1. esignin g for
D
C oup leh ood

2. Hello & Goals
PhD Candidate in Human-Computer Interaction
Computer Science, Engineering
Couples and technology
Design Cultures alum
...
diversity of design culture in HCI in CS
history of HCI, me

3. This Talk
Computer Scientist
what I learned from by B.S. in C.S.
my first research project: design rationale
where C.S. thinking came from.
.
...and how it’s changed
my current research project: designing
couplehood
Social Scientist

4. This Talk
Computer Scientist
what I learned from by B.S. in C.S.
my first research project: design rationale
where C.S. thinking came from
...and how it’s changed
my current research project: designing
couplehood
Social Scientist

5. Thinking Like a
Computer Scientist (now)
inputs, outputs, objects,
relations (systems theory)
everything can be modeled
efficiency
users?

6. Thinking Like a
Computer Scientist (now)
inputs, outputs, objects,
relations (systems theory)
everything can be modeled
efficiency
users?

7. Thinking Like a
Computer Scientist (now)
inputs, outputs, objects,
relations (systems theory)
everything can be modeled
efficiency
users?

8. Thinking Like a
Computer Scientist (now)
inputs, outputs, objects,
relations (systems theory)
everything can be modeled
efficiency
users?
some some
class A client
class B

9. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale

10. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
feature:
lds spoon
mug handle ho
claims: ss to spoon
+ provides user easy-acce the mug
ake it difficult to hold
- spoon may m

11. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
feature:
handle holds spoon
feature:
claims:ure:
feat ndle holds spoon
fe eat user
+ ha tature:e: easy-access to spoon
fea fure:ur lds spoon
providesho
handle
hand ho it n
hs: ha le le hldld oop
claims: anmayhmakespspoon to hold the cup
- spoon dlendoldsos sdifficult
claclprovides e: er easy-aconss to spoon
im at s o ce
+ claimur us er easy-access on spoon cup
aim:s:s: s us
fes ide s spo to
claim ov mag hanke ithdify-acceto to ld oon the
oo+ pvi idmauske asld ult ss ho sp
+ pr u y esuser o fic
- sp++pn mr dey male eit difficult to hold the e cup
ro o s d
prov vid er easy-access hold thcup
- spoon ma es uake eadifficult to spoon
to
-lasoos:may msakeit sdifficucss ss to o oon
sp poon ay m er it y-accelt e to sp sp
- spimnn m ay m r easy-a c to holdon e cu
c - oo m se if ult t lt to hth
+ provides uake it dit ficifficuo holdold the mug
p
ake d the cup
- spoon may m

12. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
feature:
handle holds spoon
feature:
claims:ure:
feat ndle holds spoon
fe eat user
+ ha tature:e: easy-access to spoon
fea fure:ur lds spoon
providesho
handle
hand ho it n
hs: ha le le hldld oop
claims: anmayhmakespspoon to hold the cup
- spoon dlendoldsos sdifficult
claclprovides e: er easy-aconss to spoon
im at s o ce
+ claimur us er easy-access on spoon cup
aim:s:s: s us
fes ide s spo to
claim ov mag hanke ithdify-acceto to ld oon the
oo+ pvi idmauske asld ult ss ho sp
+ pr u y esuser o fic
- sp++pn mr dey male eit difficult to hold the e cup
ro o s d
prov vid er easy-access hold thcup
- spoon ma es uake eadifficult to spoon
to
-lasoos:may msakeit sdifficucss ss to o oon
sp poon ay m er it y-accelt e to sp sp
- spimnn m ay m r easy-a c to holdon e cu
c - oo m se if ult t lt to hth
+ provides uake it dit ficifficuo holdold the mug
p
ake d the cup
- spoon may m

13. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
research questions/hypotheses:
can addition of pictures to d.r. make designers more creative?
d.r. can make systems more scientifically usable
d.r. is reusable and makes design more efficient
d.r. will be used by professional designers in practice

14. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
assumptions:
finite, atomic, rational, design space

15. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
assumptions:
finite, atomic, rational, design space
1.

16. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
assumptions:
finite, atomic, rational, design space
1.

17. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
assumptions:
finite, atomic, rational, design space
1.
2.

18. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
assumptions:
finite, atomic, rational, design space
1.
2.

19. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
assumptions:
finite, atomic, rational, design space
1.
2.
3.

20. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
assumptions:
finite, atomic, rational, design space
1.
2.
3.
.
.

