2026-08-28
Xinzhe Zhao, Jiayi Zou, Zi Yang, Ines Ziyou Yin, Kin Wai Michael Siu
Designing inclusive public playgrounds requires considering all users, including children and caregivers. Previous studies have focused primarily on children’s needs and experiences, but caregivers’ perspectives are often overlooked. This study aimed to identify key experience design considerations for caregivers in public playgrounds. To this end, it developed a set of Caregivers Experience Design for Inclusive Playground (CED-IP) cards. The findings contribute to a better understanding of caregiver experiences in the design of public spaces. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with caregivers randomly in Hong Kong playgrounds. Through grounded theory data coding, an evaluation dataset of caregiver experiences with inclusive public children’s playgrounds was created. The CED-IP card is generated entirely based on the caregiver’s interview data. The results were distilled into the CED-IP cards, which include 9 design consideration headings: safety, comfort, interactivity, playability, inclusivity, service, convenience, supportive, purpose. The results provide discussion on the content and priorities of experience design for playground facilities and environments. The CED-IP cards are worded carefully so that they can be used or adapted for other play sectors. This study further explored and developed a caregiving experience design framework comprising four interrelated experiential elements: Meaning construction, Affective comfort, Perceived ease, and Autonomous control.
2026-08-28
Michaela Honauer, Danielle Wilde, Eva Hornecker, Birna van Riemsdijk
This article investigates relationality in the design and deployment of interactive technologies, focusing on interactive costuming in performing arts productions. We position relationality as a dynamic, situated, and reciprocal process, and explore how humans relate to and through technology. Our methodological approach follows a post-humanist perspective based on Mediation Theory and Entanglement HCI Theory. Through this framing, we re-evaluate the findings of prior research that is based on a systemic design research study of interactive costuming. To unpack the complex nature of human–technology entanglements, we conceptualize the Adaptability–Responsiveness–Agency (ARA) model to capture the core dynamics that underpin relationality. Based on our analysis, we propose that human–technology relationality can be viewed as driven by these dynamics and unfolding with their context-dependent interactions. We advocate for a relational approach to designing interactive technologies, as it encourages participatory engagement, ethical reflection, and attunement to interrelations.
2026-08-28
Dirk Ploos van Amstel, Michael Tahmoressi, Lenneke Kuijer, Remko van der Lugt, Berry Eggen
This article examines the University of Amsterdam’s Bike Kitchen (UvA-BK) as a case study for convivial product service systems (CPSS), revealing PSS design alternatives that prioritize user empowerment over convenience-driven rebounds like deskilling. Bike Kitchens promote sustainability through collaborative repair, building skills, participation, and community building. The central question in this study was how everyday repair and maintenance practices at the UvA-BK can inform the design of CPSS as alternatives to convenience-based PSS. A practices-oriented qualitative case study integrated practice theory, design ethnography, and thematic analysis. The authors participated as hosts at the UvA-BK for a year, observing ~200 interactions, gaining in-depth knowledge and experience. As a key contribution, three practice-based design principles emerged from participation levels (reproduction, adaptation, creation): Autonomous (Re)Skilling, Participatory Creation, and Reciprocity through Community. These offer designers’ actionable frames for convivial PSS: scaffolded autonomy, emergent co-creation, and relational reciprocity, countering deskilling dependencies. Further research validates transferability to other contexts.
2026-08-28
Hanchu Sun, Giulia Granato, Ruth Mugge
Many electronic products are replaced prematurely not because they fail functionally, but because consumers become satiated with features that once felt novel. In consumer research, this pattern is linked to a decline in epistemic value, defined as a product’s ability to provide novelty, stimulate curiosity, and introduce change of pace into routine use. This study investigates how design can strengthen the epistemic value of owned electronic products, thereby helping prevent premature replacement. Study 1 involved four design workshops (N = 24) that generated 298 design ideas, resulting in a typology of nine design strategies and 23 sub-strategies. The nine overarching strategies are hardware upgradability, expanded functionality via software, multi-purpose design, dynamic engagement, anthropomorphism, adaptability, novel static design, self-care, and timeless design. The first seven strategies actively aim to generate epistemic value, whereas self-care and timeless design primarily function to preserve the value. Study 2 refined the typology through semi-structured interviews with 11 industry professionals, providing practice-informed insights into the temporal implications of each strategy and the enabling conditions regarded as important in practice. Comparative analysis across the seven epistemic-value-generating strategies revealed three recurring principles: continuous evolvability, balanced user experience, and reinforcement of the product’s core value proposition.
2026-08-28
Wonjoon Yoon, Jieun Kim
The automotive interior has become the industry’s pivotal competitive advantage, serving as the crucial source for novel in-car experiences and brand differentiation. However, existing design patent classification systems, such as the Locarno Classification (LOC), fail to adequately capture these contemporary design innovations. This limitation severely compromises their design protection, increasing the likelihood of misclassification, unintentional infringement, and complex examination processes while complicating effective competitive trend analysis. To address this challenge, this study proposes the Automotive Interior Design Classification (AIDC) system. The AIDC features a four-depth matrix structure that incorporates both physical and multimodal elements, such as graphical user interfaces and ambient lighting. The system’s practical and taxonomic utility was validated by core user groups, including designers, IP analysts, patent attorneys, and examiners. A case study applying the AIDC to the design patent portfolios of ten traditional and emerging car companies highlights its utility by facilitating the analysis of design trends and competitors. These findings underscore its potential to bridge the gap between emerging design practices and the LOC for safeguarding automotive interior design.
2026-08-28
Sangsu Jang, Jinyoung Moon, Nanum Kim, Hwajung Hong, Young-Woo Park
Empowering individuals through a personalized self-tracking system that provides a deeper understanding of themselves is important for helping them remember to work towards their personal goals. To pursue this research opportunity, we designed and implemented six Datariums that record and visualize tracking topics as personalized digital illustrations, using a five-week collaborative design process with six participants. In addition, a two-week field study was conducted to investigate the user experience of Datarium. Through this study, we found that encountering personal records via changes in the visual state of representations motivated users to record. Moreover, this approach provided a sense of security because users themselves determined how their records were visualized in the digital illustration. Findings suggest the need to consider the design of self-tracking systems that support the recording of personally meaningful information and present these records in more immersive ways.