This Nordichi'16 designers, technology enthusiasts and experts from the HCI community are invited to a co-design session to reflect on how IoT products can be analyzed, trying to identify a broad shared framework to examine them from a design perspective, and to test and reshape the “Mapping the IoT Toolkit” a set of tools developed to critically to critically inspect, map, and design connected products.
In this 6 hour long workshop, participants will apply the Toolkit, exploring the world of connected devices and gadgets, and are asked to freely change it and improve it. The aim of the workshop is to identify the main criteria to analyze and map IoT products, and to help making the “Mapping the IoT Toolkit” a more objective and designer-friendly analysis tool. We believe that by analyzing existing products is possible to extract the relevant features, values and qualities that make them successful case studies, to highlight the weak points, and to compare the findings. This knowledge can be later used to redesign the selected cases or as a starting point to design new solutions. By mapping existing product is possibile to build a framework and we would like to verify if it is possible to use it as a guide-line generator for future design processes focused on IoT devices.
The topics of discussion will include:
How could IoT products be categorized following a Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach?
What are the main qualities that need to be mapped?
When can connectivity enhance a product in a meaningful way?
How could a tool facilitate both case study analysis and concept generation?
What outputs and visualisations should this tool offer?
How can critical research generate new opportunities for product and service’s design?
The design of connected product should be addressed by multidisciplinary teams. As well we believe that the Toolkit should be designed and tested by many, with the involvement of the HCI community and should be distributed with a Creative Commons license.
The intended workshop outcomes are:
(1) to identify a common analysis framework for smart products
(2) to debate and reshape the Toolkit’s Analysis Form and Output/Map
(3) to openly discuss the future evolutions of IoT devices and of the Toolkit.
It will also be a good networking opportunity to group professionals interested in the IoT product design field.
Participants will collaborate to debate and face a very actual challenge: the design of future connected smart products. They will discuss and share approaches and experiences, and will have the possibility to contribute to any future development of the Creative Commons Mapping The IoT Toolkit. Participants will be mentioned in future dissemination of the work and, if interested, as co-designers of the Toolkit.
Nevertheless, the workshop will also represent an opportunity to group professionals interested in the IoT product design field and to bridge domains based on different grounded theories.
Deadline for applications: August 25 *deadline extension* 1-10 september
you can notify us that you want to join before submitting the material, contact ilaria.vitali@polimi.it
Notification to the workshop participants: September 3
Price: workshop participants must register for at least 1 day of the conference + the workshop fee (about 75/100€)
for details www.nordichi2016.org/attending/registration/
For any questions and to show your interest in this workshop feel free to contact ilaria.vitali@polimi.it
The ideal candidate for this workshop has pre-existing experience in the design and development of connected products, has a basic knowledge of the IoT field and products, and an interest in its broader applications. The required skills are not only specifically related to HCD or product design; multidisciplinarity will be a plus. 18-20 participants will be selected: candidates with first hand experience in the design and development of IoT solutions will be preferred. Both academic and industrial people will be accepted.
Potential participants will be required to submit a brief document including a short bio and motivation, and a case study.
Here all the required material:
To submit a case study with the description of a chosen existing IoT product: it may be a product still in the crowdfunding phase but should not be just a concept product. Applicants can select and describe a product they found interesting or to present a connected device they helped to design (max 1500 words - The short bio and case study will be presented during the workshop in a 5 min. presentation).
Potential participants will be required to submit a brief document including:
1. a short bio and motivation to participate,
2. a case study of an existing IoT product,
3. (optional) may suggest any IoT classifications, design toolkits, set of guidelines and resources related to the workshop’s topics of discussions or any other bibliographic resources and studies connected to the topic.
Price: accepted workshop participants must register for at least 1 day of the conference + the workshop fee (about 75/100€)
for details www.nordichi2016.org/attending/registration/
After all the individual presentations and case studies a shared discussion on the topic “How can IoT products be categorized following a HCD approach?” will be facilitated, trying to identify what are the most useful criteria to analyze connected products. The results will be mapped in real time through the use of post-it notes.
Participants will be asked to work in small groups, applying the Toolkit to analyze a common product, selected by us. After that will be encouraged an open discussion regarding their experience with the Toolkit then each group will be asked to edit freely the Toolkit trying again to apply it on a second product found by them.
Participants will openly present their own changes by applying it on their chosen case study.
In the absence of a shared vision that defines the role of product design in the development of IoT products and on the basis of theoretical considerations and rapid evolution of the theme, we tried to set a wide conceptual Framework to analyze existing IoT products. The identified Framework examines different aspects and qualities of IoT products from the point of view of Design, Technology, Market, and Users. It integrates consolidated theoretical analysis (e.g. David Rose’s [Rose] and other authors’ work) with shared practices and original considerations.
This Framework was used as as the starting point to develop the “Mapping The IoT Toolkit”.
The Toolkit consists of 3 elements: (1) an Analysis Form to critically observe case studies, (2) an Output/Map generated when the Analysis Form is applied, and (3) a Design Canvas that may help to develop and test new product ideas.
It is currently an analog prototype, to be tested before implementing an online version within a platform.
In 2004, she completed her PhD research at Politecnico di Milano with a thesis titled ‘Expressive-Sensorial Atlas of Materials for Design’, a tool to support designers in their materials education and design activities considering the phenomenological and perceptive aspects of materials. Nowaday, Dr. Rognoli is part of Madec, a research center of material design culture, she collaborates with Polifactory, the makerspace of Politecnico di Milano and she is one of the founders of Experience and Interaction Research Lab at the Politecnico di Milano. Her current research and education interests include materials education, Materials Driven Design MDD method, materials for interactions, emerging materials experiences and DIY Materials.
His research activities deal with design innovation tools and methodologies, design policies, design services, design and new technologies. He was the coordinator of different action research project at national and international level. He is involved in several European and national funded research projects. He was in the scientific coordination staff DEEP (DEsign in European Policies Research) (www.designpolicy.eu) co-financed by the European Union as part of the European Design Innovation Initiative (EDII). Actually he Is member of the research staff of EDIP European Design Innovation Platform, the European Design Innovation Platform (EDIP) (www.designforeurope.eu) and is the Scientific Coordinator of Trentino Design 3.0 and Punto Design a Design Innovation Policy and related actions (design tool for SMEs, design prize, new services for the territory) for Trentino Sviluppo Spa – Provincia Autonoma di Trento (www.designhub.it/puntodesign)..
NordiCHI is a biennial conference functioning as the main Nordic forum for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research. The theme of NordiCHI’16 is game-changing design. This is meant in its dual sense; firstly how design and designs can completely change how we perceive and act in the world, but secondly – and just as importantly – whether and how we can change our perception of what design really is, and how it should be done. There are many visions to be shared here: on sustainable HCI; on novel interfaces; on familiar technology in new contexts or novel technology in known contexts; on un-designing and/or redesigning society.
The official website is www.nordichi2016.org.
