Papers by Matthew Lee-Smith
Extended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
This one-day workshop will bring together a diverse group of practitioners and researchers within... more This one-day workshop will bring together a diverse group of practitioners and researchers within the CHI community to discuss and explore data's increasing use as a material for design. This workshop encourages the submission of design exemplars, i.e., physical or digital works (in progress), design processes, or provocative or controversial pieces on the topic of data as a design material. If we are to continue to explore what data means as a design material and how we will continue to co-exist with them in our everyday lives through new and exciting ways and means, we must develop new strategies, tactics, tools, and outcomes. By bringing together products, processes, and provocations, this workshop will nurture and extend the continuation of research inquiring into data as a design material in its many forms. Our workshop will be conducted through physical and digital activities before, during, and after the onsite event at CHI 2023.
The Data Hungry Home
It's said that the pleasure is in the giving, not the receiving. This belief is validated by ... more It's said that the pleasure is in the giving, not the receiving. This belief is validated by how humans interact with their family, friends and society as well as their gardens, homes, and pets. Yet for ubiquitous devices, this dynamic is reversed with devices as the donors and owners as the recipients. This paper explores an alternative paradigm where these devices are elevated, becoming members of Data Hungry Homes, allowing us to build relationships with them using the principles that we apply to family, pets or houseplants. These devices are developed to fit into a new concept of the home, can symbiotically interact with us and possess needs and traits that yield unexpected positive or negative outcomes from interacting with them. Such relationships could enrich our lives through our endeavours to “feed” our Data Hungry Homes, possibly leading us to explore new avenues and interactions outside and inside the home.
DesRes is the Loughborough Design School annual conference.This document presents a compendium of... more DesRes is the Loughborough Design School annual conference.This document presents a compendium of PhD postcards.Each PhD postcard was generated by Loughborough Design School students to showcase the diversity of the research.All contributors have declared content to be copyright cleared.
DesRes is the Loughborough Design School annual conference.<br>This document presents a com... more DesRes is the Loughborough Design School annual conference.<br>This document presents a compendium of the 2020 PhD postcards. Each PhD postcard was generated by School of Design and Creative Arts students to showcase the diversity of the research.<br>All contributors have declared content to be copyright cleared.
Companion Publication of the 2019 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2019 Companion
What is it to navigate or to be navigated? How, and through what, is information communicated to ... more What is it to navigate or to be navigated? How, and through what, is information communicated to us? Do our interactions with space need to be limited to when we are moving through it? This paper describes a collection of design concepts generated as part of the initial stages of a research project that combines a critical design mindset and research through design process to explore these types of questions. The project seeks to problematise and diversify the discussion and understanding around pedestrian navigation, wearable technology, crowdsourcing and human data interaction. The goal is to develop one of the concepts using research through design as part of PhD research studies, leading to possible future applications.
The Design Journal
Design and its practitioners use many methodologies, methods, mindsets, manuals and motives. Ther... more Design and its practitioners use many methodologies, methods, mindsets, manuals and motives. There is a plethora of documentation that focuses on defining, categorising and theorising these aspects of Design, how they came to be and what should be taken from them. However, what happens if we turn these tools on ourselves and try to design and imagine other forms, concepts, manifestations of design itself? 'Design' as the topic, 'design practitioners' as the users and 'the designed' as methods, mindsets, beliefs and so on. The outcomes of these curiosityled activities are not predefined or that predictable, they rely on providing tasks and tools to ignite inquisitiveness and lay the groundwork for serendipity and unexpected occurrences. The participants will leave with more curiosity about what Design can be, leading to new questions about the discipline and its practices.
