Per Linde

Explicit interaction for surgical rehabilitation

We discuss the design ideal of explicit interaction, which is a way to approach the dimensions of explicitness versus ambience and explicitness versus obtrusiveness in ubiquitous computing. Explicit interaction refers to interaction techniques designed to make actions and intentions visible, understandable and accountable. We introduce three levels of analysis---usability, materialization, and social performance---and present the design of an explicit interaction assembly of devices for rehabilitation after hand surgery. The assembly, intended to support video recording during patient-therapist consultations, is evaluated and we find that it provides superior usability and the potential to improve rehabilitation outcomes through materialization. Moreover, we find that the design of cues to support the social practice in the rehabilitation ward needs to be improved since the assembly allowed for uses unanticipated during the design.

Opening the digital box for design work: supporting performative interactions, using inspirational materials and configuring of place

We started the work reported on here with the ambition to create inspirational learning environments for design and architecture students in the spirit of Weiser’s vision of taking the computer “out of the box” and making computational resources augment a design studio environment ubiquitously. Computing environments are becoming populated by a rich and diverse set of devices and networks, many of them integrated with the physical landscape of space and artefacts. Early attempts to take the desktop metaphor of graphical interface design back to the real desktops and whiteboards by exploring new semantics of interaction was pioneered by Weiser’s group, as well as by Buxton and others (Weiser 1993; Fitzmaurice 1995; Rekimoto 1997). The idea to have a new and more complex set of physical handles to digital media promised a richer interaction between people and technology, and, in line with Engelbart’s pioneering work on direct manipulation for graphical user interfaces (Engelbart 1962), a new set of generic interface building blocks would open up a new realm for design of interaction technologies.

Stakeholder engagement in the smart city : making living labs work

This chapter discusses attempts to involve stakeholders in the co-production of Future Internet (FI) services in a smart city living lab. We outline the experience of five European cities using an open innovation approach to citizens’ engagement in the co-production of smart city services. Recent practice and emergent trends in five urban ecosystems, called ‘Arenas’, are analysed by drawing on the results of detailed case study research. These results are set against ‘good practice’ expectations about how co-production should occur as set out by the European Network of Living Labs as well as in open innovation strategic policies. Based on the case studies, a set of propositions are explored about what needs to be done to build the stakeholder innovation networks required to shape future smart cities. The study suggests that if smart cities are to deliver a better quality of life in more attractive urban areas, new ways of engaging with the stakeholders are necessary to provide them with not just better access and inclusion but also to empower them to act as a catalyst in transforming the dynamics of city services as well. In light of the demands of delivering the FI, cities also need to redefine what they mean when they claim to be a ‘smart’ city and to reconfigure what they take to be the underlying role of stakeholder engagement in service co-production.

Designing things together : intersections of co-design and actor-network theory

This special issue brings together nine papers that explore in different ways the interesting space at the intersection of co-design and actor–network theory. The papers consolidate a tradition of multidisciplinary design research with contributions from science and technology studies (STS) in which design is seen as a social and political activity playing a vital role in the shaping of our societies. Design is becoming less confined to the design studio with well-identified stakeholders. It takes new forms as public interventions and as explorations ‘in the wild’. This means that it becomes more difficult to understand the scope and limits of design interventions and, therefore design research needs new tools to address and reflect these changes. Similarly, actor-network theory (ANT) has moved out of its traditional concern with STS that is critical of modernist separations (such as object/ subject and nature/culture), to a concern with reassembling the social and building a common world, where democratic, ecological and political issues permeate everyday life, and design and technology are an integral part of it. Designing things together has become for us as editors, a label to identify this overlap between co-design and ANT and to support a shared agenda towards technical democracy that helps us to further ‘unpack’ the coin co-design. The papers in this issue look at a series of intersecting topics and, even if they approach and use ANT in different ways, they all contribute to a more systematic exploration of how to design things together. The authors are concerned with the relationship between design and democracy (Binder et al., Storni), participation (Palmas and Von Busch; Andersen et al.), making things public (Schoffelen et al.; Stuedahl and Smørdal), new collective forms of design experiments (Tironi and Laurent; Lindstrom and Stahl), and new ways to look at and talk about codesign (Akama). The papers reaffirm a non-modern way of thinking about co-design that is critical of the idea of the designer as a hero (or user as a king), the idea of participation being unproblematic or taken for granted, the clear-cut opposition between design and use (designer and user, design and research), the idea of design objects as stand-alone outcomes, or that of collaborating entities pre-existing the design process. This special issue opens with two research papers that view ANT as a means of rethinking collaborative design practices towards a design democracy. Binder et al discuss how ANT can reinvigorate participatory design as democratic design experiments between parliament and laboratory. Critical of the obsession with objects dominant in design and of human-centeredness, the authors articulate the idea of designing ‘things’ as socio-material assemblies of public concerns and issues that evolve over time. Addressing Latour’s call for co-habitation, Storni proposes a translation of ANT from an STS tool to produce risky accounts, to a design tool to design things together. In this translation, Storni proposes three turns for design: ontological, methodological and epistemological. The first argues for the design of actor networks. The second suggests designing by means of actor networking in public, and thus calls for a much-needed cartography of co-design. The third suggests moving from the idea of the designer as the prince of a network to the designer as

Exploring ANT in PD: reflections and implications for theory and practice

This workshop aims to explore, map and discuss the contribution of Actor Network Theory to Participatory design s theory and practice. The links between the two are multiple and offers multiple occasions to appreciate the relevance of ANT in PD. The workshop seeks contributions especially in three areas: ANT as a descriptive tool for PD, ANT as conceptual framework for PD theory and practice, and ANT and PD education.

The CARE Concept - Holding on to augmentable paper during post surgery rehabilitation

This paper presents our early experiences with the design of digital technology that aims to support the process of collaborative articulation taking place at patient-caregiver consultations during post surgery rehabilitation. Augmentable paper documents (CARE paper) can be powerful resources in this process for caregiver as well as patient. The CARE paper can carry links to digital media. A prototype implementation demonstrating how to create and retrieve links between digital media and the CARE paper is presented. The work presented was carried out and assessed along with studies at a major hand surgery clinic and with the active participation from patients and staff at this clinic

Interaction design as understanding and transforming place

Space becomes place through a rich interplay of actors, actions and associations, and techniques drawn from performance, gaming and architecture are well adapted to helping us understand and design for complex environments. Our experience working with masters-level interaction design students in the ATELIER project has demonstrated that these ‘cross-dressing’ techniques can create a climate of awareness in which inspirational learning and innovative design can occur.

Between empowerment and exploitation: PD ethics in the era of participation

Community + Culture features practitioner perspectives on designing technologies for and with communities. We highlight compelling projects and provocative points of view that speak to both community technology practice and the interaction design field as a whole. --- Christopher A. Le Dantec, Editor

Kammaren: exhibition space, documentation support and designer's tool

Throughout the world research is taking place dealing with making the computer invisible by integrating it with the environment. An important part of that structure is finding proper links between physical objects and virtual properties. Kammaren is thought of as an experimental showroom for artefacts produced at K3, Malmö University, an institution with educational programs in technology, media and design. By relating to some key topics in the research area we want to point out some requirements necessary for Kammaren and propose a concept for the physical interface. A fundamental presumption is that in every design process there exists designand work-material, which is overshadowed by the final product. This material makes part of a tacit knowing in the design process. A kind of ‘artefacts -memory’, which through its presence in Kammaren contributes to shared knowledge when made accessible for others. This might be viewed as an ‘open source’ perspective and can in the end support collaborative learning processes.