21. My First Research Project:
Design Rationale
assumptions:
finite, atomic, rational, design space
design knowledge can be modeled
1. design is about efficiency
users (?)
2.
3.
.
.

22. Thinking Like a
Computer Scientist (then)
“In the past, man has been first; in the future, the system must be first.”
“to point out... the great loss which the whole country is suffering through
inefficiency in almost all of our daily acts.”
Frederick W. Taylor . The Principles of Scientific Management . 1911

23. Thinking Like a
Computer Scientist (then)
“In the past, man has been first; in the future, the system must be first.”
“to point out... the great loss which the whole country is suffering through
inefficiency in almost all of our daily acts.”
Frederick W. Taylor . The Principles of Scientific Management . 1911
“The proper study of mankind is the science of design.”
the science of design is “a body of intellectually-tough, analytic, partly
formalizable, partly empirical, teachable doctrine about the design process.”
Herbert A. Simon . The Sciences of the Artificial . 1969

24. Thinking Like a
Computer Scientist (then)
“In the past, man has been first; in the future, the system must be first.”
“to point out... the great loss which the whole country is suffering through
inefficiency in almost all of our daily acts.”
Frederick W. Taylor . The Principles of Scientific Management . 1911
“The proper study of mankind is the science of design.”
the science of design is “a body of intellectually-tough, analytic, partly
formalizable, partly empirical, teachable doctrine about the design process.”
Herbert A. Simon . The Sciences of the Artificial . 1969
“‘The result [of the Design Methods movement] was rigidity… design methods
became more theoretical and many of those drawn to the subject turned it into
the academic study of methods (methodology) instead of trying to design things
better. The language… became more and more abstract.’”
John C. Jones via C. Thomas Mitchell . Design Methods . 1970

25. Thinking Like a
Computer Scientist (then)
“In the past, man has been first; in the future, the system must be first.”
“to point out... the great loss which the whole country is suffering through
inefficiency in almost all of our daily acts.”
Frederick W. Taylor . The Principles of Scientific Management . 1911
“The proper study of mankind is the science of design.”
the science of design is “a body of intellectually-tough, analytic, partly
formalizable, partly empirical, teachable doctrine about the design process.”
Herbert A. Simon . The Sciences of the Artificial . 1969
“‘The result [of the Design Methods movement] was rigidity… design methods
became more theoretical and many of those drawn to the subject turned it into
the academic study of methods (methodology) instead of trying to design things
better. The language… became more and more abstract.’”
John C. Jones via C. Thomas Mitchell . Design Methods . 1970
“It is the culmination of the designer's task to make every diagram both a
pattern and a unit. As a unit it will fit into the hierarchy of larger
components that fall above it; as a pattern it will specify the hierarchy of
smaller components which it itself is made of..”
Christopher Alexander . Notes on the Synthesis of Form . 1964

26. Thinking Like a Computer
Scientist (post-then)
“In the 1970s, I reacted against design methods. I dislike
the machine language, the behaviorism, the continual
attempt to fix the whole of life into a logical framework.”
John C. Jones . How my Thoughts about Design Methods Changed Over the Year . 1977

27. Thinking Like a Computer
Scientist (post-then)
“In the 1970s, I reacted against design methods. I dislike
the machine language, the behaviorism, the continual
attempt to fix the whole of life into a logical framework.”
John C. Jones . How my Thoughts about Design Methods Changed Over the Year . 1977
“I’ve disassociated myself from the field... There is so little in what is
called ‘design methods’ that has anything useful to say about how to
design buildings that I never even read the literature anymore... I would
say forget it, forget the whole thing”
Christopher Alexander . The State of the Art in Design Methods . 1971

28. Thinking Like a Computer
Scientist (post-then)
“In the 1970s, I reacted against design methods. I dislike
the machine language, the behaviorism, the continual
attempt to fix the whole of life into a logical framework.”
John C. Jones . How my Thoughts about Design Methods Changed Over the Year . 1977
“I’ve disassociated myself from the field... There is so little in what is
called ‘design methods’ that has anything useful to say about how to
design buildings that I never even read the literature anymore... I would
say forget it, forget the whole thing”
Christopher Alexander . The State of the Art in Design Methods . 1971
“The fact that we can always perform a post-hoc analysis of situated action
that will make it appear to have followed a rational plan says more about
the nature of our analyses than it does about our situated actions”
Lucy Suchman . Plans and Situated Actions . 1987

