Tools, as extensions of hand and mind, prescribe defining properties for a practice. We anchor our tools research within a case study of electronic textiles (eTextiles), combining textile materials and electronic and computational functionality. While the field of eTextiles is expanding into new personal and ubiquitous applications, its tools as productive means, however, are rarely investigated. We

Software tools for generating digital sound often present users with high-dimensional, parametric interfaces, that may not facilitate exploration of diverse sound designs. In this article, we propose to investigate artificial agents using deep reinforcement learning to explore parameter spaces in partnership with users for sound design. We describe a series of user-centred studies to probe the creative

Widespread sensing devices enable a world in which physical spaces become personalised in the presence of mobile users. An important example of such personalisation is the use of pervasive displays to show content that matches the requirements of proximate viewers. Despite prior work on prototype systems that use mobile devices to personalise displays, no significant attempts to trial such systems

We present a machine learning approach that uses data from smartphones and fitness trackers of 138 college students to identify students that experienced depressive symptoms at the end of the semester and students whose depressive symptoms worsened over the semester. Our novel approach is a feature extraction technique that allows us to select meaningful features indicative of depressive symptoms from

We present Machete, a straightforward segmenter one can use to isolate custom gestures in continuous input. Machete uses traditional continuous dynamic programming with a novel dissimilarity measure to align incoming data with gesture class templates in real time. Advantages of Machete over alternative techniques is that our segmenter is computationally efficient, accurate, device-agnostic, and works

There is a growing need for usable and secure authentication in immersive virtual reality (VR). Established concepts (e.g., 2D authentication schemes) are vulnerable to observation attacks, and most alternatives are relatively slow. We present RubikAuth, an authentication scheme for VR where users authenticate quickly and secure by selecting digits from a virtual 3D cube that leverages coordinated

Nudging is a promising approach, in terms of influencing people to make advisable choices in a range of domains, including cybersecurity. However, the processes underlying the concept and the nudge’s effectiveness in different contexts, and in the long term, are still poorly understood. Our research thus first reviewed the nudge concept and differentiated it from other interventions before applying

Building on the concept “prototypes that filter the design space,” we establish how other kinds of design artifacts and activities (e.g., sketching, tests, concept posters, metaphors, design tools) are equally critical in filtering the design space. We also suggest a parallel term, “informing the design space,” to define how design artifacts and activities expand the design space. We focus on a 16-month

We study the impact and interplay of social design features on the engagement behaviors toward user-generated content on Facebook business pages. By examining the introduction of the “Reactions” feature on Facebook, we aim to understand how the introduction of a new engagement feature affects the overall engagement activities and the use of existing engagement features. We found evidence of a positive

Rehearsal-based interfaces are designed to encourage a transition from novice to expert, but many users fail to make this transition. Most of these interfaces activate novice mode after a short delay, between 150 and 500 ms. We investigate the impact of delay time on expert usage and learning in three crowdsourced experiments. The first experiment examines an 8-item marking menu with delay times from

Persons with dementia and their care partners have been found to adapt their own technological arrangements using commercially available information and communication technologies (ICTs). Yet, little is known about these processes of technology appropriation and how care practices are impacted. Adopting a relational perspective of care, we longitudinally examined how four family care networks appropriated

Communication during touch provides a seamless and natural way of interaction between humans and ambient intelligence. Current techniques that couple wireless transmission with touch detection suffer from the problem of selectivity and security, i.e., they cannot ensure communication only through direct touch and not through close proximity. We present BodyWire-HCI, which utilizes the human body as

This study proposes a novel coping model of privacy that extends prior privacy work in two important ways: first, the reconceptualization of privacy coping reflecting both problem- and emotion-focused strategies, and second, the incorporation of discrete emotions as a driver of privacy coping. Results from online survey data (N = 605) show that Facebook users’ adaptation to privacy risks consists of

Upper-limb impairments due to stroke can severely affect the quality of life in patients. Scientific evidence supports that repetitive rehabilitation exercises can improve motor ability in stroke patients. Rehabilitation games gained tremendous interest among researchers and clinicians because of their potential to make the seemingly mundane, enduring rehabilitation therapies more engaging. However

Physiological and behavioral measures allow computing devices to augment user interaction experience by understanding their mental load. Current techniques often utilize complementary information between different modalities to index load level typically within a specific task. In this study, we propose a new approach utilizing the timing between physiology/behavior change events to index low and high

