Abstract
Prototypes and other ‘things’ have had many uses in HCI research—to help understand a problem, as a stepping stone towards a solution, or as a final outcome of a research process. However, within the messy context of a research through design project, many of these roles do not form part of the final research narratives, restricting the ability of other researchers to learn from this practice. In this paper we revisit prototypes used in three different design research projects, conducted over a period when the Internet of Things emerged into everyday life, exploring complex hidden relationships between the internet, people and physical objects. We aim to explore the unreported roles that prototypes played in these projects, including brokering relationships with participants and deconstructing opaque technologies. We reflect on how these roles align with existing understandings of prototypes in HCI, with particular attention to how these roles can contribute to design around IoT.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | DIS 2021 |
Subtitle of host publication | Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference |
Editors | Wendy Ju, Lora Oehlberg, Sean Follmer, Sarah Fox, Stacey Kuznetsov |
Place of Publication | New York, NY |
Publisher | ACM |
Pages | 1807-1816 |
Number of pages | 10 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781450384766 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 28 Jun 2021 |
Keywords
- Things
- Prototypes
- Design
- Internet of Things
- Research through design
- Research objects