SPP Winter School 2021

Alan John Dix is a British author, researcher, and university professor, specialising in human–computer interaction (HCI). He is one of the four co-authors of the university-level textbook Human–Computer Interaction. Dix is the Director of the Computational Foundry at Swansea University, since May 2018. He was previously a professor at Lancaster University.

Abstract: Most participants of this Winter School will have had to deal with statistics: sometimes formal statistics with tests and probabilities, sometimes informally ‘eyeballing data’. Even if you do not use statistics in your own work, you are likely to need to interpret the statistics in other people’s papers and reports. This tutorial is intended to help you navigate the often confusing discussions about the use and misuse of statistics, to help you gain a ‘gut feeling’ for statistics and also know when not to trust those instincts. The tutorial builds on the instructor’s recent book “Statistics for HCI” and also extensive freely available videos and other online material.

Nicolai Marquardt is Associate Professor at University College London. At the UCL Interaction Centre he works on projects in the research areas of cross-device interaction, interactive surfaces, sensor-based systems, prototyping toolkits, and physical user interfaces. He is co-author of Sketching User Experiences: The Workbook (Morgan Kaufmann, 2011) and Proxemic Interaction: From Theory to Practice (Morgan & Claypool, 2015).

Abstract: In this keynote I will guide through five lessons learned about sketching as part of HCI research and design. In particular, I will talk about how sketching is different to creating artwork, how we can more effectively sketch everything we sketch frequently, when and how to take shortcuts, how sketches have a place throughout the entire research process, and how to make sketching part of our everyday practice.

Jonna Häkkilä is professor of Industrial Design at the University of Lapland, Finland (2014–), and docent in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at the University of Oulu, Finland. Prior to this, she was Director of User Experience (UX) at the Center for Internet Excellence, University of Oulu (2012–2014), and research team leader at Nokia Research Center (2007–2011). She received her PhD in computer science at the University of Oulu, Finland, in 2007, and has conducted research mobility at the University of Stuttgart (Germany), Carnegie Mellon University (USA), and Griffith University (Australia). She has published 150+ peer-reviewed scientific papers on HCI, focusing on mobile and ubiquitous computing and user-centric design, and has served as conference chair for Augmented Humans 2021, CUMULUS 2019, MUM 2016 & 2009, and NordiCHI 2014. Her current research interests include unobtrusive interaction with technology and using design methods to create and assess future technology visions.

Abstract: In today’s world, we are at risk of drowning in the technology surrounding us (almost literally) everywhere. In my research, I am fascinated by the design challenge of hiding the technology while still benefiting from it. The design approach, which emphasises aesthetic and ambient information delivery, provides opportunities for unobtrusive interaction design for our technology-filled future. In this talk, I will also address designing for contexts where the presence of technology can be perceived as obtrusive, presenting recent research on graveyards, indigenous cultural heritage, and nature as a use context — highlighting the possibilities and challenges of combining traditional design and culture with future technology.

Albrecht Schmidt is professor for Human-Centered Ubiquitous Media in the computer science department of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München in Germany. He studied computer science in Ulm and Manchester and received a PhD from Lancaster University, UK, in 2003, holding prior academic positions at Stuttgart, Cambridge, Duisburg-Essen and Bonn, and working as a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute (IAIS) and at Microsoft Research Cambridge. His research investigates the complexity of human-computer interaction in ubiquitous computing environments, and he proposed the concept of implicit human-computer interaction; he has since worked on automotive user interfaces, tangible interaction, interactive public displays, large high-resolution screens, and physiological interfaces. He received an ERC grant in 2016, was inducted into the ACM SIGCHI Academy in 2018, and elected to Leopoldina, the German Academy of Sciences, in 2020.

Abstract: Making interactive functional prototypes is greatly valuable to research in human-computer interaction. Prototypes are a source of inspiration, help in understanding critical issues, provide an effective means for communication and evaluation, and enable reflection on multiple levels. Low-fidelity prototyping is valuable too, but as a community we should move on to making real experiences, allowing users to encounter new forms of interaction rather than just imagining them. In the session we look at options for creating prototypes, including repackaged off-the-shelf devices, systems combining standard devices, custom-hardware add-ons, and fully custom hardware — diving deeper into building with the ESP32 and Raspberry Pi Pico platforms and MicroPython.

Preparation for students: read “Understanding and researching through making: a plea for functional prototypes” (Schmidt, 2017, interactions 24(3), 78–81, https://doi.org/10.1145/3058498); watch the 15-minute and 13-minute introductory videos; make and bring a paper prototype of a head-worn device that provides feedback to the environment about the availability of the person (see Häkkilä et al., BuSiNec, DIS 2020, https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395455); optionally browse the Sketching with Hardware wiki.