Articles I've read (May last year)

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Last year, I read a whole lot of articles during the first half of the year (Jan-June). I recently wrote about the articles I read back in April last year and below are the articles I read back in May 2013. Now only June remains before I can jump to 2014 as I hardly have time to read articles in the autumns due to my teaching load.

While I've harboured some remorse over the delay, I have however come to realise that to a you, dear reader, it doesn't much matter if I read the articles below a year ago or if I read them last week...!


Batch/week 1 - contributions to the CHI "Post-Sustainability" workshop
Comment: I attended the CHI Sustainability community full-day workshop on "Post-Sustainability" before the CHI conference last year. I read all the position papers in advance - each paper is only a few pages long (4-5 pages at the most). The quality varies a lot. Some try to write something substantial in a "small package", but others just submit something canned and pretty stale just to express an interest in participating in the workshop and/or show of their credentials. I will for the most part not annotate/review these contributions. All position papers are available in the online workshop "archive". Here's the blog post I wrote about the workshop itself.

• Avram, G.; A. Boden, I. Posch, and G. Stevens (2013). Do-It-Yourself Sustainable Living: Opportunities and challenges for DIY communities. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013.
• Shabajee, P. (2013). HCI 4 Adaptation: A position paper. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013.
• Massung, E. (2013). The future of crowdsourcing: Supporting advocacy, creating awareness, and altering norms. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013.
• Kobayashi, H. H. (2013). Human-Computer-Biosphere Interaction: Beyond Human-Centric Interaction. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013.
• Borning, A. (2013). UrbanSim, ConsiderIt, and OneBusAway: Reflections on three projects and post-sustainability. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013.
• Knowles, B. (2013). Deep interventions to change how we think and act. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013. */ This position paper was very good /*
• Heitlinger, S., Bryan-Kinns, N. & Jefferies, J. (2013). Moving beyond the individual consumer in sustainable CHI. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013.
• Dillahunt, T. (2013). Creating resilient communities for post-sustainable times. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013. */ This position paper was good /*
• Haynes, S. R. (2013). Design rationale as seed bank: Knowledge waste and second-order sustainability. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013.
• Hauser, S, Desjardines, A. & Wakkary, R. (2013). Rethinking and envisioning Sustainable HCI and the role of interaction design. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013.
• Pargman, D., Walldius, Å. & Eriksson, E. (2013). HCI in a world of limitations: Addressing the social resilience of computing. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013. */ We actually tried to say something substantial and I think we were successful. /*
• Ilstedt, S, Wangel, J., Höjer, M. & Bendt, O. (2013). Prototyping futures. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013), Paris, France, 2013.
• Rossitto, C. & Cerratto-Pargman, T. (2013). Sustainability in education: Challenges and open issues. In the CHI sustainability community workshop on ”Post-Sustainability” (co-located with CHI 2013, Paris, France, 2013.

Batch/week 2 - texts from the CHI 2013 conference
Comment: I spent the subsequent weeks after the CHI conference reading papers that for one or another reason had caught my attention at the conference. It for the most part went like this: I listened to a presentation, thought it was good and decided to read the paper afterwards. Here's the blog post I wrote about the conference itself.

• Kirman, B., Linehan, C., Lawson, S., & O'Hara, D. (2013, April). CHI and the future robot enslavement of humankind: a retrospective. In CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2199-2208). ACM. */ This paper is hilarious but is also makes you think. "As robots from the future, we are compelled to present this important historical document which discusses how the systematic investigation of interactiv technology facilitated and hastened the enslavement of mankind by robots during the 21st Century [...] We conclude by congratulating the CHI community for your tireless work in promoting and supporting our evil robot agenda". Recommended! */
• Wyche, S. P., Forte, A., & Yardi Schoenebeck, S. (2013, April). Hustling online: understanding consolidated Facebook use in an informal settlement in Nairobi. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2823-2832). ACM. */ How is the Internet and Facebook used in the third world? How is is used in a slum in Nairobi, Kenya? "Even in this poor setting [...] having an online presence is no longer a luxury but is rapidly becoming a necessity for popeoli living in underdeveloped regions." Recommended /*
• Al-Ani, B., Densmore, M., Cutrell, E., Dearden, A., Grinter, R. E., Thomas, J. C., Kam, M. & Peters, A. N. (2013, April). Featured community SIG: human-computer interaction for development. In CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2473-2476). ACM. */ This was just a short rallying call for a Special Interest Group. "how [can we] both learn from each other and from those we serve in underserved communities"? on Human-Centered Design for Development (HCD4D), User-Centered Design for Development (UCD4D) and Interaction Design and International Development (IDID) /*
• Read, J. C., & Hourcade, J. P. (2013, April). Enhancing the research infrastructure for child-computer interaction. In CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2481-2484). ACM. */ This is another rallying cry for a Special Interest Group, this time on child-computer interaction, i.e. HCI specifically for children. */
• Väätäjä, H. K., & Pesonen, E. K. (2013, April). Ethical issues and guidelines when conducting HCI studies with animals. In CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2159-2168). ACM. */ Apparently the number of studies of HCI and/with animals is increasing because this paper addresses ethical issues and "guidelines for carrying out studies with animals". /*
• Mancini, C. (2013, April). Animal-computer interaction (ACI): changing perspective on HCI, participation and sustainability. In CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2227-2236). ACM. */ One more paper about Animal-Computer Interaction (ACI), this time by someone who has read everything there is in the area and who wants to (perhaps) create a Special Interest Group around this theme(?) /*
• Wyche, S. P., & Murphy, L. L. (2013, April). Powering the cellphone revolution: findings from mobile phone charging trials in off-grid Kenya. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1959-1968). ACM. */ This was a really interesting paper about the conditions for owning and charing you cell phone if you live in rural Africa (Kenya) and don't have electricity in your home village. The solutions that was evaluated a hand-crank cellphone charger and a bicycle charger kit. "Does the early hype hold up in practice with real-world rural condistion and real people? Answer: it worked so-so. Very interesting, recommended! /*
• Kumar, N., & Rangaswamy, N. (2013, April). The mobile media actor-network in urban India. In Proceedings of the 2013 ACM annual conference on Human factors in computing systems (pp. 1989-1998). ACM. */ The paper "describes the vast, growing mobile media consumption culture in India. [...] we show how the practice of piracy [...] fuels media consumption". Interesting, but I can't recall if the Actor-Network Theory angle added anything in particular. /*
• Tariq, M. A. (2013 - unpublished). Threat assessment using storytelling. */ Written for an internal doctoral conference/colloquium at my department. I was the designated opponent. */ "This paper, based on the interviews conducted at an organization, elaborates on a framework which extends the attacker persona methodology by using narratives in order to assess the organizations' security." /*