The “crossing time” to pass between objects in lassoing tasks is predicted by Fitts’ law. When an unwanted object, or obstacle, intrudes into the user’s path, users curve the stroke to avoid hitting that obstacle. We empirically show that, in the presence of an obstacle, modified Fitts models for pointing with obstacle avoidance can significantly improve the prediction accuracy of movement time compared

Voice assistants embodied in smart speakers (e.g., Amazon Echo, Google Home) enable voice-based interaction that does not necessarily rely on expertise with mobile or desktop computing. Hence, these voice assistants offer new opportunities to different populations, including individuals who are not interested or able to use traditional computing devices such as computers and smartphones. To understand

In this article, we describe our efforts to retrace and reimagine period tracking technology—or, mobile applications designed to support the documentation and quantification of menstrual cycle data. In their current form, these systems often encourage those who menstruate to extract intimate information about the body (e.g., consistency or color of menstrual flow, physical and emotional symptoms),

Present day ideals of good parenting are socio-technical constructs formed at the intersection of medical best practices, cultural norms, and technical innovation. These ideals take shape in relation to the fundamental uncertainty that parents/mothers face, an uncertainty that comes from not knowing how to do what is best for one's children, families, and selves. The growing body of parent-focused

Women account for over half of the global population, however, continue to be subject to systematic and systemic disadvantage, particularly in terms of access to health and education. At every intersection, where systemic inequality accounts for greater loss of life or limitations on full and healthy living, women are more greatly impacted by those inequalities. The design of technologies is no different

The gap between research and design practice has long been a concern for the HCI community. In this article, we explore how different translations of HCI knowledge might bridge this gap. A literature review characterizes the gap as having two key dimensions—one between general theory and particular artefacts and a second between academic HCI research and professional UX design practice. We report on

This article addresses itself to two developments in recent HCI research. One is the rising emphasis on women's health, a topic that is often seen as at least partly political. The other development in HCI research is the ongoing interest in supporting democracy and political activism. We present the case of a menstrual cup design project in Taiwan, called the Formoonsa Cup, whose product development

In this article, we present 6 cases (contained in 13 studies) variously connected with women’s health in a range of Indian contexts. Analyzing these cases, we highlight that “women’s health” is inextricably linked with extrinsic factors that also need addressing, to propose a broadened focus of “women’s wellbeing,” as defined through the lens of Martha Nussbaum’s central human capabilities. Drawing

The euphemism “female trouble” (discreetly referring to women's health experiences) suggests that trouble is linked to women and bodily transitions women can go through. However, trouble is not only a noun; it is also a verb with a strong feminist tradition. In this article, I present troubling design; a theoretically grounded and practice-oriented design program for designing with women's health.

An ever-increasing body of work within HCI investigates questions of around “Women’s Health” with the aim to disrupt the status quo of defaulting to an implicit norm of cis-male bodies. This laudable and feminist project has the potential to drastically improve the inclusivity and availability of health care. To explore how this research attends to gender, embodiment and identity, we conducted a critical

Existing voice-based interfaces have limited support for text editing, especially when seeing the text is difficult, e.g., while walking or cooking. This research develops voice interaction techniques for eyes-free text editing. First, with a Wizard-of-Oz study, we identified two primary user strategies: using commands, e.g., “replace go with goes” and re-dictating over an erroneous portion, e.g.,

We are surrounded by digital images of personal lives posted online. Changes in information and communications technology have enabled widespread sharing of personal photos, increasing access to aspects of private life previously less observable. Most studies of privacy online explore differences in individual privacy preferences. Here we examine privacy perceptions of online photos considering both

Many computer tasks involve looking up information from different sources, and these self-interruptions can be disruptive. In this article, we investigate whether giving people feedback on how long they are away from their task influences their self-interruption behaviour. We conducted a contextual inquiry on self-interruption behaviour in an office workplace. Participants were observed to postpone

While advances in mobile text entry enable smartphone users to type almost as fast as on hardware keyboards, text-heavy activities are still not widely adopted. One reason is the lack of shortcut mechanisms. In this article, we determine shortcuts for text-heavy activities, elicit shortcut gestures, implement them for a fully touch-sensitive smartphone, and conduct an evaluation with potential users

High prevalence of mental illness and the need for effective mental health care, combined with recent advances in AI, has led to an increase in explorations of how the field of machine learning (ML) can assist in the detection, diagnosis and treatment of mental health problems. ML techniques can potentially offer new routes for learning patterns of human behavior; identifying mental health symptoms

