John Vines | Northumbria University (original) (raw)

I’m Professor in Design at Northumbria University, in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK. Before then I was a lecturer in the School of Computing Science at Newcastle University, where I was based in Open Lab (and where I am still a visiting member of staff). I have a background in design, and my research these days is broadly located in the field of human-computer interaction. My research is primarily driven by an interest in investigating the design of digital technologies and studying how these are experienced, appropriated and created by people. Most of what I do takes a ‘research through design’ approach – which simply put means I work collaboratively with colleagues to study and understand contexts and specific societal issues through the design and evaluation of digital technologies. However, I also do more traditional qualitative studies of technology use as well.

Since 2004, I have been conducting design research on the topic of technology for later life and transitions across the life course. This has involved working on a range of projects designing digital technologies and services for and with older people - such as developing tangible and physical interfaces for ‘information appliances’ for later life socialisation, designing banking technologies for those who rely on others to help them with their shopping, and exploring intergenerational voluntary care services with groups of young and old caregivers and recipients. While my research on ageing and technology often touches on issues of health, care and independence, my ambition is to engender more positive attitudes towards older people and later life through technology that promotes the joys and triumphs of old age. I also have general interests in user-generated content, social media and peer-to-peer technologies, as well as the role of bottom-up processes and social practice perspectives on money and finance, civic engagement and health and social care.

I closely align my research with participatory and collaborative forms of design research and practice. This means I tend to work closely with participants, collaborators and co-researchers at the earliest possible opportunity in the projects I lead and contribute to. Ensuring ‘non-designers’ can contribute to participatory design projects is in itself a challenge - therefore, another aspect of my research is the development and documentation of methods and techniques for structuring and scaffolding design workshops and engagements. This has included developing new ways of using film and theatre techniques and paper-based materials to support people to explore the opportunities and problems presented by near-future technologies and service designs, and to contribute their own ideas based on their specific aspirations and circumstances in life.

I am currently working on a range of projects building on the above areas. These projects include designing, prototyping, and studying the use of technology in contexts such as: peer-to-peer support for young and older carers of people with dementia; promoting new ways of coping with experiences of loneliness among people temporarily separated from families or social groups; online ‘othering’ and stigmatisation; community engagement around issues of local and community governance and decision making; banking and financial services for people on limited incomes and tight budgets; social care service design and commissioning for young people with disabilities transitioning to adulthood.

In 2013, I was General Chair of the Designing Pleasurable Products and Interfaces conference (with Mark Blythe), and in 2015 General Char of the Research Through Design conference (with Abigail Durrant).

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Papers by John Vines

Proceedings of the 2015 British HCI Conference on - British HCI '15, 2015

CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems on - CHI EA '13, 2013

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

As digital payments become increasingly important features of economic exchange, traditional form... more As digital payments become increasingly important features of economic exchange, traditional forms of payment such as cash are becoming phased out in certain settings. We study one such context-the elimination of cash payment on London buses in July 2014. We conducted ethnographic fieldwork, interviews with drivers and collected online and social media comments before, during and shortly after the introduction of cashless fares. We explore how drivers and passengers were fearful of the change due in part to a lack of information and communication, the anticipation of negative effects on vulnerable passengers and a compromise in freedom, flexibility and surveillance. We highlight the ways cashless payments can alter the social function of money, create new forms of work for drivers and passengers, and if not carefully introduced can cause emotional stress and fears of state surveillance and control.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

This paper examines how London bus drivers have responded to performance monitoring via a telemat... more This paper examines how London bus drivers have responded to performance monitoring via a telematics device called Drivewell. This device calculates a score based on various recordable driving-related events like abrupt braking or irregular turning actions. Our qualitative methodology incorporated semi-structured interviews and ethnographic fieldwork in order to explore drivers' attitudes towards the system and its effect on driving behaviour and working conditions. Our findings illustrate how bus operators simultaneously accommodate and resist the demands Drivewell places upon them. Our work also demonstrates how this digital intervention acts in conjunction with other driver-related technologies, creating a unique digital ecosystem on the modern London bus. Our research contributes to HCI understandings of digital surveillance and performance monitoring in the modern workplace.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

