Research Activities

I have chosen to present my present research efforts intwo ways. First I present some of the ongoing research projects currently active, and then some of my personal broader research themes. On my Publications page you can find the results of these efforts and also some work-in-progress.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

Ecologies of Digital Artifacts
In this project we study how people describe, understand and shape their personal netoworks of digital artifacts. Members of the group are: Professor Erik Stolterman, Professor Marty Siegel, and the PhD students Will Ryan, Heekyoung Jung, Tonya Stroman and Richie Hazlewood.

Designerly Tools
In this project we study what design tools interaction designers actually use, why they use them, and what chatacterizes these tools. The purpose is to find out what contitutes desginerly tools. Members of the group are: Professor Erik Stolterman, and HCI/d masters students Jamie McAtee, David Royer, Selvan Thandapani.

Design in HCI
This research is aimed at developing a deeper understanding of design in HCI research and practice. It will be published in Stolterman (forthcoming) "The Nature of Design Practice and Implications for Interaction Design Research", and in Stolterman & Croon (forthcoming) "Critical HCI Research: A Research Position Proposal".

The Anatomy of Prototyping
In this work we have developed a framework for understanding the nature of prototypes. The work will be published in Lim, Y., Stolterman, E. & Tenenberg, J. (forthcoming) The Anatomy of Prototypes: Prototypes as Filters, Prototypes as Manifestations of Design Ideas. in ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction.

RESEARCH THEMES
Interaction Design Research
A central theme in my research is interaction design. Human-Computer Interaction Design is a research field growing in scope and importance. We are moving into an era where our environment will be a blended composition of the physical and virtual. Our interactions with this environment is becoming ever more complex and have a strong impact on our lives and our society. My main research interest is fueld by a fascination on how this new reality will evolve, its consequences and how we, as designers, can be part of that evolution. In my latest book “Thoughtful Interaction Design” (MITpress, 2004) some of my work in this area is presented. This research is divided into Interaction Studies and Design Studies. Interaction Studies is the study of interactive artifacts and systems, their chracteristics, qualities, limitations, etc. Design Studies is about he design process, about design knowledge, competence, tools, methods, and skills.

The Philosophy, Theory and Methodology of Design
Since my doctoral thesis I have had the philosophy and theory of design as a major interest. This interest has evolved and is today a collaborative endeavor together with Prof. Harold Nelson at ADI, Seattle. The core of our work is published in the book “The Design Way – Intentional Change in an Unpredictable World” (2003) by Educational Technology Publishing. The book has already been labeled as a “classical” and “seminal” work in design.

Information Systems Design & Management
Information systems design and management has always been at the core of my research. It has over the years resulted in articles and textbooks. This work has lead to a rich international network of research collaborators. Brian Fitzgerald, Nancy Russo, and I published recently a book with the purpose to present some of our combined research efforts in the field. The book title is “Information Systems Development – Methods-in-Action” (McGraw-Hill).

Information Technology, Philosophy of Technology and Societal Change
For quite some time I have felt a strong need to be able to link my research to more general questions concerning the development of society at large. I see information technology as one of the most important factors in the rapid change of our societal structures, both physical and social. This has led me to some extensive readings in the field of philosophy of technology. My goal is to be able to formulate a deeper understanding of the relation between technological and societal development. Information technology still surprises us all the time by changing focus and meaning. From computation, to data storage, to communication, to media, to environment. We are all struggling, trying to keep our under-standing and conceptions of the technology in line with these rapid changes. I believe we constantly have to try to reformulate our understanding and to see technology as a design task. We can design our future if we understand our means (the technology).

Net-Life Studies
Since 1995 I have been the research leader of the Net-Life Research Group. It is a group of researchers working together within a broad field of study. Cyberspace is growing, changing, and evolving in ways no one anticipated only a few years back. As a result of this global computer communication system new social patterns, activities, arenas, and places appear. We are both forced and drawn into this new reality, which we have to re-invent and design at the same time as we experience what it means to live a net-life. We are as a society challenged by the appearance of a new "virtual" reality, and we need to find theories, concepts, and ideas that help us to understand its relation to our everyday reality. The Net-Life Research Group is focused on the study of the close relation between the new technology, how it is used and how we understand and conceptualize this relation.

I am also involved in the Advanced Design institute, a non-profit organization.