Aykut Coşkun

Are we 'really' connected?: understanding smartphone use during social interaction in public.

Excessive smartphone use has negative effects on our social relations. Previous work addressed this problem by allowing users to restrict their smartphone use. However, as this strategy requires users to have high levels of self-regulation, it may not be effective for individuals without an explicit intention to change their behavior. We propose an alternative approach to this problem, i.e. identifying ways of reducing smartphone use without restricting its use. We illustrated this approach with a study examining smartphone use during social interaction in public settings. Based on four unstructured observations in different coffeehouses and three exploratory focus groups with different age groups, we identified two themes in relation to smartphone use in public settings and discussed their implications for designing solutions that aim to enrich social interaction without limiting smartphone use.

Flow State Feedback Through Sports Wearables: A Case Study on Tennis

Flow state is a psychological state of optimal performance. To experience flow state, one needs to receive unambiguous feedback. Previous studies have described activities with internalized feedback modalities (e.g. visual). However, they do not offer any appropriate feedback modality for the activities that may benefit from external feedback, such as opponent-based sports. Addressing the issue, we adopted a research through design process and considered tennis as our case, in which players can benefit from attaining flow [1]. This pictorial reveals our approach to design 6 wearable device concepts under 3 design themes as future directions for design practitioners and researchers.

User Orientation Maps: An Approach to Address User Diversity in Design for Sustainable Behaviour

Abstract There has been an increasing tendency among design researchers to explore the potential of design to change user behaviour in the interest of sustainability. To date, numerous techniques have been proposed, aimed at providing more guidance to design researchers and practitioners on how to encourage sustainable behaviour. Choosing a technique suitable for both the target behaviour and the target user is a critical task when designing for sustainable behaviours. The influence of individual characteristics on user compliance with different techniques makes this task more compelling for designers. To make this task easier for them, we offer a new approach, called the ‘user orientation map’, to explore and represent user diversity by showing the range of user types and techniques to promote behavioural change for each user type. We illustrate this approach with a case study on eco-friendly driving, and identify nine user types.

Scientific Craftsmanship: The changing role of product designers in the digital era

Abstract In this paper, we provide a brief historical account that examines how technology and society influenced the design practice in 20th and 21st centuries. By focusing on the recent changes in the design profession, we discuss how digitalization changed the types of issues designers deal with, tools they use, and outcomes they produced. Based on these parameters, we propose scientific craftsmanship as a new definition of design activity in the digital age. This definition is concentrated on four major aspects: 1) working with physical and digital materials and tools, 2) fabricating in domestic scale, 3) using scientific methods and theories from other fields, and 4) creating with others.