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Maker Movements, Do-It-Yourself Cultures and Participatory Design: Implications for HCI Research (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Smyth, M., Helgason, I., Kresin, F., Balestrini, M., Unteidig, A. B., Lawson, S., Gaved, M., Taylor, N., Auger, J., Hansen, L. K., Schuler, D. C., Woods, M., & Dourish, P. (2018, April). Maker Movements, Do-It-Yourself Cultures and Participatory Design: Implications for HCI Research. Presented at 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - CHI '18, Montreal, Canada

Falling costs and the wider availability of computational components, platforms and ecosystems have enabled the expansion of maker movements and DIY cultures. This can be considered as a form of democratization of technology systems design, in alignm... Read More about Maker Movements, Do-It-Yourself Cultures and Participatory Design: Implications for HCI Research.

Aspects of lifelikeness: a framework for optional interactions with public installations (2012)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Helgason, I., Smyth, M., & Speed, C. (2012, September). Aspects of lifelikeness: a framework for optional interactions with public installations. Presented at Designing Interactive Systems DIS 2012, Newcastle, UK

This poster presents a framework for the design and evaluation of “optional interactions” with publicly sited, non-utilitarian installations. These kinds of encounters, where an engaging experience of interaction itself is the design goal, can be reg... Read More about Aspects of lifelikeness: a framework for optional interactions with public installations.

Introduction to the special section Innovative Interactions, papers from Create10 Dialogues in interaction design: complexity, hybridity and the relationship between research and practice (2010)
Journal Article
Smyth, M. (2010). Introduction to the special section Innovative Interactions, papers from Create10 Dialogues in interaction design: complexity, hybridity and the relationship between research and practice. Digital Creativity, 21(4), 233-237. https://doi.org/10.1080/14626268.2010.538066

A brief overview of the field of Interaction Design is provided in order to contextualise the Create10 conference. The conference was held at Edinburgh Napier University in June/July 2010 and attracted over 120 delegates. The papers that comprise thi... Read More about Introduction to the special section Innovative Interactions, papers from Create10 Dialogues in interaction design: complexity, hybridity and the relationship between research and practice.

The place probe: exploring a sense of place in real and virtual environments. (2006)
Journal Article
McCall, R., Benyon, D., Smyth, M., O'Neill, S., McCall, R., & Carroll, F. (2006). The place probe: exploring a sense of place in real and virtual environments. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15(6), 668-687. https://doi.org/10.1162/pres.15.6.668

This paper describes the design, application, and refinement of a qualitative tool designed to study sense of place. The Place Probe incorporates a range of stimuli and techniques aimed at articulating a person's sense of place. It has been developed... Read More about The place probe: exploring a sense of place in real and virtual environments..

Responsive environments, place and presence. (2005)
Journal Article
McCall, R., O'Neill, S., Carroll, F., Benyon, D., & Smyth, M. (2005). Responsive environments, place and presence. PsychNology journal, 3, 34-74

This paper examines the effect that changing arena (i.e. an immersive CAVE or head mounted display) and adding an augmented barrier has on the sense of place and presence
in two photo-realistic virtual environments. Twenty eight subjects (17 male, 1... Read More about Responsive environments, place and presence..

Who am I and where am I? - switching and stitching in the digital age. (2004)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Smyth, M., Raijmakers, B., & Munro, A. (2004, May). Who am I and where am I? - switching and stitching in the digital age. Presented at INTERNATIONAL DESIGN CONFERENCE - DESIGN 2004, Dubrovnik, Croatia

This paper will introduce the concept of human identity. It will focus on how the creation, maintenance and communication of identity could be supported by technology. Initially a series of human groups are described which have the potential to infor... Read More about Who am I and where am I? - switching and stitching in the digital age..

A framework for engineering metaphor at the user interface (2000)
Journal Article
Alty, J., Knott, R., Anderson, B., & Smyth, M. (2000). A framework for engineering metaphor at the user interface. Interacting with Computers, 13(2), 301-322. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0953-5438%2800%2900047-3

Interface metaphors facilitate the learning of new computer systems by supporting the transformation of existing knowledge in order to improve the comprehension of novel situations. However, there is very little guidance for software designers on how... Read More about A framework for engineering metaphor at the user interface.

Supporting decision making in design using shape grammars. (2000)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Smyth, M. (2000, October). Supporting decision making in design using shape grammars. Presented at DMUCE 00, Second International Conference on Decision Making in Urban and Civil Engineering

This paper describes part of the development process of a system aimed at supporting the work of interior architects. Two prototype systems are described together with detailed interviews conducted with a professional design practitioner. It will be... Read More about Supporting decision making in design using shape grammars..