Reduced vocal volume in Parkinson's is extremely common and can have significant social and emoti... more Reduced vocal volume in Parkinson's is extremely common and can have significant social and emotional impact. We describe the development and evaluation of LApp-an application for Google Glass to help people with Parkinson's (PwP) monitor their speech volume and cue themselves to speak louder when necessary. Our findings highlight enthusiasm for using the application both at home as a volume training tool and in public social settings as a situated cueing device. We contribute insights to the literature on how eyewear technologies can provide assistance to people with health conditions and offer insights for the design of future self-monitoring and management applications on Google Glass.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

Most Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers are accustomed to the process of formal ethics ... more Most Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers are accustomed to the process of formal ethics review for their evaluation or field trial protocol. Although this process varies by country, the underlying principles are universal. While this process is often a formality, for field research or lab-based studies with vulnerable users, formal ethics requirements can be challenging to navigate -a common occurrence in the social sciences; yet, in many cases, foreign to HCI researchers. Nevertheless, with the increase in new areas of research such as mobile technologies for marginalized populations or assistive technologies, this is a current reality. In this paper we present our experiences and challenges in conducting several studies that evaluate interactive systems in difficult settings, from the perspective of the ethics process. Based on these, we draft recommendations for mitigating the effect of such challenges to the ethical conduct of research. We then issue a call for interaction researchers, together with policy makers, to refine existing ethics guidelines and protocols in order to more accurately capture the particularities of such field-based evaluations, qualitative studies, challenging labbased evaluations, and ethnographic observations.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

This paper presents an empirical investigation of how people appropriated Twitter for socio-polit... more This paper presents an empirical investigation of how people appropriated Twitter for socio-political talk in response to a television (TV) portrayal of people supported by state welfare and benefits. Our findings reveal how online discussion during, and in-between, TV broadcasts was characterised by distinctly different qualities, topics and user behaviours. These findings offer design opportunities for social media services to (i) support more balanced real-time commentaries of politically-charged media, (ii) actively promote discussion to continue after, and between, programming; and (iii) incorporate different motivations and attitudes towards socio-political concerns, as well as different practices of communicating those concerns. We contribute to the developing HCI literature on how social media intersects with political and civic engagement and specifically highlight the ways in which Twitter interacts with other forms of media as a site of everyday socio-political talk and debate.

Extended Abstracts of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

Participation levels of people with disabilities in the SIGCHI community reflect a general inadeq... more Participation levels of people with disabilities in the SIGCHI community reflect a general inadequacy in how they are supported, and their interests promoted, within the ACM, the wider computing industry and academia itself. In response, we propose a manifesto for overhauling existing SIGCHI practices to increase the opportunities for including a wide range of disabled people in our research community through dissemination venues such as CHI. We set out the moral case for change, before providing a summary of UK disability discrimination law which we use identify sources of direct and indirect discrimination. Our goal has been to go beyond just accessibility: instead we emphasize disability inclusion in a much broader sense, and articulate a range of steps that can be conducted in order to meet this.

Extended Abstracts of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

With HCI researchers conducting studies in increasingly sensitive and difficult settings, ethics ... more With HCI researchers conducting studies in increasingly sensitive and difficult settings, ethics is emerging as a key concern for the HCI community. New technologies are now being designed and evaluated in settings that involve vulnerable or marginalized participants and that can be emotionally challenging for researchers. Research in these settings can produce complex ethical dilemmas that are often emergent, diverse, and highly contextualized. In addition, there may be discrepancies between the realities of HCI fieldwork and the formal and often rigid processes of obtaining ethics approval in research institutions. Given these issues, it is important for researchers to communally reflect on ethical encounters in HCI research. This workshop will provide a forum for researchers to share experiences about ethical challenges they have faced. These discussions will be used to develop a handbook of practical lessons representing the breadth and depth of ethical issues emerging in HCI research in sensitive settings.

