Supporting Communication and Well-being with a Multi-Stakeholder Mobile App: Lessons Learned from A Field Study with ADHD Children and their CaregiversChildren with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and their caregivers face daily challenges which can adversely affect their well-being, especially regarding communication within their care ecosystems, comprising family, friends, educators, and therapists. To foster communication among children and their care ecosystem and support their well-being, we created REMEMO, a mobile app that was iteratively designed and evaluated by actively involving ADHD children and their caregivers. It supports both individual and collaborative use, offering tailored features for different user groups: children, parents, or therapists and educators. Its primary function is to enable users to record their experiences and emotions and choose whether to share these with other members of the care ecosystem. We deployed REMEMO in a multi-week field study with five groups encompassing ADHD children (total participants n=18). Our analysis showed that REMEMO can support emotional expression, regulation, reflection, and transparent and affectionate communication, addressing needs of both ADHD children and their caregivers. Our findings also highlight the critical role of mutual understanding regarding technology use and contextual challenges in shaping usage patterns. We discuss opportunities and challenges in designing technologies that cater to the varying needs of different stakeholders of ADHD children’s care ecosystems and engage in critical reflection regarding evaluating technologies with vulnerable populations, such as families of ADHD children.2025ESEvropi Stefanidi et al.Caregiving & CaregiversCSCW
Give and Take: Perceptions of a Conversational Coach Agent in Fitness TrackersWhile Personal Informatics (PI) tools utilise data visualisations to communicate behaviour, users often struggle to make sense of their data and translate it to actionable insights. Conversational Agents (CAs) offer potential for improved access to PI data, yet their role in PI tools remains under-explored. We conducted a two-week user study with journals, interviews and logging with n=36 participants using a novel commercial fitness tracker with an embedded CA. We identified the give and take principle as essential for meaningful sensemaking with a CA—a dynamic resulting in more effective interactions given users' inputs (give) are met with prompts that are sufficiently specific and built upon prior data engagement (take). A critical point was how users perceived the CA during their initial interactions, with first impressions often determining further engagement. We contribute insights into how CAs can support or hinder the PI experience, offering implications for future PI system designs.2025MLMeagan B. Loerakker et al.Conversational ChatbotsFitness Tracking & Physical Activity MonitoringMobileHCI
The Office Awakens: Building a Mobile Desk for an Adaptive Workspace with RolliDeskOver the past century, office desks have evolved with technological advancements, yet they have largely overlooked individual user preferences and diverse body types. Traditionally, desks remain static objects, forcing users to adapt their workspaces around them. This research explores how mobile desks can offer a more flexible and adaptive solution. We developed RolliDesk, a mobile desk capable of automatically moving within the workspace. Our open-source desk kit enables researchers to make desks mobile using off-the-shelf electronics and 3D printing. In a mixed-methods study (n=21), we compared three desk configurations: manually controlled via a crank, control panel-operated, and automatically adaptive. Participants found the manual desk creepy, while the automatic desk was considered the most useful, particularly for promoting healthier office habits. This paper contributes RolliDesk’s design and practical insights for advancing reconfigurable and adaptive workstations.2025JDJulia Dominiak et al.Shape-Changing Interfaces & Soft Robotic MaterialsMixed Reality WorkspacesKnowledge Worker Tools & WorkflowsDIS
Situated Artifacts Amplify Engagement in Physical ActivityIn the context of rising sedentary lifestyles, this paper investigates the efficacy of "Situated Artifacts" in promoting physical activity. We designed two artifacts that display users' physical activity data within their homes - one physical and one digital. We conducted a 9-week, counterbalanced, within-subject field study with N=24 participants to assess the impact of these artifacts on physical activity, reflection, and motivation. We collected quantitative data on physical activity and administered daily and weekly questionnaires, employing individual Likert items and standardized instruments, as well as conducted interviews post-prototype usage. Our findings indicate that while both artifacts act as reminders for physical activity, the physical artifact was superior in terms of user engagement. The study revealed that this can be attributed to the higher perceived presence and, thereby, enhanced social interaction, which acts as a motivational source for activity. In this sense, situated artifacts gently nudge toward sustainable health behavior change.2025JKJonas Keppel et al.Fitness Tracking & Physical Activity MonitoringSleep & Stress MonitoringDIS