Proceedings of the Halfway to the Future Symposium 2019 (HTTF 2019), 2019
It's said that the pleasure is in the giving, not the receiving. This belief is validated by how ... more It's said that the pleasure is in the giving, not the receiving. This belief is validated by how humans interact with their family, friends and society as well as their gardens, homes, and pets. Yet for ubiquitous devices, this dynamic is reversed with devices as the donors and owners as the recipients. This paper explores an alternative paradigm where these devices are elevated, becoming members of Data Hungry Homes, allowing us to build relationships with them using the principles that we apply to family, pets or houseplants. These devices are developed to fit into a new concept of the home, can symbiotically interact with us and possess needs and traits that yield unexpected positive or negative outcomes from interacting with them. Such relationships could enrich our lives through our endeavours to “feed” our Data Hungry Homes, possibly leading us to explore new avenues and interactions outside and inside the home.
Companion Publication of the 2019 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2019 Companion - DIS '19 Companion, 2019
What is it to navigate or to be navigated? How, and through what, is information communicated to ... more What is it to navigate or to be navigated? How, and through what, is information communicated to us? Do our interactions with space need to be limited to when we are moving through it? This paper describes a collection of design concepts generated as part of the initial stages of a research project that combines a critical design mindset and research through design process to explore these types of questions. The project seeks to problematise and diversify the discussion and understanding around pedestrian navigation, wearable technology, crowdsourcing and human data interaction. The goal is to develop one of the concepts using research through design as part of PhD research studies, leading to possible future applications.
Unpublished Report, 2017
“I’d like to finish with three categories (derived from Herbert Read) with which I began, to make... more “I’d like to finish with three categories (derived from Herbert Read) with which I began, to make practical suggestions as to kinds of research which might suit, indeed grow out of, what we actually do [in design];
• Research into art and design
• Research through art and design
• Research for art and design”
Christopher Frayling, 1993
This quote, extracted from the RCA journal Research in Art and Design, describes three core forms of research into art and design. The first two are well known, representing design theory/studies and research through design/practice, but what of the third? Frayling described research for art and design as “thorny” and that it “needs a great deal of further research” (Frayling, 1993, p5). This “thorny” subject is researching art and design on a fundamental level, in essence researching for the progression and diversification of design and art instead of into it or through it. However, does this form of research represent a meaningful and independent aspect of modern design practice, and, indeed, should it?
This question came as something of an epiphany during my recent placement at Uscreates but as I considered the question in the context of my development as a designer it became clear that my perception of the role, or potential role, of research in design had suddenly changed. As a product design undergraduate and subsequently a junior designer, research was an outwardly focused tool for gathering information. My postgraduate studies in Interaction Design and my placements have shown me that design has extraordinarily broad applicability far beyond products, yet research has essentially remained a tool of design rather than a discipline of design aimed at expanding design itself.
This report aims to question and challenge the role of fundamental research in design, by considering contemporary opinions on design, whether fundamental design research exists in certain forms in contemporary design approaches and by creating discussion around ways in which we can progress fundamental design research.
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Papers by Matthew Lee-Smith
• Research into art and design
• Research through art and design
• Research for art and design”
Christopher Frayling, 1993
This quote, extracted from the RCA journal Research in Art and Design, describes three core forms of research into art and design. The first two are well known, representing design theory/studies and research through design/practice, but what of the third? Frayling described research for art and design as “thorny” and that it “needs a great deal of further research” (Frayling, 1993, p5). This “thorny” subject is researching art and design on a fundamental level, in essence researching for the progression and diversification of design and art instead of into it or through it. However, does this form of research represent a meaningful and independent aspect of modern design practice, and, indeed, should it?
This question came as something of an epiphany during my recent placement at Uscreates but as I considered the question in the context of my development as a designer it became clear that my perception of the role, or potential role, of research in design had suddenly changed. As a product design undergraduate and subsequently a junior designer, research was an outwardly focused tool for gathering information. My postgraduate studies in Interaction Design and my placements have shown me that design has extraordinarily broad applicability far beyond products, yet research has essentially remained a tool of design rather than a discipline of design aimed at expanding design itself.
This report aims to question and challenge the role of fundamental research in design, by considering contemporary opinions on design, whether fundamental design research exists in certain forms in contemporary design approaches and by creating discussion around ways in which we can progress fundamental design research.