Use error due to user interface design defects is a major concern in many safety critical domains, for example avionics and health care. Early detection of latent user interface problems can be facilitated by user-centered design methods that integrate formal verification technologies. This article considers the role that formal verification technologies can play in the context of user-centered design

The human sense of smell is powerful. However, the way we use smell as an interaction modality in human–computer interaction (HCI) is limited. We lack a common reference point to guide designers’ choices when using smell. Here, we map out an olfactory design space to provide designers with such guidance. We identified four key design features: (i) chemical, (ii) emotional, (iii) spatial, and (iv) temporal

Hybrid gifting combines physical artefacts and experiences with digital interactivity to generate new kinds of gifts. Our review details how gifting is a complex social phenomenon and how digital gifting is less engaging than physical gifting for both givers and receivers. Employing a Research Through Design approach, we developed a portfolio of four hybrid gifting experiences: an augmented advent

Instrumental support is critical for patients and family caregivers facing life-threatening illnesses, injuries, or chronic conditions (e.g., cancer). We partner with CaringBridge.org—a prominent online health community for journaling about health crises—to conduct a study of instrumental support in the following two phases: a content analysis of 641 journal updates; and a survey of 991 users. Quantitative

The rise of increasingly more powerful chatbots offers a new way to collect information through conversational surveys, where a chatbot asks open-ended questions, interprets a user’s free-text responses, and probes answers whenever needed. To investigate the effectiveness and limitations of such a chatbot in conducting surveys, we conducted a field study involving about 600 participants. In this study

We investigate professional greenhouse growers’ user experience (UX) when using climate-management systems in their daily work. We build on the literature on UX, in particular UX at work, and extend it to ordinary UX at work. In a 10-day diary study, we collected data with a general UX instrument (AttrakDiff), a domain-specific instrument, and interviews. We find that AttrakDiff is valid at work; its

Mixed Reality (MR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) headsets can improve upon existing physical multi-display environments by rendering large, ergonomic virtual display spaces whenever and wherever they are needed. However, given the physical and ergonomic limitations of neck movement, users may need assistance to view these display spaces comfortably. Through two studies, we developed

Self-monitoring devices are becoming increasingly popular in the support of physical activity experiences. These devices mostly represent on-screen data using numbers and graphs and in doing so, they may miss multi-sensorial methods for engaging with data. Embracing the opportunity for pleasurable interactions with one's own data through the use of different materials and digital fabrication technology

Vibration is an efficient way of conveying information from a device to its user, and it is increasingly used for wrist or finger-worn devices such as smart rings. Unexpected vibrations or sounds from the environment may disrupt the perception of such information. Although disruptive effects have been systematically explored in vision and audition, they have been less thoroughly examined in the haptic

Disclosures of distress and stigma on identified social media can be beneficial. Yet, many who may benefit from such disclosures do not engage in them. I examine factors that inform decisions to not disclose stigmatized experiences on identified social media. I conducted in-depth interviews with women in the US who used social media, had experienced pregnancy loss, and had not disclosed about their

Many people enjoy “vertigo” sensations caused by intense playful bodily activities such as spinning in circles, and riding fairground rides. Game scholar Caillois calls such experiences “vertigo play,” elucidating that these enjoyable activities are a result of confusion between sensory channels.

People do not exercise as much and as regularly as they should. To support users in adopting healthy exercise routines, app designers integrate persuasive techniques in their apps. In this study, we focus on two of these techniques, i.e., offering tangible rewards and sending motivational messages to users. Past research has demonstrated the effects of these techniques in nudging recipients to increase

The prevalence of HCI research carried out with nonprofit organizations has increased dramatically over the past 35 years. Despite this history and our accumulating understanding of social sector organizations and their diverse stakeholders’ use of technology, there have not yet been any systematic reviews of this body of research. Before making more holistic claims about what this body of knowledge

We face delays in a variety of situations. They are either inevitable, e.g., due to system limits, or are intentionally added, e.g., advertisements. In many situations, a visual feedback is provided during the delay to manage expectations. This feedback is usually provided through progress bars, percentages, or countdowns, depending on design limitations such as screen size. In this article, we use

Since the introduction of the iconic Aware Home project [39] in 1999, the notion of “living laboratory” has been taken up and developed in HCI research. Many of the underpinning assumptions have evolved over the past two decades in various directions, while the same nomenclature is employed—inevitably in ambiguous ways. This contribution seeks to elicit an organized understanding of what we talk about

