My thesis in 3 minutes – Understanding and designing human data relations

In this video, my entry for the Three Minute Thesis competition, I explain some of the insights I've gained through my research with people about the handling and use of their personal data. I summarise how people think about their data, what we need from our data to really take control and value from it, … Continue reading My thesis in 3 minutes – Understanding and designing human data relations →

The two purposes of Human-Data Interaction

I have just published this short position paper for the Human-Data Interaction through Design workshop which I will be attending at the CHI '21 conference. In the paper I outline the two very different reasons why people need to interact with data - Personal Data Control and Life Information Exploration. Click the image to read more.

Personal data innovation: sharing power to build trust

I was featured today in this guest interview on the Digi.Me #MyData Blog. The article is reproduced here and can be viewed in context here. The first in a new series of blogs exploring the guiding beliefs and motivations of some of the people in the MyData movement, who are working passionately with a common aim … Continue reading Personal data innovation: sharing power to build trust →

Human-Data Interaction in the Context of Care: Co-designing Family Civic Data Interfaces and Practices

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By storing data about citizens for the purposes of service provision, private and public organizations have disempowered the people they serve, shifting the balance of power toward themselves as data holders.

Through three co-production engagements involving families receiving "early help" support from their local authority and support workers involved in supplying this care, we have identified existing data usage practices, explored the impact of those practices upon the supported families, and co-designed new and improved approaches - both technological and practice-based - that are perceived to offer families fairer treatment, greater influence, and to benefit from better decision-making.

Our findings show that by applying Human-Data Interaction and giving supported families direct access to see and manipulate their own data, both during and outside of the support engagement, the locus of decision-making could be shifted towards the data subject.

Understanding Family Civic Data

Across social care, healthcare and public policy, there are moves to “join up” citizen databases to provide care workers with holistic views of families they support. In this context, questions of personal data privacy, security, access, control and disempowerment are critical considerations for system designers and policy makers alike. We worked with four families to explore their views on this landscape. To read more about our findings, click the image to read the paper.

Free Data Interfaces

Abstract As a response to the call for theoretical perspectives on how to move human-computer interaction closer to the human and remove barriers to flexibility, I outline that a key part of the solution involves changing the way we model, and think about, our data – that we must build for the totality of individuals’ … Continue reading Free Data Interfaces →

Digital Life Assistants

Abstract: As a response to the call for “grand visions” for Human- Computer Interaction, I propose a future where people interact using a new type of interface: a Digital Life Assistant. This draws on ideas of human-data interaction, ubicomp, semantic analysis and humane design. Trained by us to understand the meaning and value of our data and digital interactions, digital life assistants will be our butlers and bodyguards, putting our needs ahead of those of corporations, marketers & service providers, embodying a previously unseen level of helpful technology and computer-aided human empowerment. Click the image to read the full paper.

Ethnicity and Communication

What is ethnicity anyway? An overview of what research tells us about ethnicity in the concept of communication. This essay was submitted as an assignment for the module “The Social Psychology of Communication” studied as part of my MRes in Digital Civics at Newcastle University in 2016-2017. Click the image to read the full article.

Designing for Human Autonomy

Today I’m going to talk about designing for human autonomy. I believe this is the biggest civic challenge facing HCI today.
First, I’ll talk about two key trends that have shaped the current technology landscape - simplification and commercialisation. Then I’ll look at how users can be better empowered by adapting their products and exploring their own data. change the status quo. And finally I’ll look at the challenges involved - how to approach what is essentially a hidden problem for users, and how we might actually change the status quo. Click the image to read the presentation.