Changing Perspective on Data in Designing for Active EnvironmentsSmart solutions provide increasing quality and availability of data. This brings new challenges for designers as it offers novel design opportunities and interlaces disciplines. At the same time, physical inactivity is a big societal challenge and dedicated urban planning and design can contribute to more active lifestyles. In this paper, we investigate how user-generated big data can support designers in shaping more activity-friendly and adaptive environments, addressing both timely challenges. Bridging the fields of HCI and urbanism, we introduce two data lenses. The individual lens primarily builds on empathic design skills and calls for a highly personal approach. The collective lens emphasizes systematic and holistic design skills, focusing on creating overview and surfacing collective interests. Through exploratory data visualizations, using a large dataset from a run-tracking smartphone application combined with public data sources, and a workshop, we investigate how these lenses can yield meaningful insights. We discuss the value of these lenses to the urban design and HCI communities and address the challenges and opportunities that arise at the cross-section of these perspectives.2024LRLoes van Renswouw et al.Geospatial & Map VisualizationSmart Cities & Urban SensingSustainable HCIDIS
"To Click or not to Click": Back to Basic for Experience Sampling for Office Well-being in Shared Office SpacesSensors in offices mainly measure environmental data, missing qualitative insights into office workers' perceptions. This opens the opportunity for active individual participation in data collection. To promote reflection on office well-being while overcoming experience sampling challenges in terms of privacy, notification, and display overload, and in-the-moment data collection, we developed Click-IO. Click-IO is a tangible, privacy-sensitive, mobile experience sampling tool that collects contextual information. We evaluated Click-IO for 20-days. The system enabled real-time reflections for office workers, promoting self-awareness of their environment and well-being. Its non-digital design ensured privacy-sensitive feedback collection, while its mobility facilitated in-the-moment feedback. Based on our findings, we identify design recommendations for the development of mobile experience sampling tools. Moreover, the integration of contextual data with environmental sensor data presented a more comprehensive understanding of individuals' experiences. This research contributes to the development of experience sampling tools and sensor integration for understanding office well-being.2024HBHans Brombacher et al.Eindhoven University of TechnologyContext-Aware ComputingNotification & Interruption ManagementWorkplace Wellbeing & Work StressCHI
Switch2Move: Designing a Tangible Interface with People Living with Dementia for Initiating and Engaging in Music-Supported Exercises at HomeDance exercises offer recreational and social activities that engage people with dementia in physical exercise to increase fitness and cognitive functioning. However, there is limited research on how technology supports people with dementia to initiate and engage in music-supported dance exercises at home. We present Switch2Move: a TV-based home system with a tangible interface to trigger music-supported exercises at home for people with dementia. Four people with dementia and their informal caregivers explored a mockup to reveal design improvements for stimulating initiative and engagement. Next, we evaluated a high-fidelity prototype in the homes of three other couples during a one-week pilot study. The Switch2Move home system stimulated initiative by providing ongoing access in the home setting and supported engagement through daily enjoyment, calmness, and relief. We present opportunities for technology to increase self-efficacy, offer rich experiences, and fit the physical and social home environment of people with dementia.2023MHMaarten Houben et al.VR Medical Training & RehabilitationK-12 Digital Education ToolsElderly Care & Dementia SupportDIS
LivingMoments: Bespoke Social Communication for People living with Dementia and their RelativesDementia can hinder a person's ability to engage with their relatives. Existing communication technologies do not support people with dementia in maintaining social contact since they are not designed for their abilities and needs. This paper presents LivingMoments, a communication system that enables the engagement of people with dementia with their relatives. The system uses digital and physical interaction design considering people's different and changing abilities. Over a six-week field evaluation of LivingMoments, involving six participants living at home with different levels of dementia, we collected qualitative and quantitative data about the experiences of them and their relatives. Based on the data analysis, we found the need to adapt communication to individual abilities, lowering barriers through content calibration and establishing habits for continuous use. We evinced a set of design considerations for technologies to support a lasting engagement of people with dementia with different and changing abilities.2022MTMyrte Thoolen et al.University of Technology EindhovenElderly Care & Dementia SupportAging-in-Place Assistance SystemsCHI
