Computing and Information Systems - Theses
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ItemUnderstanding the role of technology in supporting parent–child reunion( 2017)Parent–child reunion is one of the most prevalent yet less explored areas of family life. During reunions, parents and children can strengthen their bonds and reaffirm their ties. Earlier works on Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) have highlighted the value of digital technologies in supporting the parent–child relationship during physical separation or collocation, but little work has focused on parent–child reunion. This thesis investigates the role of digital technology in supporting a specific type of parent– child reunion: a reunion following separation for work-related reasons that has a pre-, upon and post-phase. This investigation was conducted with the participation of three types of families: academic, defence and mining. This thesis presents three studies that examined the role of digital technologies in supporting parent–child reunion. The first study focused on technological shortcomings of current technology use in parent–child reunion. This study found that current technologies lack certain elements of support during the anticipation to reunite in prereunion, the initial engagement upon reunion and the sharing of experiences in postreunion. The second study identified the interactional qualities of digital technologies that aim to support parent–child reunion that led to the design of Rendezvous—the first reunion-oriented artefact. The insights from this study emphasised the importance of stimulating co-creation in pre-reunion, motivating co-engagement upon reunion and inspiring co-sharing in post-reunion. The third study evaluated Rendezvous through its field deployment with the participation of academic and mining families. The findings demonstrated the significance of Rendezvous in supporting parent–child reunion by augmenting the anticipation to reunite in pre-reunion, heightening the initial engagement upon reunion and strengthening the experience of sharing in post-reunion. The knowledge generated by this thesis has three main contributions. First, it uncovers the necessity for digital technologies to support parent–child reunion by focusing on the anticipation in pre-reunion, the engagement upon reunion and the sharing of experiences in post-reunion. Second, the thesis calls attention to the merit of asynchronous technologies in supporting parent–child reunion. Finally, it expands the current knowledge by highlighting materiality and temporality as key design considerations for reunion-oriented technologies.
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ItemDesigning digital memorials: commemorating the Black Saturday Bushfires( 2015)Digital memorials are novel technologies used for commemorative purposes. There is a growing interest in their design amongst HCI researchers. Existing studies focus on commemorating deceased loved ones, where personal and familial remembrance is emphasised. However, there are fewer examples where digital memorials play a wider social and cultural role. Commemorating a war, terrorist attack, natural disaster or death of somebody of special significance such as a leader or even celebrity, are examples where commemoration extends beyond the personal and familial, and into broader social contexts. In these instances, it is likely that large numbers of people may wish to participate, from those with deeply personal reasons, to others with only a passing interest. This thesis examines the design of digital memorials for use in contexts where these diverse audiences come together in commemoration. This thesis presents three studies, in which commemoration following the Black Saturday bushfires was used as the setting for the research. The fires occurred in 2009 in Victoria, Australia. Asides the devastation caused to the natural environment, there were 173 fatalities and massive destruction caused to homes and other infrastructure. The first study was an exploratory study examining how people commemorated Black Saturday within the first two years after the fires. The findings extend current understandings of commemoration using technology by showing similarities between how people engage with physical and web-based memorials. The second study involved participants in fire-affected communities who were asked to generate design ideas for digital memorials to commemorate Black Saturday. The study contributed a novel craft-based approach to designing technology in the commemorative context. For the third study, a digital memorial was developed that included a website and internet-connected tablet computer app to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the fires. This technology was designed for both those within the fire-affected communities and those outside. The findings report on an evaluation of the experiences of those who engaged with the digital memorial. Selected findings from the three thesis studies are expressed as a set of five design considerations intended for future designers and researchers interested in digital memorials. These are: privacy, control and context collapse; considerations for symbolism and metaphoric representations; utilising physical locations; having sensitivity towards temporal patterns; and, designing for pace and asynchronicity.