Health and care providers are increasingly looking to online and peer-to-peer services to supplem... more Health and care providers are increasingly looking to online and peer-to-peer services to supplement existing channels of assistive living technology (ALTs) provision and assessment. We describe the findings from 12 codesign workshops with 28 people from the UK representing a range of older people with and without health conditions, users of ALT and carers for people using such devices. The workshops were conducted to explore issues related to finding reliable information about ALT with the goal of gathering requirements for the design of a peer-to-peer knowledge sharing platform. Our analysis highlights how a current reliance on peers and informal networks relates to a desire to establish the authenticity and relatability of another person's experience to one's own circumstances. This connects to a perceived mistrust in information where provenance and authenticity is not clear. We use these to critique the wisdom of taking an e-marketplace and recommendation service approach to ALT provision and assessment, and offer alternatives based on our findings.

Adjunct Proceedings of ACM CSCW 2015, 2015

In this workshop we consider new financial services from a CSCW and Social Computing perspective.... more In this workshop we consider new financial services from a CSCW and Social Computing perspective. We will bring together researchers, policy-makers and practitioners who are interested in new financial services such as mobile payments, digital money, microfinance, mobile commerce, and the adoption and use of these new services by special sub-populations. Also of interest in this workshop will be the use of social analytics to understand financial markets and create new services. We also aim to explore the underlying group and network mechanisms that promote trust and enable commerce (e.g., solidarity lending groups). The workshop will contribute to the continued development of a network of researchers and practitioners interested in the intersection of HCI and financial services.

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 2015

Ageing has become a significant area of interest in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in recent ye... more Ageing has become a significant area of interest in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in recent years. In this article we provide a critical analysis of 30 years of ageing research published across the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI) community. Discourse analysis of the content of 644 archival papers highlights how ageing is typically framed as a "problem" that can be managed by technology. We highlight how ageing is typically defined through an emphasis on the economic and societal impact of health and care needs of older people, concerns around socialisation as people age, and declines in abilities and associated reductions in performance when using technology. We draw from research within the fields of social and critical gerontology to highlight how these discourses in SIGCHI literature represent common stereotypes around old age that have also prevailed in the wider literature in gerontology. We conclude by proposing strategies for future research at the intersection of ageing and HCI.

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 2015

Proceedings of New Security Paradigms Workshop 2014, 2014

The joint study of computer security, privacy and humancomputer interaction (HCI) over the last t... more The joint study of computer security, privacy and humancomputer interaction (HCI) over the last two decades has shaped a research agenda focused upon usable privacy & security. However, in HCI research more generally there has long been an awareness of the need to understand and design for user experience, in recognition of the complex and multi-faceted role that technology now plays in our lives. In this paper we add to the growing discussion by introducing the notion of experiencecentered privacy and security. We argue that in order to engage users of technology around issues related to experiences of privacy and security, research methods are required that may be outside of the normal repertoire of methods that we typically call upon. We describe three projects that developed non-typical research methods to reveal experiential insights into user interactions with privacy and security-related technologies. We conclude by proposing a research agenda that begins to illustrate how the discourse and methods of experience-centered design might serve to provide valuable alternative perspectives on new and enduring user-facing privacy and security problems.

Proceedings of ACM DIS 2014, 2014

We consider the role of making in current HCI design practices and how it may affect the wellbein... more We consider the role of making in current HCI design practices and how it may affect the wellbeing of those who participate in these processes. Through an exploration of psychological concepts of wellbeing and their connection to making experiences, we suggest that making can facilitate and support both hedonic and eudemonic facets of wellbeing. We illustrate this in the context of three case studies that engaged people in creative making activities as part of user-centered design processes. Based on our experiences, we argue that researchers ought to be mindful of the potential impact our design processes have on our participants and provide considerations for those designing for and with participants where wellbeing is a concern.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014, 2014