Hackathons in Designing Robotic Technology in Dementia Care - Navigating Needs and RelationsDesigning for dementia care is challenging due to its complexity, relational nature, and diverse needs. Meaningful design outcomes require bridging a deep understanding of dementia care and the experiences of people with dementia with technological possibilities and constraints. This paper explores hackathons for facilitating such translations in the design of robotic technologies. We conducted two hackathons - one with researchers and care professionals, and another with HCI Master’s students - integrating ethnographic insights, theoretical framings, first-hand experiences, and designerly knowledge. Participants' reflections highlight how the format fostered open-ended exploration, interdisciplinary collaboration, and mutual learning through tailored inspiration materials and structured design processes. Evaluating the concepts using Kitwood’s framework of person-centred care needs, we find that the hackathons generated meaningful concepts for human and non-human care relations. However, the outcomes also surface ethical considerations related to these relations, emphasising the need for further participatory design processes to refine and situate the outcomes.2025RVRalf Vetter et al.Aging-in-Place Assistance SystemsRobots in Education & HealthcareEmpowerment of Marginalized GroupsDIS
PromptMap: An Alternative Interaction Style for AI-Based Image GenerationRecent technological advances popularized the use of image generation among the general public. Crafting effective prompts can, however, be difficult for novice users. To tackle this challenge, we developed PromptMap, a new interaction style for text-to-image AI that allows users to freely explore a vast collection of synthetic prompts through a map-like view with semantic zoom. PromptMap groups images visually by their semantic similarity, allowing users to discover relevant examples. We evaluated PromptMap in a between-subject online study (n=60) and a qualitative within-subject study (n=12). We found that PromptMap supported users in crafting prompts by providing them with examples. We also demonstrated the feasibility of using LLMs to create vast example collections. Our work contributes a new interaction style that supports users unfamiliar with prompting in achieving a satisfactory image output.2025KAKrzysztof Adamkiewicz et al.Generative AI (Text, Image, Music, Video)Interactive Data VisualizationIUI
Configuring Participatory Research as Give and Take Relationships: Methodological Reflections on Co-Designing Booklets with a Men ShedResearchers ask a lot from their study participants: data, time, attention, ideas, and (almost) anything that helps them to pursue their research goals. But what do they give back? This question becomes especially critical in longer-term participatory research with low-resourced communities. This paper offers methodological reflections on a collaboration with a Men’s Shed that was tailored around both my research agenda and the interests of my community partner. As part of my research, we designed a booklet that eventually became their promotion brochure. By reviewing both the trouble and the gains of this process for both partners, I argue for re-imagining community-based participatory research as an opportunity for fostering give-and-take relationships with participants. The case demonstrates the method's capacity to critically extend existing HCI work on Men’s Sheds while also making participation worthwhile for my partners. The careful documentation of this process contributes methodological nuance to discussions around configuring participation.2025JMJanis Lena MeissnerTU Wien, HCI GroupParticipatory DesignCHI
A Critical Review of Sexuality, Technology and DisabilityThe investigation of technologies facilitating sexual interactions and sexuality-related explorations is becoming more established in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), albeit with little systematic attention to the sexual lives of disabled people. In this space, we undertook a literature review utilising feminist content analysis to take stock and critically analyse the domains of sexuality, technology and disability when they intersect. Our approach aligns with the broader goals of promoting inclusivity, diversity, and equity in technology design and application. We present a descriptive and analytical outline of existing research on sexuality, technology and disability through which we identified unmarked norms governing research. These include a focus on individualised technologies oriented on heteronormative assumptions on sexual desires. In addition, we focus on common methods employed and describe the involvement, or lack thereof, of disabled people in research practice. This highlights gaps in our collective knowledge from which we can derive areas for future work2025DPDilisha Patel et al.UCL, Global Disability Innovation HubCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Gender & Race Issues in HCIEmpowerment of Marginalized GroupsCHI