TOUCH: Creating interactional artefacts in a physical world (2000)
Journal Article
Smyth, M. (2000). TOUCH: Creating interactional artefacts in a physical world. Interfaces / the British HCI Group newsletter, 17

The maxim states that seeing is believing but that it is touch that determines reality. Instinctively we
reach out to touch those objects that attract or perplex. Touch conveys an intimacy both at a physical
and emotional level. In the pursuit of t... Read More about TOUCH: Creating interactional artefacts in a physical world.

Supporting design through the strategic use of shape grammars (2000)
Journal Article
Edmonds, E., Smyth, M., & Edmonds, E. A. (2000). Supporting design through the strategic use of shape grammars. Knowledge-Based Systems, 13(6), 385-393. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0950-7051%2800%2900079-4

This paper is concerned with the early processes of design, particularly in the context of spatial arrangements. We are interested in the strategies that a designer uses in order to achieve success and with the opportunities that might exist for comp... Read More about Supporting design through the strategic use of shape grammars.

Co-operation, design and the self (2000)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Smyth, M. (2000, September). Co-operation, design and the self. Presented at CoDesigning 2000, Coventry

Design tools as agents of disclosure. (2000)
Journal Article
Smyth, M. (2000). Design tools as agents of disclosure. Knowledge-Based Systems, 13(1), 27-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0950-7051%2899%2900049-0

This paper investigates the nature and use of existing tools during a design task as a means of gathering information concerning practitioners' conception of that activity. Three case studies are reported and a number of conclusions are drawn concern... Read More about Design tools as agents of disclosure..

Teallach: a model-based user interface development environment for object databases (1999)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Griffiths, T., Barclay, P. J., McKirdy, J., Paton, N. W., Gray, P. D., Kennedy, J., Cooper, R., Goble, C. A., West, A., & Smyth, M. (1999, September). Teallach: a model-based user interface development environment for object databases. Presented at User Interfaces to Data Intensive Systems, 1999

Model-based user interface development environments show promise for improving the productivity of user interface developers, and possibly for improving the quality of developed interfaces. However, model-based techniques have rarely been applied to... Read More about Teallach: a model-based user interface development environment for object databases.

An open model-based interface development system: The Teallach approach. (1998)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Griffiths, T., McKirdy, J., Paton, N. W., Kennedy, J., Cooper, R., Barclay, P. J., Goble, C., Gray, P., Smyth, M., West, A., & Dinn, A. (1998, June). An open model-based interface development system: The Teallach approach. Presented at DSV-IS '98: 5th International Eurographics Workshop on Design, Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems

The goal of the Teallach project is to provide facilities for the systematic development of interfaces to object databases in a manner which is independent of both a specific underlying database and operating system. Teallach's open architecture als... Read More about An open model-based interface development system: The Teallach approach..

Designing at a distance via real-time designer-to-designer interaction. (1995)
Book Chapter
Scrivener, S. A. R., Harris, D., Clark, S., Rockoff, T., & Smyth, M. (1995). Designing at a distance via real-time designer-to-designer interaction. In S. Greenberg, S. Hayne, & R. Rada (Eds.), Groupware for Real-Time Drawing - A Designers Guide (5-23). McGraw Hill

This paper describes an experiment in which teams of two designers used a shared computer ‘sketchpad’ to generate design concepts for products while geographically separated by a distance of over 16 300km. The aim of the large separation, which inclu... Read More about Designing at a distance via real-time designer-to-designer interaction..

The role of metaphor at the human computer interface. (1994)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Smyth, M., & Knott, R. P. (1994, November). The role of metaphor at the human computer interface. Presented at OZCHI94 - Harmony through working together

Interface metaphors are introduced as a technique to facilitate the learning of systems. To better understand this process, metaphors are discussed in terms of their role in the formation of mental models. This suggests that the principle advantage o... Read More about The role of metaphor at the human computer interface..

A co-operative computer based on the principles of human co-operation (1993)
Journal Article
Clarke, A. A., & Smyth, M. (1993). A co-operative computer based on the principles of human co-operation. International journal of man-machine studies, 38(1), 3-22. https://doi.org/10.1006/imms.1993.1002

Co-operation is presented as a technique for radically improving human-computer interaction with complex knowledge bases during problem-identifying and problem-solving tasks. A study of human-human co-operation literature indicated the importance of... Read More about A co-operative computer based on the principles of human co-operation.