This project focuses on the interaction between parents and children in their everyday practices as a family.It investigates how interaction design can help to engage both children and parents in shared home-based activities through digital media. The target group involved in this project is limited to boys aged 10-12 and their parents.The project contributions within the field of interaction design research as well as it presents two design suggestions for how this knowledge can be put to use as digital design concepts. It concludes that when designing digital media intended to enhance relations between parents and children, the main focus is face-to-face interaction and creating a space that allows for creativity, communication and physical presence.

Climate change is one of the biggest issues that the world faces today, and one of the biggest contributors to climate change are groceries. This paper aims at using digital artefacts to create a product or design that will encourage the user to shop more environmentally friendly. To achieve this, I have tried to identify the major hindrances today that grocery shoppers are faced with through the user centered method Contextual Inquiry.  I have then presented the results from the inquiry to students at KTH Royal Institute of Technology during workshops. During these workshops, the students have conceptualized ideas and designs for different solutions. Based on their results, I have created a prototype design that I call the SmartCart. This cart consists of a regular shopping cart with a screen similar to an iPad attached to the handlebars. This screen then delivers easily apprehensible information about different grocery products environmental impact in real time. The design has not been tested in a live environment, but initial testing indicates that a live application could give satisfying results in lowering the sales of grocery products with a high environmental impact, while the design also could simultaneously improve the shopping experience for the customers in the grocery store.

Statistics show the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a developmental delay disorder, is now 1 in 110 children in the United States (Rice, 2009), nearing 1% of the population. Therefore, this study looked at ways modern technology could assist these children and their families. One deficit in ASD is the inability to respond to gaze referencing (i.e. follow the eye gaze of another adult/child/etc), a correlate of the responding to joint attention (RJA) process. This not only affects the way they appear to society, but it also affects social development, communication skills, and play skills later in life (Whalen & Schreibman, 2003), making early intervention of RJA is an integral part of a successful social skills program. This study developed design guidelines, as well as offered and evaluated a design framework, adding to the limited literature regarding technology and ASD intervention. The game was developed within behavior analytic framework, undergoing several iterations, developing a functional prototype that was analyzed in three parts. The first part identified which elements needed redesign in light of the study population. Second, a collaborative prototyping participatory design group was formed in which the elements from the previous part of the study were assigned guidelines. The final part of the study included an evaluation by those with ABA experience, evaluating if the game correctly encompassed and mirrored traditional face-to-face ABA interventions. The study's contributions were the finalized design guidelines and design framework, as well as additional research on harnessing technology in ASD interventions. / Master of Science

The purpose of this project is to improve parents experience in the NICU through design, technology, communication and storytelling. A series of shadowing appointments were conducted to gain empathy and a greater understanding of the environment the design would be in. Next 15 user interviews were conducted. The qualitative data was then analyzed and a needs analysis for the application was determined by identifying patterns in the qualitative data. The design then went through three phases of design, testing and iterating, before the final prototype was complete. This study found that design, technology and storytelling could improve communication and the experience of parents in the NICU. / Master of Fine Arts

This research aims to contribute to knowledge about the design of interactive systems sited in public spaces. In particular, the study concerns "optional interactions" where systems invite interaction from passers-by. These systems are action-orientated ratherthan goal-oriented, are designed to encourage engagement, and offer positive and rewarding experiences through the activity of interaction. This is in contrast to systems that provide functional services that are actively sought out by people, such as ticketvending machines or cash dispensers. This thesis asserts that this kind of optimal, designed experience can be examined and understood through comparisons with approaches taken by new-media artists working in interactive, technological media. Artists have different priorities, and use different methods to those employed by Human-Computer Interaction researchers, and this study aims to further understanding of the potential of these artistic approaches for interaction designers. The setting for these optional interaction systems is any public or semi-public environment, including museums, galleries, shopping centres, foyers and urban settings. As well as understanding the public and social context of these interactions, the experiential aspects of interaction are of primary importance in this study. The work is conducted with the aim of providing practical and theoretical resources to interaction designers tasked with creating engaging interactive systems that initiate and sustain experiences that are highly regarded by the participant. The thesis presents a designframework titled the Optional Interactions Design Framework.

