Resources

Hypertext theory and public sector Service Design share a common concern – the structured movement of people through complex information spaces – but have developed largely in parallel, with different vocabularies, methods, and blind spots. This paper brings the two fields into conversation. We argue that Service Design’s human-centred methods and practitioner tradition stand to gain from Hypertext’s formal vocabulary of links, trails, transclusion, and structure, and that the domain of civic services urgently needs Hypertext’s theoretical constructs.

If we have not yet achieved planetary super-villainy on the desktop, it may be feasible to fit it into a suburban office suite. Social media and Web science permit the modern villain to deploy traditional cruelties to great and surprising effect. Because the impact of villainous techniques is radically asymmetric, our fetid plots are difficult and costly to foil.

Ubiquitous computing technologies have traditionally striven to augment objects and the environment with sensing capabilities to enable them to respond appropriately to the needs of the individuals in the environment. This paper considers how such technologies might be harnessed to support language learning, and specifically Task-Based Learning (TBL).

This paper discusses the construction of a Social Machine, a socio-technical system in which people achieve new, creative goals enabled by automated processes that are handled by technology. Specifically, the Social Machine is an online TimeBank, a time-based way for people to give and receive services; it is designed for use in the context of inclusive research (initially) with people with learning disabilities.

This tutorial will introduce participants to Teasing Apart, Piecing Together (TAPT), a two-phase design method for understanding and redesigning user experiences in new contexts (e.g. moving from the web to mobile). TAPT was developed to address a gap in the field for methods oriented around experiences, particularly with respect to understanding their social and emotional facets. Addressing such facets helps us build better designs for people from 'non-standard' backgrounds (e.g. those who are currently offline). TAPT has been successfully used in both industry and academia, and this workshop will draw on the tutor's experiences in the field.