This article presents a grounded theory analysis based on a qualitative study of professional interaction designers (n = 20) with a focus on how they use tools to manage design ideas. Idea management can be understood as a subcategory of the field personal information management, which includes the activities around the capture, organization, retrieval, and use of information. Idea management pertains

In this work, we apply an activity theory lens to analyze nonvisual computing for blind and low-vision computer users. Our analysis indicates major challenges for users in translating the activities they are working towards into specific tasks to be completed in a system comprehensible manner. Specifically, blind and low-vision students learning to use accessible technologies struggled with organizing

Researchers are building Internet of Things (IoT) systems that aim to raise users’ privacy awareness, so that these users can make informed privacy decisions. However, there is a lack of empirical research on the practical implications of informed privacy decision-making in IoT. To gain deeper insights into this question, we conducted an online study (N = 488) of people’s privacy decision-making as

Theme parks visits can be very playful events for families, however, waiting in the ride’s queues can often be the cause of great frustration. We developed a novel augmented reality game to be played in the theme park’s queue, and an in-the-wild study with X participants using log data and interviews demonstrated that every minute playing was perceived to the same extent of about 5 minutes of not playing

We describe the design and evaluation of PIV, a personalizable and inconspicuous vibrotactile breathing pacer. Given the prevalence and adverse impact of anxiety and anxiety disorders, our goal is to develop a technology that helps people regulate their anxiety through paced breathing. We examined two previously unstudied questions: What is an effective vibrotactile pattern for paced breathing, and

Expressions of territoriality have been positioned as one of the main reasons users alter their behaviors and perceptions of spatiality and sociality while engaging with location-based social networks (LBSN). Despite the potential for this interplay to further our understanding of LBSN usage in the context of identity, very little work has actually been done toward this. Addressing this gap in the

Humans perform gaze shifts naturally through a combination of eye, head and body movements. Although gaze has been long studied as input modality for interaction, this has previously ignored the coordination of the eyes, head and body. This article reports a study of gaze shifts in virtual reality aimed to address the gap and inform design. We identify general eye, head and torso coordination patterns

This article argues that our intimate entanglement with digital technologies is challenging the foundations of current HCI research and practice. Our relationships to virtual realities, artificial intelligence, neuro-implants or pervasive, cyberphysical systems generate ontological uncertainties, epistemological diffusion and ethical conundrums that require us to consider evolving the current research

Displacement caused by war, conflict and persecution affects refugees and asylum seekers in more ways than we can imagine. This article investigates refugees and asylum seekers’ experiences associated with displacement and the effects it has on their social capital. We present findings from a qualitative study that involved a mix of 24 participants, including refugees, asylum seekers, community workers

Focusing on the person with advanced dementia as a social being presents a new opportunity for Experience-Centered Design (ECD), opening design to appreciate the agency and intentional actions of the person with advanced dementia. If Human-Computer Interaction is to shift from the predominantly assistive approach to a focus on experience, a theoretical framing that emphasizes the relational nature

Mindfulness practices are well-known for their benefits to mental and physical well-being. Given the prevalence of smartphones, mindfulness applications have attracted growing global interest. However, the majority of existing applications use guided meditation that is not adaptable to each user's unique needs or pace. This article proposes a novel framework called Attention Regulation Framework (ARF)

Eye tracking systems have greatly improved in recent years, being a viable and affordable option as digital communication channel, especially for people lacking fine motor skills. Using eye tracking as an input method is challenging due to accuracy and ambiguity issues, and therefore research in eye gaze interaction is mainly focused on better pointing and typing methods. However, these methods eventually

Most systems that we use in everyday life are shared—because multiple people can interact or because an interaction by one person can affect other people. However, everyday Internet of Things systems are often designed for individual use. Prior research on collaboration technologies (Computer Supported Collaborative Work) has shown that to coordinate system sharing people require awareness of the social

Autistic children are increasingly a focus of technology research within the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) community. We provide a critical review of the purposes of these technologies and how they discursively conceptualise the agency of autistic children. Through our analysis, we establish six categories of these purposes: behaviour analysis, assistive technologies, education, social skills, therapy

Many health care providers, with a variety of trainings, counsel clients on quitting smoking on a day-to-day basis. In their clinical practice, they draw from and adapt guidelines and research-based strategies to fit individual client situations and challenges. Designers of technologies to support quitting smoking can learn from these real world practices to create tools that better adapt to individual