KARIN NIEMANTSVERDRIET

DESIGNING INTERACTIONS WITH SHARED SYSTEMS

2014 – 2018   |   PhD research   |   Promotor: Berry Eggen, Co-promotor: Harm van Essen

Most of the interactive systems in our everyday lives are shared in use – because multiple people can interact with these systems, or because an interaction by one person can affects other people. However, interfaces are often designed for the individual. In this PhD research, we’ve looked into how to design interactions that support people in coordinating system sharing amongst each other. We primarily investigated the application domain of shared lighting systems, but reflect upon broader implementation throughout the dissertation.

In the dissertation, we start with three explorative studies to develop an understanding of how people currently interact with lighting systems in situations of shared use. The studies show that people require awareness of the social context to coordinate use amongst each other. We, therefore, continue with design explorations and develop three mature lighting interfaces for a shared open-plan office, which systematically differ in the awareness information they visualize. Longitudinal evaluation of these three interfaces confirms that people take others into consideration in their interactions, that these considerations are supported by awareness, and that common design decisions can influence the availability of awareness information.

The outcomes of the research are formalized two ways. Firstly, we present the exploration-action model, that explains people’s awareness requirements and considerations during interactions with shared systems. Secondly, we construct the Designing for Awareness in Shared Systems (DASS) framework, which presents a comprehensive overview of design considerations when designing for awareness. The framework can stimulate reflection when designing for shared use.

My PhD thesis 'Designing Interactions with Shared Systems' My PhD thesis 'Designing Interactions with Shared Systems'. Cover image by Eleni Debo

The dissertation has been defended on September 13, 2018 at the Eindhoven University of Technology. The dissertation can be downloaded here.


×

Last update: September 2018
Layout inspired by w3schools.