TogetherReflect: Supporting Emotional Expression in Couples Through a Collaborative Virtual Reality ExperienceNavigating emotional conflicts within relationships can be challenging. People often struggle to express their emotions during a conflict, which can lead to misunderstandings and unresolved feelings. To facilitate deeper emotional expression, we developed TogetherReflect, a multi-user Virtual Reality (VR) experience designed for couples. Partners first draw their emotions related to a shared conflict in VR, allowing for individual expression and self-reflection. They then invite each other into their drawings to discuss their feelings, before drawing together on a shared canvas to reaffirm their love and commitment. Throughout this process, TogetherReflect provides prompts and guidance, aiming to foster self-reflection and communication skills. We exploratory evaluated the experience with 10 couples (n=20). Our findings indicate that TogetherReflect deepens personal emotional insights, fosters mutual understanding, and strengthens relational bonds. We highlight the potential of guided VR experiences to transform conflict resolution in intimate relationships and offer design considerations for future development.2025NWNadine Wagener et al.University of Bremen, HCISocial & Collaborative VRImmersion & Presence ResearchInteractive Narrative & Immersive StorytellingCHI
A Comparative Study of How People With and Without ADHD Recognise and Avoid Dark Patterns on Social MediaDark patterns are deceptive strategies that recent work in human-computer interaction (HCI) has captured throughout digital domains, including social networking sites (SNSs). While research has identified difficulties among people to recognise dark patterns effectively, few studies consider vulnerable populations and their experience in this regard, including people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who may be especially susceptible to attention-grabbing tricks. Based on an interactive web study with 135 participants, we investigate SNS users' ability to recognise and avoid dark patterns by comparing results from participants with and without ADHD. In line with prior work, we noticed overall low recognition of dark patterns with no significant differences between the two groups. Yet, ADHD individuals were able to avoid specific dark patterns more often. Our results advance previous work by understanding dark patterns in a realistic environment and offer insights into their effect on vulnerable populations.2025TMThomas Mildner et al.University of BremenCognitive Impairment & Neurodiversity (Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia)Dark Patterns RecognitionCHI
Speculating Deaf Tech: Reimagining Technologies Centering Deaf PeopleThis deaf-led work critically explores Deaf Tech, challenging conventional understandings of technologies 'for' deaf people as merely assistive and accessible, since these understandings are predominantly embedded in medical and audist ideologies. By employing participatory speculative workshops, deaf participants from different European countries envisioned technologies on Eyeth - a mythical planet inhabited by deaf people - centered on their perspectives and curiosities. The results present a series of alternative socio-technical narratives that illustrate qualitative aspects of technologies desired by deaf people. This study advocates for expanding the scope of deaf technological landscapes, emphasizing the needs of establishing deaf-centered HCI, including the development of methods and concepts that truly prioritize deaf experiences in the design of technologies intended for their use.2025RARobin Angelini et al.TU Wien, Crip Collective || HCI GroupDeaf & Hard-of-Hearing Support (Captions, Sign Language, Vibration)Empowerment of Marginalized GroupsParticipatory DesignCHI
From Participation to Solidarity: A Case Study on Access of Maker Spaces from Deaf and Hearing PerspectivesThis submission is an edited translation of an article previously published in German. Participatory methods open up research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) that aim at involving populations that are not traditionally represented. However, they do not require researchers to actively reflect on power relationships as would be required when aiming for transformative impact. In our case study of MACH’S AUF!, we show how research on accessibility of makerspaces for deaf people allowed us to develop a methodological concept of solidarity driven research that extends classical concepts of participation. We show how access to makerspaces has to be understood first and foremost as structured in a socio-technical manner, where communicative access for deaf people has to be provided through sign language. Our work provides a nuanced understanding of what access to makerspaces might entail from a marginalised perspective, as well as a methodological positionality that may support transformative research endeavours in the future.2025OSOliver Suchanek et al.GebärdenverseSpecial Education TechnologyEmpowerment of Marginalized GroupsParticipatory DesignCHI