<p>This dissertation is a study of social interaction in virtual worlds and virtual world design. A virtual world is a synchronous, multi-user system that offers a persistent spatial environment for iconically represented participants. Together, these form an example of social interaction design. I have applied an arena perspective on my object of study, meaning that I focus on these socio-technical systems as places.</p><p>I have investigated the persistent qualities of social interaction in virtual worlds. What I have found is that virtual worlds are as real as the physical world. They are filled with real people interacting with each other evoking real emotions and leading to real consequences. There are no fixed boundaries between the virtual and physical arenas that make up a participant’s lifeworld.</p><p>I have found that participants in virtual worlds are not anonymous and bodiless actors on a level playing field. Participants construct everything needed to create social structures such as identities and status symbols. The qualities of social interaction in virtual worlds cannot be measured against physical interaction. Doing so conceals the qualities of virtual interaction. Through the concepts of levity and proximity, I offer an alternative measure that better captures the unique properties of the medium. Levity is related to the use of avatars and the displacement into a virtual context and manifests itself as a kind of lightness in the way participants approach the interaction. Proximity is my term for the transformation of social distances that takes place in virtual worlds. While participants perceive that they are in the same place despite being physically separated, the technology can also create barriers separating participants from their physical surroundings. The gap between the participant and her avatar is also of social significance.</p><p>As a theoretical foundation for design, I have used Michael Heim’s writings and practices as a base for a phenomenologically grounded approach, which provides an alternative to the dominating perspectives of architecture and engineering. Based on an explorative design project and the earlier mentioned findings regarding social interaction, I have formulated a model for virtual world design called interacture. This model takes the interaction between participants as the fundamental building material and the starting point of the design process. From there, layers of function and structure are added, all the time balancing the design between fantasy and realism.</p><p>I have explored the possibilities of using ethnographic studies as the foundation for a participant centered design approach. I have aimed for an inside view of my object of study both as an ethnographer and as a designer. One outcome of this approach is that I have come to understand virtual worlds not just as places but also as processes where the experience of participating can change drastically over time as the participant reaches new stages in the process.</p><p>In conclusion, the method of integrating ethnography with design and the understanding of social interaction as the fundamental building material is woven into a general approach to the study and design of socio-technical systems called social interaction design.</p>

This dissertation is a study of social interaction in virtual worlds and virtual world design. A virtual world is a synchronous, multi-user system that offers a persistent spatial environment for iconically represented participants. Together, these form an example of social interaction design. I have applied an arena perspective on my object of study, meaning that I focus on these socio-technical systems as places. I have investigated the persistent qualities of social interaction in virtual worlds. What I have found is that virtual worlds are as real as the physical world. They are filled with real people interacting with each other evoking real emotions and leading to real consequences. There are no fixed boundaries between the virtual and physical arenas that make up a participant’s lifeworld. I have found that participants in virtual worlds are not anonymous and bodiless actors on a level playing field. Participants construct everything needed to create social structures such as identities and status symbols. The qualities of social interaction in virtual worlds cannot be measured against physical interaction. Doing so conceals the qualities of virtual interaction. Through the concepts of levity and proximity, I offer an alternative measure that better captures the unique properties of the medium. Levity is related to the use of avatars and the displacement into a virtual context and manifests itself as a kind of lightness in the way participants approach the interaction. Proximity is my term for the transformation of social distances that takes place in virtual worlds. While participants perceive that they are in the same place despite being physically separated, the technology can also create barriers separating participants from their physical surroundings. The gap between the participant and her avatar is also of social significance. As a theoretical foundation for design, I have used Michael Heim’s writings and practices as a base for a phenomenologically grounded approach, which provides an alternative to the dominating perspectives of architecture and engineering. Based on an explorative design project and the earlier mentioned findings regarding social interaction, I have formulated a model for virtual world design called interacture. This model takes the interaction between participants as the fundamental building material and the starting point of the design process. From there, layers of function and structure are added, all the time balancing the design between fantasy and realism. I have explored the possibilities of using ethnographic studies as the foundation for a participant centered design approach. I have aimed for an inside view of my object of study both as an ethnographer and as a designer. One outcome of this approach is that I have come to understand virtual worlds not just as places but also as processes where the experience of participating can change drastically over time as the participant reaches new stages in the process. In conclusion, the method of integrating ethnography with design and the understanding of social interaction as the fundamental building material is woven into a general approach to the study and design of socio-technical systems called social interaction design.

