Artful social engagement :long-term interaction design within an international women's community

Abstract

Long-term commitments, a rich understanding of- and sensitivity towards identities are considered of value for researchers working within technology design to support community participation. However, few studies have explicitly discussed how researcher relationships are built and how communities negotiate their technology use around identities over time. This thesis presents the findings and insights from a three-year long, in-depth participatory project at an international women’s centre in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. The thesis contributes to interaction design research, and experience-centred design more specifically within social care communities. The research demonstrates how interdisciplinary approaches, combining critical methodological perspectives from feminist postcolonial studies with narrative inquiry and speculative design, can be used constructively in complex and sensitive community contexts. The thesis outlines how such approaches contribute opportunities for the negotiation and celebration of diverse community identities using technology. This is achieved through exploring how ‘dialogical aesthetics’, as articulated through socially engaged arts, can sustain conceptual resources and practical approaches to reflexively inquire into personal identities within communities. Through ‘space-making’ workshops, involving digital portraits and digital story making and through the design and use of a speculative photo-sharing device, the thesis provides insights into exploring and responding to identities, while engendering inspiration and resonance for sustainable future technical practices within a culturally diverse social care community.