Batch/week 3 - texts from the CHI 2013 conference
Comment: I spent the subsequent weeks after the CHI conference reading papers that for one or another reason had caught my attention at the conference. It for the most part went like this: I listened to a presentation, thought it was good and decided to read the paper afterwards. Here's the blog post I wrote about the conference itself

• Busse, D. K., Borning, A., Mann, S., Hirsch, T., Nathan, L. P., Grimes Parker, A., Shneiderman, B. & Nunez, B. (2013, April). CHI at the barricades: an activist agenda?. In CHI'13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2407-2412). ACM. */ A short into to a panel on the connection between HCI and activism; "What is the appropriate role of activism and HCI research and practice?" /*
• Lomas, D., Kumar, A., Patel, K., Ching, D., Lakshmanan, M., Kam, M., & Forlizzi, J. L. (2013, April). The power of play: design lessons for increasing the lifespan of outdated computers. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2735-2744). ACM. */ Very interesting paper about the 8-bit home computers and video games that "the rest of the world" use/play/have access to. This system is comparable with the Nintendo Entertainment System that sold 60 million copies in the US between 1983-1995. Taking into account the (real, researched) situation in poor countries, the paper "explores strategies for increasing the reuse of outdated computers". Recommended. /*
• Rodden, T. A., Fischer, J. E., Pantidi, N., Bachour, K., & Moran, S. (2013, April). At home with agents: exploring attitudes towards future smart energy infrastructures. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1173-1182). ACM. */ Great paper that "considers how consumers might related to [...] future smart grids within the UK. [...] Users' reaction suggest that [...] they were principally disinterested. Users showed a considerable lack of trust in energy companies raising a dilemma of design. Warmly recommended. /*
• Heyman, S. (2013 - unpublished). Research proposal: Financial advising systems that support decision making. */ Written for an internal doctoral conference/colloquium at my department. I was the designated opponent. */ An "early plan for research in how to design online banks and/or electronic tools for professional financial advisors, in order to make concepts such as risk and retur graspable to the ordinary layperson." /*
• Shrinivasan, Y. B., Jain, M., Seetharam, D. P., Choudhary, A., Huang, E. M., Dillahunt, T., & Mankoff, J. (2013, April). Deep conservation in urban India and its implications for the design of conservation technologies. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1969-1978). ACM. */ These guys *get it*. They frame the paper by referring to peak oil in the very first sentence and then "present a study of energy, waster and fuel conservation practices in urban India." The term "deep conservation" is coined to describe this culture and these practices. An interesting turn away from the almost exclusive western focus of these kinds of studies. /*
• Irani, L. C., & Silberman, M. S. (2013, April). Turkopticon: Interrupting worker invisibility in amazon mechanical turk. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 611-620). ACM. */ Written by my (temporary) now-colleage Six, this paper describes the appalling working conditions in the premier system for "crowdwork", "human computation" and "humans-as-a-service" (comparable to software-as-a-service), Amazon Mechanical Turk. Big in the US (and India) but almost unheard of in Europe. Won the prize for best paper! /*
• Starbird, K. (2013, April). Delivering patients to sacré coeur: collective intelligence in digital volunteer communities. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 801-810). ACM. */ A study of how Twitter, distributed cognition and collective intelligence works - in detail - in a specific "case" in the wake of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Prominently features "digital volunteers", a cross between detectives and do-good network matchmakers and gatekeepers. /* 
• Erete, S. L. (2013, April). Protecting the home: exploring the roles of technology and citizen activism from a burglar's perspective. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 2507-2516). ACM. */ Interesting paper and extremely interesting methodology. "This paper analyzes three panel sessions with 15 people who have been convicted of burglarizing homes, cars, and /or business. Participants describe in detail what they looked for when deciding to burgalizize a home and what deterred them. Technologies such as security systems, alarms, and cameras do not dissuade burglars. Instead, evidence of neighborhood cohesion was named the stronges deterrent. Sometimes technologh is not the solution. Recommended."

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