This paper reports on a qualitative study of 38 low-income individuals living in the North East o... more This paper reports on a qualitative study of 38 low-income individuals living in the North East of England. The participants' experiences of money, banking and the role digital technology plays in their financial practices were identified through semi-structured interviews in people's homes and group workshops. A grounded theory analysis of these data characterises how technology both helped and hindered participants to keep close control of their finances. These findings suggest design opportunities for future digital banking technologies that extend the already sophisticated practices of individuals managing a low income, focusing on:

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014, 2014

While theatre has been used in HCI as a tool for engaging participants in design processes, the s... more While theatre has been used in HCI as a tool for engaging participants in design processes, the specific benefits of using live theatre over other communicative mediums, remains underexplored. In this paper we introduce Experience Design Theatre (EDT) as an approach to undertaking experience-centered design with multiple parties in the early stages of design. EDT was motivated by a need to involve several diverse groups of people in the design of a digitally coordinated care service -NetCarers. We used live theatre as a way to engage small groups of participants in dialogues around the design of NetCarers, to qualify their contributions in a refined performance, and to communicate their concerns and aspirations to domain experts. We highlight key benefits to using live theatre in experience-centered design and offer insights for researchers undertaking similar work in the future.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014, 2014

This paper examines how an occupational group has adapted to the demands of working with a Locati... more This paper examines how an occupational group has adapted to the demands of working with a Location Based Service (LBS). Instead of following a rigid timetable, London's bus drivers are now required to maintain an equal distance between the bus in front and the one behind. Our qualitative study employs ethnographic fieldwork and indepth semi-structured interviews to elicit drivers' perspectives of the new system and show how it has modified their driving and general work conditions. We explore how passengers influence the movement of the bus and how the technology frames bus drivers' relationships to their managers and commuters. This work contributes to our understanding of the impact of LBS in the workplace and shows how technological imperatives can be established that cause unanticipated consequences and gradually undermine human relationships.

Proceedings ofACM CHI 2014, 2014

We describe a qualitative study investigating the acceptability of the Google Glass eyewear compu... more We describe a qualitative study investigating the acceptability of the Google Glass eyewear computer to people with Parkinson's disease (PD). We held a workshop with 5 PD patients and 2 carers exploring perceptions of Glass. This was followed by 5-day field trials of Glass with 4 PD patients, where participants wore the device during everyday activities at home and in public. We report generally positive responses to Glass as a device to instil confidence and safety for this potentially vulnerable group. We also raise concerns related to the potential for Glass to reaffirm dependency on others and stigmatise wearers.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014, 2014

We detail the design of the Department of Hidden Stories (DoHS), a mobile-based game to support p... more We detail the design of the Department of Hidden Stories (DoHS), a mobile-based game to support playful digital storytelling among primary school children in public libraries. Through a process of iterative design in collaboration with library staff and children's writers we designed DoHS to support the potential for playful storytelling through interactions with books. A deployment of DoHS with two classes of 8 to 10 years olds as part of their regular library visits revealed insights related to how to balance the expectations of a child-at-play and the requirement to further develop their creative reading and writing skills. Based on our experiences we recommend that designers create playful digitally based activities that encourage children to explore libraries and experience new interactions with physical books.

Proceedings of the 2015 British HCI Conference on - British HCI '15, 2015

CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems on - CHI EA '13, 2013

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

As digital payments become increasingly important features of economic exchange, traditional form... more As digital payments become increasingly important features of economic exchange, traditional forms of payment such as cash are becoming phased out in certain settings. We study one such context-the elimination of cash payment on London buses in July 2014. We conducted ethnographic fieldwork, interviews with drivers and collected online and social media comments before, during and shortly after the introduction of cashless fares. We explore how drivers and passengers were fearful of the change due in part to a lack of information and communication, the anticipation of negative effects on vulnerable passengers and a compromise in freedom, flexibility and surveillance. We highlight the ways cashless payments can alter the social function of money, create new forms of work for drivers and passengers, and if not carefully introduced can cause emotional stress and fears of state surveillance and control.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

