Activity modeling is a systematic approach to organizing and representing the contextual aspects of tool use that is both well-grounded in an accepted theoretical framework and embedded within a proven design method. Activity theory provides the vocabulary and conceptual framework for understanding the human use of tools and other artifacts. Usage-centered design provides the methodological sca...

This essay seeks to clarify the paradigm shift from object-centered to human-centered research and design. It suggests abandoning the technological determinism that underlies the industrial era conceptions of humanmachine interactions, which still informs much of current human factors or ergonomic research and making room for models of human-machine interactions that are derived from the human ...

There is a global imperative for engineers to design sustainable products. However, user-centered designers have repeatedly found that sustainability is not necessarily a widespread user need. Based on user research from a graduate-level product design course, we present findings on how users define and describe sustainability, how sustainability issues interact with user needs, and the tradeof...

As robots perform tasks in human-occupied environments and especially when those tasks are collaborative, people are increasingly interested in understanding the robots’ behaviors. One approach to improving understandability is to enable robots to directly explain their behaviors, either proactively, or in response to a query. Given the many possible ways that explanations could be generated, o...

In this paper we ask if contemporary and design theory for ubiquitous computing and internet of things is not outdated and irrelevant in view of some contemporary theories of agency.

This paper describes setting up a curriculum for a new university department of Product and Systems Design. As a result of the activities undertaken, it was noted that there was a surprising lack of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) oriented courses on offer in Design departments. This lack is despite the fact that the HCI literature shows an ever-increasing concern with design of artefacts. Als...