Improving design strategies for customization and appropriation

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The objective of this research is to significantly improve end-user customization by the development of new design processes and technical models within human-computer interaction (HCI) and interaction design. Modular design strategies underpin almost all customization approaches today and there is a need to push beyond and revise these strategies or develop new ones. We propose to leverage existing practices like modularity and end-user development (EUD), as well as emerging end-user practices like toolkits, do-it-yourself (DIY), and appropriation to overcome current limits. The promise of this research is that end-user customization can be significantly improved upon by the development of new design processes and technical models. The anticipated path to this contribution is a substantial revision or replacement of modular design as a design strategy. Improvements in end-user customization and appropriation will lead to optimized and situated use of interaction design artifacts and systems that will have the capacity to adapt over time addressing changing needs and contexts as directed by end-users. The work will establish the degree to which modularity is indeed a limiter to appropriation and specify what aspects in particular are problematic. The work will also establish more systematically the benefits and value of emergent end-user practices of DIY, toolkits and appropriation for designers and developers. The contributions will include design methods and technical framework guidance for interaction design and HCI professionals in designing for appropriation, plus digital technology prototypes that allow for extended customizations that have the potential to be appropriated by end-users.