Exploring the Design Space of InterActive Urban Environments: Triggering Physical Activity through Embedded TechnologyPromoting healthy lifestyles is an essential endeavor for public health. The design of active urban environments can be an effective medium to nudge people into moving. With technology increasingly integrated into our daily lives, designers have access to more data than ever. In this pictorial, we explore the design space of interActive environments (contraction of ‘interactive’ and ‘active’); places designed to increase the physical activity of users or passers-by through the use of interactive technology. Through sketches, a benchmark of existing concepts, and an analysis of designed artefacts, we map the different intervention levels, interaction modalities, behavior change strategies and technological opportunities to design such interActive environments. With this work, we invite the community to consider how digital technology can help understand and shape human behavior in urban environments, and provide inspiration to designers and practitioners.2021LRLoes van Renswouw et al.Smart Cities & Urban SensingSustainable HCIHuman-Nature Relationships (More-than-Human Design)DIS
Aesthetic of Friction for Exercising Motivation: a Prototyping JourneyDespite an intention to exercise, it remains a challenge for many people to establish a workout routine over a period of time. Amongst identified barriers and enablers to exercise, getting dressed for a workout is considered as one of the tipping points of actually going. Implementing the Aesthetic of Friction in this specific context, could imply the right course of action for the user, while it also allows freedom and encourages meaning-making. In this Research-through-Design project, we designed an interactive shrinking hanger, that implements these key principles, to encourage exercise motivation. We followed an iterative process focusing on the aesthetics of the interaction to find out how a careful consideration of the look and feel of an interactive artefact influences the acceptance of the implemented friction. We document the design process of this aesthetics of friction exemplar, and reflect on how to implement friction in design.2021AHAlynne de Haan et al.Gamification DesignFitness Tracking & Physical Activity MonitoringDIS
The Office Jungle: Exploring Unusual Ways of Working through Bodily ExperimentationsModern office environments foster sitting, a major public health risk, with physical inactivity being the fourth cause of death worldwide. This provocative pictorial presents the design explorations and bodily experimentations culminating in The Office Jungle, a critical and speculative redesign of the office environment that encourages physical activity by embracing wildness. The Office Jungle is a design exemplar of a “wild” office space presented as a suspended geodesic structure. It is built to experience how our office environment and our behaviour at work affect each other. We advocate that bringing wildness into office spaces will create more durable office environments that foster movement. With this pictorial, we aim to spark discussion amongst designers to think in new ways and to consider new opportunities to design for workplaces that integrate physical activity with work.2021IDIda Damen et al.Knowledge Worker Tools & WorkflowsParticipatory DesignDIS
Crafting On-Skin Interfaces: An Embodied Prototyping JourneyThis pictorial presents a design exploration of On-Skin Interfaces for recreational running. By integrating principles of interaction design, art and psychology, we explore the design of unconventional interfaces that facilitate the intuitive understanding of biofeedback and physiological-related information. We explored how principles from agency and bodily ownership can be applied in the design of sport-related wearables. Through our embodied prototyping journey, we gained insights on the implications of using the skin as an interactive design material. We focused on diverse materiality explorations to uncover and highlight the possibilities and challenges of materializing both functional and appealing On-Skin Interfaces. We synthesize and reflect on our theoretical and practical explorations and deliver actionable insights for this growing field of bodily and unconventional interfaces.2021JRJuan Restrepo-Villamizar et al.Haptic WearablesOn-Skin Display & On-Skin InputDIS
