Workshop Keynote: Sketching with Hardware - Why and How to Make Functional Prototypes for HCI

Creating Functional Interactive Prototypes: Discussion of Why and How.

As part of the Winterschool of the SPP2199, 11th of March 2021

Abstract. Making interactive functional prototypes is greatly valuable to research in human computer interaction. Prototypes are a source of inspiration, help in understanding critical issues, provide an effective means for communication and evaluation, and enable reflections on multiple levels. Low-fidelity prototyping is also clearly valuable, but as a community we should realize that this is only a first step. We should not stop there and, instead, we should move on to making real experiences, allowing users to encounter new forms of interactions – not just imagining them. In the session we look at options of how to create prototypes, including (1) repackaged off-the-shelf devices, (2) developing systems based on combining standard devices, (3) creating custom-hardware add-on to standard computing devices, and (4) developing and implementing custom hardware. We dive a bit deeper into how to create custom hardware using the ESP32 and Raspberry Pi Pico Platforms and Micropython. We argue that implementing prototypes supports envisioning, designing, and implementing new interaction technologies

Preparation for the students – before the Winterschool:
please read “Understanding and researching through making: a plea for functional prototypes” [1], 4 pages magazine paper
please watch    • Introduction to the sketching with hardwar...   (15 Minutes video, [2]
please watch    • Raspberry Pi Pico with MicroPython - Insta...   (13 Minutes video), [3]
make and bring a paper prototype of head worn device, that provides feedback to the environment about availability of the person, similar to the necklace in [5].
Optional: have a look at the Sketching with Hardware Wiki [4]

References:
[1] Albrecht Schmidt. 2017. Understanding and researching through making: a plea for functional prototypes. interactions 24, 3 (May + June 2017), 78–81. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3058498
[PDF to link: https://www.sketching-with-hardware.o...]
[2] Introduction to sketching with hardware on YouTube
   • Introduction to the sketching with hardwar...  
[3] Getting started with MicroPython and raspberry Pi Pico
   • Raspberry Pi Pico with MicroPython - Insta...  
[4] Sketching with Hardware Wiki
https://www.sketching-with-hardware.o...
[5] Jonna Häkkilä, Romina Poguntke, Emmi Harjuniemi, Lauri Hakala, Ashley Colley, and Albrecht Schmidt. 2020. BuSiNec - Studying the Effects of a Busyness Signifying Necklace in the Wild. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 2177–2188. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3357236.3395455
[PDF to link https://lacris.ulapland.fi/ws/portalf...]