This paper examines how London bus drivers have responded to performance monitoring via a telemat... more This paper examines how London bus drivers have responded to performance monitoring via a telematics device called Drivewell. This device calculates a score based on various recordable driving-related events like abrupt braking or irregular turning actions. Our qualitative methodology incorporated semi-structured interviews and ethnographic fieldwork in order to explore drivers' attitudes towards the system and its effect on driving behaviour and working conditions. Our findings illustrate how bus operators simultaneously accommodate and resist the demands Drivewell places upon them. Our work also demonstrates how this digital intervention acts in conjunction with other driver-related technologies, creating a unique digital ecosystem on the modern London bus. Our research contributes to HCI understandings of digital surveillance and performance monitoring in the modern workplace.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

Reduced vocal volume in Parkinson's is extremely common and can have significant social and emoti... more Reduced vocal volume in Parkinson's is extremely common and can have significant social and emotional impact. We describe the development and evaluation of LApp-an application for Google Glass to help people with Parkinson's (PwP) monitor their speech volume and cue themselves to speak louder when necessary. Our findings highlight enthusiasm for using the application both at home as a volume training tool and in public social settings as a situated cueing device. We contribute insights to the literature on how eyewear technologies can provide assistance to people with health conditions and offer insights for the design of future self-monitoring and management applications on Google Glass.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

Most Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers are accustomed to the process of formal ethics ... more Most Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers are accustomed to the process of formal ethics review for their evaluation or field trial protocol. Although this process varies by country, the underlying principles are universal. While this process is often a formality, for field research or lab-based studies with vulnerable users, formal ethics requirements can be challenging to navigate -a common occurrence in the social sciences; yet, in many cases, foreign to HCI researchers. Nevertheless, with the increase in new areas of research such as mobile technologies for marginalized populations or assistive technologies, this is a current reality. In this paper we present our experiences and challenges in conducting several studies that evaluate interactive systems in difficult settings, from the perspective of the ethics process. Based on these, we draft recommendations for mitigating the effect of such challenges to the ethical conduct of research. We then issue a call for interaction researchers, together with policy makers, to refine existing ethics guidelines and protocols in order to more accurately capture the particularities of such field-based evaluations, qualitative studies, challenging labbased evaluations, and ethnographic observations.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

This paper presents an empirical investigation of how people appropriated Twitter for socio-polit... more This paper presents an empirical investigation of how people appropriated Twitter for socio-political talk in response to a television (TV) portrayal of people supported by state welfare and benefits. Our findings reveal how online discussion during, and in-between, TV broadcasts was characterised by distinctly different qualities, topics and user behaviours. These findings offer design opportunities for social media services to (i) support more balanced real-time commentaries of politically-charged media, (ii) actively promote discussion to continue after, and between, programming; and (iii) incorporate different motivations and attitudes towards socio-political concerns, as well as different practices of communicating those concerns. We contribute to the developing HCI literature on how social media intersects with political and civic engagement and specifically highlight the ways in which Twitter interacts with other forms of media as a site of everyday socio-political talk and debate.

Extended Abstracts of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

Participation levels of people with disabilities in the SIGCHI community reflect a general inadeq... more Participation levels of people with disabilities in the SIGCHI community reflect a general inadequacy in how they are supported, and their interests promoted, within the ACM, the wider computing industry and academia itself. In response, we propose a manifesto for overhauling existing SIGCHI practices to increase the opportunities for including a wide range of disabled people in our research community through dissemination venues such as CHI. We set out the moral case for change, before providing a summary of UK disability discrimination law which we use identify sources of direct and indirect discrimination. Our goal has been to go beyond just accessibility: instead we emphasize disability inclusion in a much broader sense, and articulate a range of steps that can be conducted in order to meet this.

