Abstract In this paper, we investigate how everyday playfulness can create opportunities for agonism. Playfulness and agonism have only rarely intersected in HCI research, such as using game design elements in Agonistic Participatory Design, or proposing agonism as a theoretical foundation for Political Play. Building on these foundations, our work aims to broaden the design space where playfulness and agonism meet. Drawing on methods from Situated and Emergent Play, we created a design intervention that prompted reflection and empathy among participants, while establishing a shared understanding of the latent conflict the intervention aimed to address. Based on our findings, we propose considerations for designers seeking to use playfulness to create opportunities for agonism. Grounded in Situated and Emergent Play, we furthermore contribute the method of tracing frictions, which offers a new avenue for designing at the intersection of playfulness and agonism.

Even though recent technological advancements have led to a growing interest in Augmented Reality (AR) head-mounted displays (HMDs), their actual deployment in everyday, outdoor and on-the-move applications remains uncertain. Most AR research is conducted in controlled laboratory settings, leaving a gap in our understanding of AR’s potentials and complexities in real-world environments. This paper explores the social aspects surrounding AR use in public spaces, by investigating the use of AR HMDs during two distinct use cases: shopping at a farmers market and outdoor presentations. Based on the analysis of observations and interviews with participants, passersby and vendors, we explore social impact of AR and share methodological and technological insights. We contribute seven lessons learned for researchers conducting AR studies in-the-wild. Our findings show that the current understanding of non-users should be revisited for in-the-wild AR studies. Furthermore, current AR HMDs lack social components, inducing awkwardness in social situations, which might fade with continuous exposure.

Audio-frequency induction loops (AFILs) are commonly used as an assistive listening technology for hard-of-hearing individuals. They generate an electromagnetic field proportional to a sound source receivable by hearing aids. Our interactive system, the Sound of Space, is based on AFILs that generate a multi-dimensional soundscape in space. Cochlear implant (CI) listeners and hearing-aids wearers can experience the soundscape through bodily movement, whereas hearing individuals can experience it via a corresponding tangible device. While typical AFIL installations transmit a single sound source, in our interactive system we implement overlapping loops and their interference to locate multiple synchronised audio sources (i.e., corresponding electromagnetic fields) in space. The designed system is installed permanently in an integrative school for deaf, hard-of-hearing and hearing students and teachers. In this pictorial, we illustrate our design and implementation process and contribute our learnings of using AFILs as a design material for architectural interactivity.

Humans frequently discontinue to use certain technologies, services, or platforms: they deactivate accounts, block content, or find workarounds for un-using functionalities or devices. This is noticeable in contemporary trends, such as digital detox, where an entire market emerged to support users in discontinuing their use. In this essayistic paper, we reflect on a collection of examples where humans disengage with technology by applying Vardouli’s concept of ‘making use’ to the context of discontinued use. We propose making un-use as an epistemological perspective to ‘human-artefact engagements’; one that emphasises un-users as enactors of open-ended, temporarily evolving, and creative activities. We depict making un-use as transformational acts, and discuss epistemological and designerly consequences of making un-use to shed light on a not yet explored site of inquiry and a design space that is about to evolve: a design space for making and makers of un-use.

Large-scale kinetic displays have been present for decades, both as mesmerising art installations and as information displays. In this paper we present KINEIN, a kinetic display whose large-scale and indefinite deployment time distinguish it from the prototypical level of HCI research artefacts. It consists of 625 “tiles” or “pixels” mounted on a 25 x 25 matrix and operates through mechanical movement. Instead of a motor rotating each tile individually, KINEIN has a vertical column system that moves tiles sequentially. Situated at the entrance of a learning environment, KINEIN is not only a playful artefact for children to physically interact with, but also the first encounter for the school's visitors.

A variety of concepts in contemporary Human-Computer Interaction and Interaction Design (research) are labeled by adding attributes, such as "slow", "unaware" or "counterfunctional", to "technology", "object" or "thing". However, what do these labels disclose about a technology or an interaction? What are they supposed to express, what do they conceal? In order to identify labelling mechanisms in our (research) community, we describe five cases and analyze their labels, concepts, and intentions. Among others, we argue that the labels and the expressed aims or intentions do not always correspond and explore alternative ways to articulate and label design concepts or philosophies. We conclude by calling for Interaction Design labels that are based on careful reflections of conceptual histories, inscriptions, and intentions.

We present active corners, a novel interaction approach for in-car collaboration that maps the spatial arrangement of a car with up to four people (i.e., driver, front seat passenger, and two rear seat passengers) to the form factor of a tablet (i.e., having 4 corners). We use this mental model to allow the driver and passengers to collaborate with each other. Interaction is done by dragging-and-dropping items into the according corners of individual tablets. We present the basic interaction design concept along with three application scenarios. In order to evaluate active corners, we have implemented a multiplayer card game that exploits the proposed interaction concept and fosters collaboration. We report on four field studies in which we evaluated different aspects of the active corners concept. Results show that the interaction approach is intuitive and provides a high usability even in driving conditions.