Laina: Dynamic Data Physicalization for Slow Exercising FeedbackThe increased popularity of recreational sports, like running, led to the development of numerous technologies supporting people in their training. However, in their current form and interaction, these take a rather standardized approach focusing on quantified data tracking displayed through screens or audio. In this paper, we explore how dynamic data physicalization through a shape-changing interface can open the design space of exercise feedback. Relying on an expert study on the aesthetics of interaction (N=23), we designed Laina, a shape-changing art piece presenting physicalized running data through a slow feedback mechanism. We deployed Laina at 3 participant’s home, during a series of 3-weeks field studies. Results show that Laina allows for deep reflection, anticipation and exploration of running behavior. The aim of our paper is to provide insights on the use of slow feedback mechanisms for exercise-related products, through the design of a dynamic data physicalization artefact.2021DMDaphne Menheere et al.Shape-Changing Interfaces & Soft Robotic MaterialsData PhysicalizationDIS
Understanding Walking Meetings: Drivers and BarriersThere is increased interest in reducing sedentary behavior of office workers to combat the negative health effects of prolonged sitting. Walking meetings offer a promising solution to this problem as they facilitate a physically active way of working. To inform future development of technologies supporting these type of meetings, in-depth qualitative insights into people's experiences of walking meetings are needed. We conducted semi-structured walking interviews (N=16) to identify key drivers and barriers for walking meetings in a living lab setting by using the 'WorkWalk'. The 'WorkWalk' is a 1.8 km walking route indicated by a dotted blue line with outdoor meeting points, integrated into the room booking system. Our findings provide insights into how walking meetings are experienced and affect the set-up and social dynamics of meetings. We offer design recommendations for the development of future technologies and service design elements to support walking meetings and active ways of working.2020IDIda Damen et al.Eindhoven University of TechnologyNotification & Interruption ManagementWorkplace Wellbeing & Work StressCHI
Relational, Flexible, Everyday: Learning from Ethics in Dementia ResearchEngaging in participatory research in HCI raises numerous ethical complexities such as consent, researcher relationships, and participant compensation. Doing HCI work in the area of dementia amplifies these issues, and researchers in this area are modelling ethical stances to ensure researcher-participant relationships focus on meaningful engagement and care. This paper presents an insight into the kinds of ethical foci required when doing design research with people living with dementia and their carers. We interviewed 22 HCI researchers with experience working in dementia care contexts. Our qualitative analysis outlines subsequent lessons-learned, such as recognition of the participants, self-care, research impact, and subjectivity in ethical review boards. Furthermore, we found the complexity of navigating both "everyday" and more formal, institutional ethics in dementia research has implications beyond the context of working with people with dementia and outline key considerations for ethical practices in socially orientated HCI research.2020JHJames Hodge et al.Newcastle UniversityElderly Care & Dementia SupportResearch Ethics & Open ScienceCHI
The Role of Everyday Sounds in Advanced Dementia CareThe representation of sounds derived from everyday life can be beneficial for people with dementia by evoking memories and emotional responses. Despite this potential, integrating sound and sound-based interventions in care facilities has not received much research attention. In this paper, we present the findings from a field study that explored the responses of 19 people with advanced dementia to a selection of everyday sounds presented to them in a care home and the role of these responses in the care environment. To study this, we deployed Vita, a 'pillow-like' sound player, in two dementia care facilities for four weeks, during which observations were recorded. Afterwards, we conducted interviews with caregivers who used Vita in everyday care practice. Our findings reveal how everyday sounds provided by Vita stimulated meaningful conversation, playfulness, and connection between residents and caregivers. Furthermore, we propose design implications for integrating everyday sounds in dementia care.2020MHMaarten Houben et al.Eindhoven University of Technology & Tilburg UniversityElderly Care & Dementia SupportCHI
Let’s Walk and Talk: A Design Case to Integrate an Active Lifestyle in Daily Office LifeProlonged sitting time in adults has become a major societal issue with far-reaching health, economic, and social consequences. The objective of this study is to reduce sedentary behaviour in office workers by integrating physical activity with work. In this case study, we present Workwalk, a concept to encourage and facilitate office workers to have a walking meeting. This idea arose by merging a traditional health research approach with an iterative design process. With this method, it was possible to integrate behaviour change techniques into an interaction design process effectively.2018IDIda Damen et al.Eindhoven University of technologyMental Health Apps & Online Support CommunitiesNotification & Interruption ManagementCHI