Extended Abstracts of ACM CHI 2015, 2015

With HCI researchers conducting studies in increasingly sensitive and difficult settings, ethics ... more With HCI researchers conducting studies in increasingly sensitive and difficult settings, ethics is emerging as a key concern for the HCI community. New technologies are now being designed and evaluated in settings that involve vulnerable or marginalized participants and that can be emotionally challenging for researchers. Research in these settings can produce complex ethical dilemmas that are often emergent, diverse, and highly contextualized. In addition, there may be discrepancies between the realities of HCI fieldwork and the formal and often rigid processes of obtaining ethics approval in research institutions. Given these issues, it is important for researchers to communally reflect on ethical encounters in HCI research. This workshop will provide a forum for researchers to share experiences about ethical challenges they have faced. These discussions will be used to develop a handbook of practical lessons representing the breadth and depth of ethical issues emerging in HCI research in sensitive settings.

Health and care providers are increasingly looking to online and peer-to-peer services to supplem... more Health and care providers are increasingly looking to online and peer-to-peer services to supplement existing channels of assistive living technology (ALTs) provision and assessment. We describe the findings from 12 codesign workshops with 28 people from the UK representing a range of older people with and without health conditions, users of ALT and carers for people using such devices. The workshops were conducted to explore issues related to finding reliable information about ALT with the goal of gathering requirements for the design of a peer-to-peer knowledge sharing platform. Our analysis highlights how a current reliance on peers and informal networks relates to a desire to establish the authenticity and relatability of another person's experience to one's own circumstances. This connects to a perceived mistrust in information where provenance and authenticity is not clear. We use these to critique the wisdom of taking an e-marketplace and recommendation service approach to ALT provision and assessment, and offer alternatives based on our findings.

Adjunct Proceedings of ACM CSCW 2015, 2015

In this workshop we consider new financial services from a CSCW and Social Computing perspective.... more In this workshop we consider new financial services from a CSCW and Social Computing perspective. We will bring together researchers, policy-makers and practitioners who are interested in new financial services such as mobile payments, digital money, microfinance, mobile commerce, and the adoption and use of these new services by special sub-populations. Also of interest in this workshop will be the use of social analytics to understand financial markets and create new services. We also aim to explore the underlying group and network mechanisms that promote trust and enable commerce (e.g., solidarity lending groups). The workshop will contribute to the continued development of a network of researchers and practitioners interested in the intersection of HCI and financial services.

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 2015

Ageing has become a significant area of interest in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in recent ye... more Ageing has become a significant area of interest in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in recent years. In this article we provide a critical analysis of 30 years of ageing research published across the ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI) community. Discourse analysis of the content of 644 archival papers highlights how ageing is typically framed as a "problem" that can be managed by technology. We highlight how ageing is typically defined through an emphasis on the economic and societal impact of health and care needs of older people, concerns around socialisation as people age, and declines in abilities and associated reductions in performance when using technology. We draw from research within the fields of social and critical gerontology to highlight how these discourses in SIGCHI literature represent common stereotypes around old age that have also prevailed in the wider literature in gerontology. We conclude by proposing strategies for future research at the intersection of ageing and HCI.

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 2015

Proceedings of New Security Paradigms Workshop 2014, 2014

The joint study of computer security, privacy and humancomputer interaction (HCI) over the last t... more The joint study of computer security, privacy and humancomputer interaction (HCI) over the last two decades has shaped a research agenda focused upon usable privacy & security. However, in HCI research more generally there has long been an awareness of the need to understand and design for user experience, in recognition of the complex and multi-faceted role that technology now plays in our lives. In this paper we add to the growing discussion by introducing the notion of experiencecentered privacy and security. We argue that in order to engage users of technology around issues related to experiences of privacy and security, research methods are required that may be outside of the normal repertoire of methods that we typically call upon. We describe three projects that developed non-typical research methods to reveal experiential insights into user interactions with privacy and security-related technologies. We conclude by proposing a research agenda that begins to illustrate how the discourse and methods of experience-centered design might serve to provide valuable alternative perspectives on new and enduring user-facing privacy and security problems.

