Prototyping Things: Reflecting on Unreported Objects of Design Research for IoT

Nick Taylor; Jon Rogers; Loraine Clarke; Martin Skelly; Jayne  Wallace; Peter Thomas; Babitha George; Romit Raj; Mike Shorter; Michelle Thorne

doi:10.1145/3461778.3462037

Prototyping Things: Reflecting on Unreported Objects of Design Research for IoT

Nick Taylor, Jon Rogers, Loraine Clarke, Martin Skelly, Jayne Wallace, Peter Thomas, Babitha George, Romit Raj, Mike Shorter, Michelle Thorne

Design and Making

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

7 Citations (Scopus)

317 Downloads (Pure)

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
Title of host publication	Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021
Publisher	ACM Press
Pages	1807-1816
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Electronic)	9781450384766
ISBN (Print)	97814503847662106
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3461778.3462037
Publication status	Published - 28 Jun 2021
Event	Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021 - Virtual Event, United States Duration: 28 Jun 2021 → 2 Jul 2021 https://dis.acm.org/2021/

Conference

Conference	Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021
Abbreviated title	DIS 21
Country/Territory	United States
Period	28/06/21 → 2/07/21
Internet address	https://dis.acm.org/2021/

Keywords

Internet of Things.
Prototypes
design
research objects
research through design
things

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Computer Networks and Communications
Human-Computer Interaction

Access to Document

10.1145/3461778.3462037

Final Published VersionFinal published version, 3.23 MB

Cite this

@inproceedings{49fb7f2afbca43a18411cb59c2c4f04e,

title = "Prototyping Things: Reflecting on Unreported Objects of Design Research for IoT",

abstract = "Prototypes and other {\textquoteleft}things{\textquoteright} 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.",

keywords = "Internet of Things., Prototypes, design, research objects, research through design, things",

author = "Nick Taylor and Jon Rogers and Loraine Clarke and Martin Skelly and Jayne Wallace and Peter Thomas and Babitha George and Romit Raj and Mike Shorter and Michelle Thorne",

note = "The projects in this paper were funded by the EPSRC Connected High Streets project (EP/L02358X/1), the GCRF/SFC Decentralising India{\textquoteright}s Digital Futures project and by grants from the Mozilla Foundation. We would like the thank the many participants and collaborators who made these projects possible.; Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021, DIS 21 ; Conference date: 28-06-2021 Through 02-07-2021",

year = "2021",

month = jun,

day = "28",

doi = "10.1145/3461778.3462037",

language = "English",

isbn = "97814503847662106",

pages = "1807--1816",

booktitle = "Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021",

publisher = "ACM Press",

address = "United States",

url = "https://dis.acm.org/2021/",

}

Taylor, N , Rogers, J, Clarke, L, Skelly, M, Wallace, J, Thomas, P, George, B, Raj, R, Shorter, M & Thorne, M 2021, Prototyping Things: Reflecting on Unreported Objects of Design Research for IoT. in Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021. ACM Press, pp. 1807-1816, Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021, United States, 28/06/21. https://doi.org/10.1145/3461778.3462037

TY - GEN

T1 - Prototyping Things

T2 - Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021

AU - Taylor, Nick

AU - Rogers, Jon

AU - Clarke, Loraine

AU - Skelly, Martin

AU - Wallace, Jayne

AU - Thomas, Peter

AU - George, Babitha

AU - Raj, Romit

AU - Shorter, Mike

AU - Thorne, Michelle

N1 - The projects in this paper were funded by the EPSRC Connected High Streets project (EP/L02358X/1), the GCRF/SFC Decentralising India’s Digital Futures project and by grants from the Mozilla Foundation. We would like the thank the many participants and collaborators who made these projects possible.

PY - 2021/6/28

Y1 - 2021/6/28

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Internet of Things.

KW - Prototypes

KW - design

KW - research objects

KW - research through design

KW - things

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85110227501&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1145/3461778.3462037

DO - 10.1145/3461778.3462037

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 97814503847662106

SP - 1807

EP - 1816

BT - Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2021

PB - ACM Press

Y2 - 28 June 2021 through 2 July 2021

ER -

Prototyping Things: Reflecting on Unreported Objects of Design Research for IoT

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Connected High Street (Joint with Universities of Edinburgh and Northumbria)

Cite this

Prototyping Things: Reflecting on Unreported Objects of Design Research for IoT

Abstract

Conference

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Projects

Connected High Street (Joint with Universities of Edinburgh and Northumbria)

Cite this