The Dual Model for Everyday Stress Technology: Understanding the Lived Experience of Data-Driven StressTechnology plays a dual role in our daily lives, both contributing to heightened stress levels and offering potential solutions for stress management. However, the lived experience of stress in everyday contexts remains underexplored, leaving a critical gap in our understanding of how stress manifests and how technology can effectively support stress management. To address this, we conducted user interviews and expert interviews with specialists in psychology, health, and stress research, complemented by an autoethnographic study. Our findings show the complexity of stress as both a subjective experience and a response shaped by socio-technical environments, leading to the construction of the Dual Model for Everyday Stress Technology. This model highlights the paradoxical nature of stress and its management in technology-mediated settings. We identify key directions for future stress-management technology design and research, with implications for creating meaningful, human-centred technologies for managing stress in everyday life.2025SBSigrid Hoddø Bakås et al.University of OsloMental Health Apps & Online Support CommunitiesSleep & Stress MonitoringCHI
RoboTeach: How Student Robots' Preexisting Proficiency and Learning Rate Affect Human Teachers Demonstrating Object PlacementSocial robots are employed as companions, helping in industrial and domestic environments. Adapting robots' capabilities to user needs can be achieved through teaching from human demonstrations. However, the influence of robots' preexisting proficiency and learning rate on human teachers' self-efficacy and perception of the robots is underexplored. In this paper, we simulated four robot performance types that combine: (1) preexisting proficiency (low/high) and (2) learning rate (slow/fast). We conducted a controlled lab experiment studying the impact of robots' performance type on teachers' self-efficacy, willingness to teach the robot, and perception of the robot (N=24), in which robots placed objects in suitable locations. Fast learners were perceived as more intelligent, anthropomorphic, and likable, and this caused higher teaching self-efficacy regardless of preexisting skills. Slow learners caused frustration while teaching. Moreover, participants stopped teaching robots with low preexisting skills sooner, regardless of the learning rate, indicating potential bias caused by expectations.2025KKKhaled Kassem et al.TU WienSocial Robot InteractionHuman-Robot Collaboration (HRC)CHI
The Framework of the Lived Experience of Metrics: Understanding the Purposes and Activities of Self-Tracking MetricsMost studies of Personal Informatics (PI) focus on the holistic experience of self-tracking or how users relate to self-tracking goals. Recently, new tracker metrics became available in commercial systems, e.g. stress scores or body battery. Hence, more attention should be devoted to what users track and how they understand metrics produced by their trackers. Charting the evolution of metrics in PI can enable building systems that better support well-being. To this end, we interviewed n=25 fitness tracker users to discover what metrics are most important to them, how they understand the metrics, and how they formulate their goals with respect to the metrics. We found that users created a metric ecology which they adjusted to their life circumstances, reformulating their goals. We identified key issues in understanding metrics which bear the risk of misuse. We contribute recommendations for future PI systems as self-tracking metrics increase in complexity.2025MLMeagan B. Loerakker et al.TU WienFitness Tracking & Physical Activity MonitoringSleep & Stress MonitoringSmartwatches & Fitness BandsCHI
Development and Evaluation of Advanced Cyclist Assistance Systems on a Bicycle SimulatorResearch on cycling safety has recently gained the attention of the HCI community. While there have been multiple proposals for automated driving features on bikes, we are unaware of a project that systematically aims to translate and evaluate driver assistance systems from the automotive to the bike domain to promote cycling safety in traffic. Thus, we implemented an adaptive cruise control and a lane-keeping/centering system with hard- and software on a motion-based bicycle simulator and investigated their potential in a virtual reality experiment. Based on performance measurements and subjective ratings, results showed significant improvements in technology acceptance, subjective workload, and driving performance regarding the cruise control. In contrast, the lane-centering and lane-keeping features were rated significantly worse than the baseline without such assistance. The paper concludes with a critical reflection on automated driving features for bicycles and a list of recommendations for future projects in this field.2024YWYu Wang et al.External HMI (eHMI) — Communication with Pedestrians & CyclistsHead-Up Display (HUD) & Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)Micromobility (E-bike, E-scooter) InteractionAutoUI