Proceedings of ACM DIS 2014, 2014

We consider the role of making in current HCI design practices and how it may affect the wellbein... more We consider the role of making in current HCI design practices and how it may affect the wellbeing of those who participate in these processes. Through an exploration of psychological concepts of wellbeing and their connection to making experiences, we suggest that making can facilitate and support both hedonic and eudemonic facets of wellbeing. We illustrate this in the context of three case studies that engaged people in creative making activities as part of user-centered design processes. Based on our experiences, we argue that researchers ought to be mindful of the potential impact our design processes have on our participants and provide considerations for those designing for and with participants where wellbeing is a concern.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014, 2014

This paper reports on a qualitative study of 38 low-income individuals living in the North East o... more This paper reports on a qualitative study of 38 low-income individuals living in the North East of England. The participants' experiences of money, banking and the role digital technology plays in their financial practices were identified through semi-structured interviews in people's homes and group workshops. A grounded theory analysis of these data characterises how technology both helped and hindered participants to keep close control of their finances. These findings suggest design opportunities for future digital banking technologies that extend the already sophisticated practices of individuals managing a low income, focusing on:

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014, 2014

While theatre has been used in HCI as a tool for engaging participants in design processes, the s... more While theatre has been used in HCI as a tool for engaging participants in design processes, the specific benefits of using live theatre over other communicative mediums, remains underexplored. In this paper we introduce Experience Design Theatre (EDT) as an approach to undertaking experience-centered design with multiple parties in the early stages of design. EDT was motivated by a need to involve several diverse groups of people in the design of a digitally coordinated care service -NetCarers. We used live theatre as a way to engage small groups of participants in dialogues around the design of NetCarers, to qualify their contributions in a refined performance, and to communicate their concerns and aspirations to domain experts. We highlight key benefits to using live theatre in experience-centered design and offer insights for researchers undertaking similar work in the future.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014, 2014

This paper examines how an occupational group has adapted to the demands of working with a Locati... more This paper examines how an occupational group has adapted to the demands of working with a Location Based Service (LBS). Instead of following a rigid timetable, London's bus drivers are now required to maintain an equal distance between the bus in front and the one behind. Our qualitative study employs ethnographic fieldwork and indepth semi-structured interviews to elicit drivers' perspectives of the new system and show how it has modified their driving and general work conditions. We explore how passengers influence the movement of the bus and how the technology frames bus drivers' relationships to their managers and commuters. This work contributes to our understanding of the impact of LBS in the workplace and shows how technological imperatives can be established that cause unanticipated consequences and gradually undermine human relationships.

Proceedings ofACM CHI 2014, 2014

We describe a qualitative study investigating the acceptability of the Google Glass eyewear compu... more We describe a qualitative study investigating the acceptability of the Google Glass eyewear computer to people with Parkinson's disease (PD). We held a workshop with 5 PD patients and 2 carers exploring perceptions of Glass. This was followed by 5-day field trials of Glass with 4 PD patients, where participants wore the device during everyday activities at home and in public. We report generally positive responses to Glass as a device to instil confidence and safety for this potentially vulnerable group. We also raise concerns related to the potential for Glass to reaffirm dependency on others and stigmatise wearers.

Proceedings of ACM CHI 2014, 2014

We detail the design of the Department of Hidden Stories (DoHS), a mobile-based game to support p... more We detail the design of the Department of Hidden Stories (DoHS), a mobile-based game to support playful digital storytelling among primary school children in public libraries. Through a process of iterative design in collaboration with library staff and children's writers we designed DoHS to support the potential for playful storytelling through interactions with books. A deployment of DoHS with two classes of 8 to 10 years olds as part of their regular library visits revealed insights related to how to balance the expectations of a child-at-play and the requirement to further develop their creative reading and writing skills. Based on our experiences we recommend that designers create playful digitally based activities that encourage children to explore libraries and experience new interactions with physical books.