För att designa interaktiva digitala system som tillfredsställer användarens behov applicerar interaktionsdesigners ett användarcentrerat perspektiv på sin design. Designers bör då beakta demografier så som kultur, ålder och genus för att lära känna slutanvändarna av systemet. Idag beaktas demografin genus i en betydligt mindre utsträckning än exempelvis kultur, vilket kan betyda att interaktiva digitala system som designas inte blir genusneutrala, dvs. att systemet ska tillfredsställa både feminina och maskulina individer i samma utsträckning. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur praktiker hanterar genus genom hela designprocessen för interaktionsdesign. För att undersöka detta har en kvalitativ intervjustudie med inspiration av Grounded Theory utförts. Empirin ifrån intervjuerna har presenterats och analyserats med hjälp av kodning. Slutligen har resultatet diskuterats. Resultatet från studien pekar på att interaktionsdesigners inte alltid medvetet beaktar genus och att det inte anses behövas då designers redan upplever att den digitala världen är genusneutral. Diskussionen av resultatet tycks påvisa två faktorer som behövs för att designa ett genusneutralt system. Faktorerna som det argumenteras för är dels att ett feministiskt synsätt på design skapar goda möjligheter för att designa jämställda system. Dels är det av vikt att beakta genus som demografi i samma utsträckning som kultur för att öka möjligheterna att designen tillfredsställer såväl feminina som maskulina individers behov. / A user-centered perspective is often used by designers to be able to design interactive digital systems that attempt to meet users’ needs. The designers should take demographics such as culture, age and gender into consideration to get to know the end user of the system. Today, gender as a demographic area is considered in a lesser extent than for example culture. This indicates that systems are not designed to be gender neutral. The aim of this study is to examine how practitioners consider gender through the design process. To do this, a qualitative interview study inspired by Grounded Theory has been followed. The data from the interviews have been presented and also interpreted by coding. The discussion of the results tend to show two factors that are needed to be able to design a system that meets the needs of both feminine and masculine individuals equally. The factors argued for are that a feminist approach on design could enable a possibility to design a more equal system. Also, designers should take gender into greater consideration while designing systems so that the systems in fact meet the needs of both feminine and masculine users equally.

Gegenstand des Promotionsvorhabens ist die Anwendung der Mustertheorie als systemtheoretische Methode zur Beschreibung verbreiteter Lösungen für wiederkehrende Probleme bei der Gestaltung und Entwicklung videobasierter Lernumgebungen. Diese sogenannten Design Patterns beschreiben dabei abstrakte, generische Lösungen bezüglich des Wissensmanagements, der sozialen Interaktion und der Anreicherung von Inhalten in hypervideo-basierten Lernumgebungen. Um neben rezeptiven und selbstgesteuerten auch kollaborative Lernszenarien in solchen Lernumgebungen zu ermöglichen, werden Materialien, Aufgaben sowie Gruppenzusammensetzungen mit Hilfe von CSCL-Scripts strukturiert. Auf Grundlage der entwickelten Design Patterns und Scripts wurden ein Software-Framework sowie mehrere Lernumgebungen implementiert und in Feldstudien evaluiert.

Interaction designers for mobile phones mainly focus on displays but have only little knowledge about sensor characteristics. Beside multitouch input, mobile devices provide versatile possibilities to interact in a physical, device-based manner due to their built-in hardware. Even though such interactions may provide many advantages in everyday life, they have limited visibility in interaction design. Interaction designers are seldom experts in gesture and pattern recognition and even prototypical implementations of simple mobile-based interactions need advanced technical knowledge. Hence, the potential for designing mobile device-based interactions is often not fully exploited. To contribute to a common knowledge of mobile device-based interactions, this paper proposes Mobile Spaces. This model aims at supporting designers of mobile applications to broaden their view on interaction possibilities with one or more collocated devices which go beyond the screen. We discuss the applicability of Mobile Spaces by means of several examples from research.