, 2020 - 10:08:59

The worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is putting pressure on and testing societies, companies, and citizens. Life, health, and jobs are at stake. In this critical moment, the HCI community is working together to design, test, and execute ideas, prototypes, and solutions with the aim to strengthen our resistance in the fight against the ongoing pandemic. HCI is contributing…

Reflections on helping research partners who support those made vulnerable during the crisis

Posted: Tue, April 07, 2020 - 12:04:11

Over the past few days, I have had many conversations with friends and colleagues who work with charities, libraries, and other organizations who support some of the most vulnerable people in society. As you might well be aware, these organizations are grappling with appropriate and timely responses to the developing global COVID-19 pandemic. Many of us are thinking and talking…

Feeding the futures of human-food interaction

Posted: Fri, April 03, 2020 - 3:59:48

Human-food interaction (HFI) is a burgeoning research area that traverses multiple HCI disciplines and draws on diverse methods and approaches to bring focus to the interplay between humans, food, and technology. Recent years have seen an increase in technology products and services designed for human-food practices. Examples include June, an oven with integrated HD cameras and a WiFi connection to…

Drawn together – the role of sketching in product design

Posted: Wed, December 11, 2019 - 2:28:51

I’ve always loved expressing myself through visual means for as long as I can remember: When I was a kid, I created art with reckless abandon. I didn’t care what others thought about what I made—I drew simply because I wanted to. Never would my younger self have imagined that my love for drawing would eventually help me with my…

Sitting with Hakken

Posted: Tue, December 03, 2019 - 1:02:38

The last time I met David Hakken was at his office. We both knew it would be the last time we would meet. He was very calm. It felt very comforting sitting with him in his office. He told me he did not know how long he had to live. And that the next course of treatments for his cancer…