Design Bookkeeping: Making Practice Intelligible through a Managerial LensAs DIS researchers increasingly describe design as an emergent and material engaged practice, many are embracing different approaches to design documentation that capture the breadth of these practices. This pictorial contributes to these efforts by shedding light on a kind of managerial work that emerged when creating a complex e-textile installation. Specifically, we reflect on our project through the lens of “design bookkeeping” to describe documents that embody managerial knowledge and describe what these documents make intelligible about our practice. We surface findings and cross-cutting themes that bring attention to these practices in relation to broader understandings of project documentation. We then speculate on how the DIS community could circulate this knowledge within, and beyond, academic publication venues.2024EMElizabeth Meiklejohn et al.Electronic Textiles (E-textiles)User Research Methods (Interviews, Surveys, Observation)DIS
BeeAR: Augmented Reality Beeline Navigation for Spatial Knowledge AcquisitionNavigation assistance systems have become integral to our daily routines, helping us to find our way through unfamiliar environments. However, their use may come at a price, as empirical evidence suggests a potentially harmful impact of these systems on our spatial abilities, including the acquisition of spatial knowledge. This could be remedied by giving users more freedom and involving them in the decision-making process. Therefore, we present a navigation system that combines augmented reality and Beeline Navigation (BeeAR). Here, the location of the destination is overlaid with a digital landmark and permanently displayed to the user via a visual, translucent AR display (without a map). Since the digital content is integrated into the real world, no mapping between the device and reality is required, potentially lowering the workload. Making one's own decisions along the route is expected to increase engagement with the environment, leading to increased acquisition of spatial knowledge. We compare BeeAR with findings from a previous study comparing Free Choice Navigation (FCN) and Turn-by-Turn (TBT) navigation conducted along the same routes on the outskirts of Vienna, Austria. Although BeeAR and FCN do not provide users with a map, BeeAR users could better retrace the walked route and remembered more points of interest along the route than FCN users. Participants of all three navigation conditions achieved a high configuration similarity between drawn points of interest and their true locations, albeit only one navigation condition included a map.2023BMBartosz Mazurkiewicz et al.AR Navigation & Context AwarenessMobileHCI
Spot'Em: Interactive Data Labeling as a Means to Maintain Situation AwarenessAppropriate monitoring and successfully intervening when automation fails is one of the most critical issues in level 2 automated driving, since drivers suffer from low situation awareness when using such systems. To counter, we present a gamified in-vehicle interface based on ideas from previous work, where drivers have to support the vehicle by pointing at other traffic objects in the environment. We hypothesized that this system could help drivers in the monitoring task, maintain their situation awareness, and result in lower crash rates. We implemented a prototype of this system and evaluated it in a lab study with N=20 participants. The results indicate that participants were looking more intensively at lead vehicles and performed stronger braking actions. However, there was no measurable benefit on situation awareness and intervention performance in critical situations. We conclude by discussing differences to related experiments and present future ideas.2023PWPhilipp Wintersberger et al.Automated Driving Interface & Takeover DesignGamification DesignAutoUI
AUIT – the Adaptive User Interfaces Toolkit for Designing XR ApplicationsAdaptive user interfaces can improve experiences in Extended Reality (XR) applications by adapting interface elements according to the user's context. Although extensive work explores different adaptation policies, XR creators often struggle with their implementation, which involves laborious manual scripting. The few available tools are underdeveloped for realistic XR settings where it is often necessary to consider conflicting aspects that affect an adaptation. We fill this gap by presenting AUIT, a toolkit that facilitates the design of optimization-based adaptation policies. AUIT allows creators to flexibly combine policies that address common objectives in XR applications, such as element reachability, visibility, and consistency. Instead of using rules or scripts, specifying adaptation policies via adaptation objectives simplifies the design process and enables creative exploration of adaptations. After creators decide which adaptation objectives to use, a multi-objective solver finds appropriate adaptations in real-time. A study showed that AUIT allowed creators of XR applications to quickly and easily create high-quality adaptations.2022JBJoão Marcelo Evangelista Belo et al.AR Navigation & Context AwarenessMixed Reality WorkspacesUIST