In this paper we present working field theories for design which is an approach
that we developed for our HCI classes to teach how to design new forms of interaction.
Jennifer, Diego, Filip, Margot and I we teach students with a technical background
they come either from computer science, information systems or computer games.
In our HCI classes we often notice a discontinuity between field studies and design proposals.
Students often make leaps to design that seem to miss out on really interesting
design problems and opportunities that they identify from their field research.
Theoretical concepts are also often overlooked because they
cannot be easily applied to the problem at hand.
In HCI, designs are also often inspired by larger societal problems as well as
by established design practices, old and new technologies, and emerging interaction concepts.
And working field theories integrate these insights to highlight opportunities for the
design of interactive technology. I want to emphasize that field
theories are working theories - humble theories for a particular context,
based on a small set of participants, without making any claims for substantive knowledge.
Drawing a field theory diagram is really important to synthesize
different insights from the field and from HCI theories.
This diagram was created by students based on field research with physiotherapy patients.
It nicely illustrates key components of a field theory diagram.
It fills roughly one A4 page to give an overview of important problems and opportunities.
It includes a title and succinct definition to frame the field theory.
Here the focus is on supporting patients to do self-directed therapy at home.
And this is followed by a visual representation of empirical insights.
For example, one of the challenges was that exercise instructions were not clear when
patients tried them at home. Participants said that they didn't know if it feels right
and if they push themselves hard enough. So the diagram also integrates competence
and motivation as concepts from self-determination theory.
And on the bottom it highlights paths for design, for example,
to show more clearly what to do when doing exercises at home.
So this example is presented as a patient journey. However there's no fixed diagram structure.
Field theories are really flexible in the way that they can be visualized to fit a specific project.
Based on the field theory students develop a prototype
design and trial it with two participants. By seeing how their prototype is used in
real life, students can test and refine the field theory that framed their design.
This also stops students from presenting their design idea as a marketing pitch.
Here's an example. On the left we can
see sketches and a prototype mockup based on the rehabilitation field theory and the aim of this
VR prototype was to provide a full body view to help patients remember how to perform exercises.
On the right we see how trialling this prototype shed light on the different exercise contexts.
As highlighted in a blue circle, participants commented that they would use it at home,
potentially also at work, but only if they had a private space.
This diagram shows how we approach field theories in the classroom over the course of a semester.
From left to right you see the different design research activities.
We start with sensitizing concepts and technology demo sessions to really inspire our students.
This is followed by research in the field and a visualization of an initial field theory.
The paper describes this in more detail. It presents the perspectives of students whom
we interviewed. It includes our own reflections on teaching field theories over the last five years
and of course a lot of examples of field theories and prototype designs.
Achieving mastery across fieldwork and technology design is certainly an art
that requires practice and experience. Creating a field theory helps students
to gain such experience. Field theories help students to integrate their field research,
abstract concepts and design proposals. They help them to create diagrams that
synthesize key insights and help them to test and refine the field theory for a prototype design.
In the paper we also discuss opportunities for HCI educators.
If you are teaching HCI, we hope that field theories help you to bridge different ways
of learning and teaching between CS computer science and design schools.
In particular we think field theories help to incorporate creative design principles of
ideation, visual thinking, and divergent thinking, with the traditional iterative
design process in computer science. It's also an approach that we tried
with different research problems, methods and theories over the years.
And we are confident that if you're interested that you can incorporate it with your own methods
theories and technologies. Thank you.