The distraction potential of communication systems in the automotive context necessitates hands-free and attention undemanding systems. Today's hands-free car kits are of increasingly high quality, since bad audio quality can negatively impact the overall communication quality. Most solutions use built-in speakers for output and a microphone near the driver (e.g. on the ceiling). Thereby, audio quality can suffer e.g. from the long distance between the speaker and the listener. In a recent study, we compared perceived voice quality and social presence of a prototype with speakers installed in the headrest of a vehicle, to a high-end on-board audio system in a communication situation between a person sitting in the driver's seat and a person outside the vehicle. We found that Personal Audio received generally better results while also introducing its own set of issues, e.g., causing spatial disorientation in communication situations, in which other individuals are present in the car.

Interaction environments are characterized by their spatial properties, which guide, direct, and provide an opportunity to become a place for social encounters. For example, the car cabin comprises properties such as a special seating arrangement and hence physical barriers between the back and front row. In emphasizing notions of "space" and "place", we present an initial study on how such spatial properties of the car cabin shape passenger collaboration. With this, we contribute to a better understanding of the automotive design space beyond driver and co-driver positions. In an exploratory lab study with 56 participants we observed collaborative practices in a hardware mock-up of an actual car. We found that social practices in cars need to be understood as connected to their inherent spatial manifestations, which are constraining and concurrently constituting them. We reflect upon the driver position as "the crux of the matter", the meanings people ascribe to particular positions, and how we can use this knowledge to inform automotive interaction design.

Combining touch screen technology with mid-air gestures into a unified input modality has potential to improve interaction with touch interfaces in cars. Moreover, target objects on a touch screen can be adapted to the proximity of a users' finger in mid-air. In this paper, we present an exploration of this design space based on two studies and various prototypical systems. First, results of a driving simulator study are reported, indicating that a driver's performance in acquiring a target object on a touch screen in a central console position increases with expanding targets, while altering the position of a target object on the screen leads to a decrease of performance. In a follow-up workshop with automotive experts, prototypes with multiple expanding targets were utilized to foster in-depth discussions on potential challenges and benefits with expanding targets in cars. Results of both studies indicate a high potential of expanding targets for in-car interaction scenarios.

This paper presents insights on driver's User Experience (UX) in terms of systematically investigating predicted experience, actual experience, and recalled experience. By conducting a three-week field study with car commuters in two countries, we studied how frustration and anger differentiate in prediction, actual experience, and recall. Our results show that commuters accurately predict their upcoming anger or frustration in a traffic congestion, however, lower their experienced frustration when being recalled. Moreover, unexpected traffic congestions (in contrast to expected ones) are prone to higher levels of anger. We further found that time of day is related to the prediction of anger, and mood is related to the prediction of frustration. With our study we provide a holistic view on commuters' everyday emotions and experiences -- not only when being on the road, but also before and after the trip.

In a multi-step assessment of a corporate social media platform, which has been implemented in a large company for internal collaboration, we identified three major challenges regarding acceptance and adoption of the platform: (1) diverging perspectives & uncertain top-down communication, (2) functionality jungle & high usage complexity, and (3) lacking collaboration & customization. Based on these challenges, we discuss potential implications for design and implementation of corporate social media. The challenges and implications were derived from data gathered in two rounds of polling employees of the company, where we found that the surveyed employees tended to initially accept the internally implemented social media platform. Nevertheless, by assessing their attitude one and a half years later, we came to understand that the employees have rarely adopted the platform into their daily work practices. This finding led us to analyze in detail the qualitative data gathered along with the survey, as it holds valuable examples and explanations to better understand this phenomenon. Besides presenting the results of the surveys, this paper focuses on the discussion of challenges and implications for enhancing collaboration and supporting adoption processes of social media in workplaces.

Whether in private or professional life, individuals frequently adapt the technology around them and work with what they have at hand to accomplish a certain task. In this one-day workshop, we will discuss how this form of technology appropriation is used to satisfy communication needs. Thereby, we specifically focus on technology that was not intended to facilitate communication, but which led to appropriation driven by individuals' communication needs. Our aim is to identify "unexpected" communication needs, to better address these in the design of interactive systems. We focus on a variety of different contexts, ranging from not restricted contexts to environments that are characterized by strict regulations (e.g., production lines with 24/7 shift production cycles). Consequently, this workshop aims at better understanding how users adapt technology to match their individual communication purposes and how these appropriation practices interrelate with and support organizational cooperation.