HCI Research
Publications and papers.
THE STARTING POINT
As UX Supervisor, one of my mandates is to continuously improve the overall standing of UX within the studio. I was thinking, apart from trainings, presentations and workshops, how can I do that? Also, what exactly needs the most urgent improvement and which groups of people would benefit from this the most? All of them, obviously, but idealism aside, there had to be a way to determine the status quo.
Luckily, during my training in London by the Nielsen Norman Group, I had the chance to meet Kara Pernice, the Senior Vice President at the NN/g. In one of her presentations, she talked about the eight stages of UX maturity a corporation can reach, starting from the total ignorance towards user needs to the ultimately user-needs driven corporal strategy... and all the steps of UX-evolution that come between that.
And the coolest thing about it was, there was even a way how to find out on which stage a company is and also how to support it in order to reach the next step of this UX maturity.
THE SETUP
RESEARCH IN HCI & UX
During my work at the HCI research facility I had the opportunity to contribute to several publications, as well as author my first published research paper. Now, while working on my PhD, writing academic papers is still an actual topic that I really enjoy.
Below, you can find a list of my papers, feel free to drop me a line, in case you are interested in any of them.
EXPLORING INTENDED AND UNINTENDED USES OF (e)BOOKS AS DESIGN INSPIRATION FOR AMBIENT DISPLAYS IN THE HOME
(Co-Author)
Published in.
IxD&A Journal 2018, Special Issue on 'Future Directions
of UX Studies: Learning from Best Practices'
Abstract.
Books at home are used for more than reading, such as collecting them, using them as decoration, or expressing personality. In order to get a better understanding of intended and unintended uses of printed books, we conducted seven book tours in different homes followed by semi-structured interviews. This data was complemented with a large-scale online survey with 300 respondents. We describe our findings focusing on storage, sorting, decoration, and self-expression and how they inspired us to develop a digital bookshelf (ambient display) as a technology probe to explore decoration with eBooks in the home. We argue for a transition from decoration with printed books to eBooks as design inspiration that does not simply replicate a bookshelf as ambient display, but makes eBooks tangible by combining users’ habits with qualities of digital material.
TECHNOLOGICAL COUTURE -
Intuitive, Bio-feedback based Fashion Devices
PhD Research Paper 2017
Center for Human-Computer Interaction / University Salzburg
Abstract.
Neuroscience has become increasingly relevant in many different fields of expertise as well as our everyday lives and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is no exception. Insights from neuroscience help to create tools and technologies that offer more natural interfaces and better techniques for communication and self-expression of the individual. One of the arising trends evolves about merging findings from HCI and cognitive neuroscience (NCS) with areas that are not as much in focus of interface designers yet, such as fashion- or architecture design. The following position paper will look into different approaches on how to combine the aesthetics of fashion and architecture with HCI and NCS to create stunning, novel interfaces that are both, natural and intuitive and entirely centered around its user, reacting and adapting to him/her by processing various biofeedback-signals.
IS IT A DOOR OR A TEXTURE -
Benefits of Perceivable Affordance and Simplifiers in Games
PhD Research Paper 2016
Center for Human-Computer Interaction / University Salzburg
Abstract.
This paper introduces an approach of how game mechanics and complex information can be better signaled through interfaces of video games. While the UI-trend for many genres has shifted from classical HUDs towards lighter approaches, such as augmented (spacial) and no-HUD (diegetic) interfaces, there are still challenges for such concepts on how to convey important game-play mechanics. We want to show how such interface representations can benefit from perceivable affordances and signifiers within virtual, non- tangible environ- ment – a concept introduced by Toups et al. –when applied to different meta-stages of game mechanics. By making interactive gameplay elements more clear and transparent, they might help the player to perceive action opportunities and event engagements easier and faster. Helping to reduce cognitive load and improve the processing of complex information, this would lead to a deeper immersion within the game, supported by seamless, effectively perceivable gameplay mechanics.
GAMING TO SIT SAFE -
The Restricted Body as an Integral Part of Gameplay
(Co-Author)
Published in.
DIS’14 Proceedings of the 2014 conference on
Designing interactive systems
Abstract.
This paper presents a design exploration of full-body interaction games played in cars. It describes how we have designed, implemented, and evaluated the core experiences of three different games, which were all aimed at making sitting properly more fun for players/children while traveling by car. By making the restricted body an integral part of gameplay, we hope to, as a side product of gameplay, bring about the best and also most safe body posture for young players/children traveling by car, i.e., sitting reasonably upright and still in their child seat with their head leaning back on the neck rest. Another outcome of this could also be an overall safer situation in the car, in that children not sitting still in their child seats while being driven might be stressful for the driver. By presenting the details of our design efforts in this particular design context, we hope to add also to the knowledge we, in HCI, have for how to design bodily experiences with technology at large.
GAMING AFTER DARK -
Visual Patterns and their Significance for Atmosphere and Emotional Experience in Video Games
Published in.
ICEC'12 Proceedings of the 11th international conference on
Entertainment Computing
Abstract.
Design Patterns help a range of designers, architects, and others. However, there is surprisingly little such guidance for game artists. In this paper, we present our look at late 19th century art works and the emergent set of visual features commonly used to create an atmosphere of horror in visual art. Further, we show how we transformed these features into a set of seven patterns to be used in interactive artistry, based on an analysis of six well known survival horror games. Finally, we provide the full description of one of these patterns, the Visual Contrast.