29. Thinking Like a Computer
Scientist (post-then)
“In the 1970s, I reacted against design methods. I dislike
the machine language, the behaviorism, the continual
attempt to fix the whole of life into a logical framework.”
John C. Jones . How my Thoughts about Design Methods Changed Over the Year . 1977
“I’ve disassociated myself from the field... There is so little in what is
called ‘design methods’ that has anything useful to say about how to
design buildings that I never even read the literature anymore... I would
say forget it, forget the whole thing”
Christopher Alexander . The State of the Art in Design Methods . 1971
“The fact that we can always perform a post-hoc analysis of situated action
that will make it appear to have followed a rational plan says more about
the nature of our analyses than it does about our situated actions”
Lucy Suchman . Plans and Situated Actions . 1987
“...context and activity are mutually constituent. This approach is one that I have
been calling ‘embodied interaction.’ The essential feature of embodied interaction
is the idea... of allowing users to negotiate and evolve systems of practice and
meaning in the course of their interaction with information systems.”
Paul Dourish . Where the Action Is . 2004

30. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
Design-Based Research Cycle
analyze
analyze data to
confirm/revise 3
prototheories
1
design
deploy
(re)design
deploy intervention
intervention based
and collect field
on (revised)
data
prototheories
2

31. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
semi-structured interviews
grounded theory
case studies
design journal
design narrative

32. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
DBR and qualitative methods
acknowledge complexity
DBR is pragmatic
DBR is action-oriented
DBR supports longitudinal
engagement

33. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
My Design-Based Research Cycle
analyze
currently transcribing
3 interviews and using
open coding towards
answering
prototheories
2
design deploy
primer deployed low-fidelity
sketched out aDBFT
interviewed family 0
and documented prototype to 10 couples
studies experts prototheories for 2 weeks, 50+
hours of interviews
1

34. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
4 MFTs, 1 LCSW
1 hour phone interview
$50 gift card
how do couples argue?
what strategies/tools do therapists use to help?
how does/might technology help?
primer
interviewed family 0
studies experts

35. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
“arguments themselves are not
necessarily the problem”
“the absence of positive in a
relationship is more important
than the absence of negative.”
even healthy relationships can use
a regular “tune-up” or benefit from
“check-ins to remind [them] what
[they] already know.”
primer
interviewed family 0
studies experts

36. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
re-pattern:
“sleepwalking through life”
“patterned and stuck”
reflect, re-story:
“helping people see themselves differently is
certainly a big function of therapy.”
re-connect:
“in a sense a relationship needs to be rebuilt
everyday.”
primer
interviewed family 0
studies experts

37. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
Re-pattern Reflect / Re-story Reconnect
a Diary
Built for
Tw
Meg pulls her Diary Built for Two, a She turns to the next page in her diary and begins to She highlights as she writes, indicating
mobile touchscreen device, from her bag recount and reflect upon her day, an activity that portions of her journal that she would
as she sits down to her daily coffee. begets new interpretations of herself and her partner. like to share with her partner.
design
sketched out aDBFT
and documented
prototheories
1

38. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
2 weeks, 10 couples
recruited via craigslist
$100, light meals, journal
journaling activity
3 interviews each
deploy 2
deployed low-fidelity
prototype to 10
couples for 2 weeks,
50+ hours of
interviews

39. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
Study Timeline
Week 1: Week 2:
each partner writes continue daily entries,
daily in personal journal share 1-3 parts daily
Interview 1: Interview 2: Interview 3:
discussed relationship, discussed last week, discussed previous week,
current reflection practice, journal use, journal use,
gave journals journal summaries journal summaries,
study retrospective
deploy 2
deployed low-fidelity
prototype to 10
couples for 2 weeks,
50+ hours of
interviews

40. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology from
hiding that
e're just
e, that w
world insid
somebody
k as a s> yeah
[00:03:11.07
] es you wor [F]: <laugh
u think mak
<F>: W hat do yo said
[00:05:42.05
] ncing, you
couple? l the time. he's experie
at we talk al e both re
ally his is what
[F]: I thin k the fact th we'r <F >: Ok, so--t
think, ah, neurotic--
, I thi--I that you're
[M]: yeah ghs>
people we are <lau
interested in [F]:
pretty neur
otic
e and we're
that's-- yeah, we're e come hom
[M]: I think es each othe
r [M]: little like, w or you
hich includ [F]: w e're both a ks I'm stupid'
[F]: well, w uh-- ofessor thin ings--
in cludes--but ch ot her out like like 'I think my pr ing ab out little th
[M]: which to figure ea nd of obsess d other
w e both try whate ver, like, ki etimes avoi
[F]: I think ing> we av
oid--som
psychologi
cally [M]: <laugh r <laughs>
feel inferio
people because we
[M ]: yeah
s> ghs>
<F>: oh real
ly? [F]: <laugh ferior? <lau e '[M],
ily, at least e you feel in b is I'm lik
]: yeah not necessar <F>: becaus and my jo you
[F
r parents ar
e is like so, ridiculous,'
[M]: I gues
s ou [F]: which ing me, th
at's
parent s are-- you've go t to be kidd <lau gh>
one of our ], come on' her
laughs> t I mean at he's like '[F help the ot
[F]: nuts--< ell, yeah, bu know, and like sort of
n't care--w you have to
[M]: like re
ally do
- <F>: ok, so
our parents- person person dow
n
least one of lk the other
[F]: yeah, ta
s>
[00:03:53.28
] <F>: <laugh
you say? s>
<F>: what'd
<laughs>
[F]: <laugh
really amaz
ing. um, ar
e [fiancee]
[F]: are nuts <F>: that's lationship,
or
<F>: <l aughs> ng parents [0 0:06:35.19] stres s on the re
me interesti saying, that cause
we've got so t were you there things
[M]: yeah, ly care--wha re you--
[F]: but th ey don't real lik e areas whe
y doesn't definitely
like?! d I would sa [M]: yeah,
e of, my da
[M]: yeah , at least on [F]: <laughs> ings?
ople <laugh
s>
0:04:05.14][?
??] are those th
really like pe
[F]: yeah, he
's, he's a lit
tle drama [0
in pe ople
<F>: what
[F]: well-- [fiancee]
t interested habits
uch, he's no [M]: work him to wor
k a ton.
[M]: very m ]--I consider
that like there's [F]: yes. [M
<F>: yeah ea n, I think to get
ah. But I m like, we try <F>: mm hm
m e
[F]: and, ye at we both time from m
about us th r person
is takes away
something wha t the othe [F]: which fferent
ok, this is <F>: huh <pause> di
like 'oh, me sort of
experiencin
g no w--"
-I [F]: and we have so [fiancee]
t, figure the- friends.
[M]: yeah e figure ou really
try to sort of lik <F>: mm hm ends I don't
[F]: like we like-- me of his fri
to fig ure [M] out [F]: I mea n just that so
mean, I try ing out with
.
and that-- enjoy hang
[M]: yeah, vel- of um--
[F]: on a deeper
le
e're both ki
nd <F>: mm hm annoy him
k, too, w my friends
ible> I thin [F]: some of
[M]: <inaud s>
<laugh <F>: mm hm m <laughs>
[F]: neurotic r annoys hi
[M]: <laugh
s> [F]: my siste
<F>: uh oh hat else [M
]?
of thing, w
[00:04:35.20
] [F]: that kind
s> , sm all
ic? <laugh feel like, uh
<F>: neurot sometimes the big
...
k we both deal with
[M]: I thin pr epared to
children that are un
analyze
currently transcribing
3 interviews and using
open coding towards
answering
prototheories

41. My Current Research Project:
Couplehood and Technology
assumptions:
design is reasoned, but also intuitive, iterative, messy
design knowledge is embodied by the artifact/context
design includes value knowledge
users (cultural participants) before technology

42. Thinking Like a Computer
Scientist (NOW)
“In the early days the Nokia HCI people were told
‘Please evaluate our user interface, and make it easy
to use.’ That gave way to ‘Please help us design this
user interface so that it is easy to use.’ That, in turn,
led to a request: ‘Please help us find what the users
really need so that we know how to design this user
interface.’ And now, the engineers are pleading with us:
‘Look at this area of life, and find us something
interesting!’ This, in a nutshell, tells a story of how HCI
has moved from evaluation of interfaces through design
of systems and into general sense-making of our world.”
Liam Bannon . Reimagining HCI . 2011

43. Thanks
Intel
Tad Hirsch
Dawn Nafus
Third Lab
Deborah Tatar
Joon Suk Lee
Ugrad Researcher
Clarissa ‘K’ Stiles

44. Questions?