Titulo Estágio
Designing a Human-Centred Personal Information Space
Local do Estágio
CISUC Interactive Media Lab
Enquadramento
The time before personal computing was indeed personal, with the ways on what, how and when we shared information solely dependent on our actions. Nowadays, our digital print is spread across the digital world, with data from our multidimensional lives usually separated, even unorganised, and subtly used for goals beyond our choice.
The ubiquitous digital presence, although with ever-expanding information resources connecting personal and professional activities, results in a fragmented presence. More than isolated data sources, from health data, audiovisual, personal interests, motion routines to activity logs, the easy and immediate access to these data is typically indirect or a multi-step, complex process for each type of data. As such, as passive participants in how these data structures are organised and distributed, are we the true curators of our digital selves?
How can we devise our own digital portrait that joins every informational aspect of one’s life, rethinking the nature of information for creating “convivial, effective, and humane systems”? [...]
“This requires challenging fundamental presuppositions that have led to today’s walled gardens and information silos. Our goal is to catalyze an international research community to rethink the nature of information as a basis for radically advancing the human-centered design of information-based work and helping to ensure the future is one of convivial, effective, and humane systems.”
(Fox et al., 2020)
Objetivo
The purpose of this proposal is to explore an alternative human-centred view of information by designing the user experience with a personal information space as an interactive digital platform. Gathering multidimensional data from diverse areas of personal activity, we seek a new metaphor to unify the digital self, in a space that can be personalised, shared and even cohabitated.
Designing this digital world involves exploring multiple perspectives from the individual interaction with other stakeholders - the friend, the family member, the doctor, the accountant, etc. These views demand distinct windows to the personal information world, but demand a malleable design that can be appropriated with each relationship.
This design challenge encompasses multiple lines of work, such as:
1. How diverse personal data sources are represented (either temporally and spatially);
2. How to design a malleable interface that represents the multidimensional self;
3. How this personal space can become a basis for collaboration with others;
4. How each participant appropriates, co-creates and becomes part of the shared digital self;
This proposal aims at creating an interactive digital portrait with malleability as a design motto, the student can explore alternatives to the still pervasive desktop metaphor, devise and experiment with alternative forms of representing and interacting with the digital medium.
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 1
A1. (Sep-Nov) State-of-the-art research - research and document the relevant SoA, publications and software review; detailed characterization of the problem to be solved stating specific goals and requirements;
A2. (Nov-Dec) Design Proposal - conception of the interaction design proposal, which includes choosing, accessing and manipulating the data sources, the interaction model exploring the presentation and navigation possibilities, the adaptable design features and collaboration affordances.
Plano de Trabalhos - Semestre 2
A3. (Jan-April) Prototyping - implementation of a proof-of-concept prototype, tuning or corrections based on evaluation results;
A4. (May) Evaluation - definition of evaluation criteria and method; performance of evaluation and analysis of results
A5. (June - July) Statement of Learning - production of paper/thesis with process report and reflection on knowledge production
Condições
N/A
Observações
We seek a candidate that feels at ease with or is willing to embrace design research and programming challenges, enthusiastic of experimental and collaborative explorations, with an active imagination and thirst for learning.
Orientador
Licínio Roque e Mariana Seiça
lir@dei.uc.pt 📩