by artun.sepken -

D&R2 SED – D1

System Map

At the center is the Attention-Aware Interface System, a framework designed to make digital environments sensitive to a user’s attentional state before delivering interruptions, rather than eliminating them entirely. The inner ring holds the direct users: knowledge workers, students, remote workers, and multitaskers, each experiencing interruptions differently based on task type and cognitive load. Surrounding them are the groups that shape interruption conditions: app developers, OS providers, and notification senders and at the outer edge, the institutional forces of employers, researchers, hardware makers, and policy bodies. Together, these layers show that attention is not just a personal resource, it is a systemic one.

Change and Impact

This comparison highlights the shift from interruption-blind digital systems to attention-aware design. Current notification architectures are built around the sender’s intent, not the receiver’s cognitive state. A message is delivered the moment it is sent, regardless of whether the recipient is mid-task, in a flow state, or already cognitively overloaded. The result is a system optimized for immediacy at the cost of sustained focus.

Inclusion & Accessibility

Access to an attention-aware system is not uniform. The ability to benefit from interruption management depends on a range of cognitive, physical, and social factors that are unevenly distributed across users. Some barriers are internal: a person with ADHD may experience interruption recovery very differently from a neurotypical user: for them, even a brief disruption can cascade into a much longer loss of focus. Users in high-stress or high-anxiety states are more vulnerable to the compounding effects of notification overload. Inclusion here is about cognitive and emotional accessibility, not just physical or perceptual access.

by artun.sepken -

D&R2 01 – LoFi Prototyping

New semester, new researches and new problems…Moving from theoretical research into lo-fi prototyping forced me to confront something I had been putting off: my topic is hard to make it physical. Research on attention, interruption and cognitive recovery does not translate naturally into a clickable mockup or a paper sketch. The phenomenon I am studying is internal and time-dependent. You cannot see it on a screen.

The approach I took was a simple behavioural task. A participant reads a short text and corrects errors in it while thinking aloud. I interrupt them once with a spoken question, then observe how they return to the task. To capture focus levels over time, I built a small browser tool; a slider the participant adjusts continuously, which logs their self-reported focus every thirty seconds and marks the exact moment of the interruption. At the end of the session it exports a CSV, so it is easier to track the data. It is low-tech, but it produces real data grounded directly in the literature.


The first test format was a speed dating exercise: five-minute exchanges rotating between participants. The idea is to get fast, varied feedback, and it works well for many types of prototypes. For mine, it was harder to make useful. Five minutes is not long enough for a person to actually get into the task before the interruption happens. Most of the time was spent explaining the setup rather than experiencing it, so the feedback reflected how clearly I could describe the concept more than how the prototype itself worked.

The most consistent piece of feedback was about the setup: having the task on one device and the focus slider on another felt fragmented. Several people pointed out that if I am studying attention, adding friction between two separate tools is counterproductive. It is a fair observation and one I plan to address, consolidating everything into a single interface makes more sense both practically and conceptually.

The session was useful in a different way than I expected. It did not tell me much about interruption and recovery, but it did clarify the limits of the current prototype as a communication tool. My research sits closer to the theoretical end of the spectrum for now, and that makes it genuinely difficult to prototype in a format that works for quick explanation to someone unfamiliar with the underlying psychology.

The plan is to run the full session individually, without the time pressure, in a setting where the participant can actually reach a state of focus before the interruption lands. I also want to think about whether a behavioural experiment alone is the right form, or whether the research needs a more designed artefact alongside it, something that makes the concept visible rather than just measurable.

by ylva.larsen -

#2 D&R2 My passion

Giving used clothes/material new life

For many years now I have loved using old materials and creating new things with it. I use old materials from things like clothes, beddings or curtains, and I create stuff I need/want like purses, bags, new clothing items, wallets, or even shoes. The picture is a collage of some of my creations from a denim recyceling project i am doing.

Last year, I wrote a research paper about the fashion industrys impact on the environment and explored different approaches to addressing overconsumption. One of my key findings was that being involved in making, customizing, or personalizing clothing makes it much more likely that people will keep and care for their garments over a longer period of time. I also found that while buying second hand or thrifted clothing is better than purchasing new items, it is not necessarily as sustainable as it may seem. If people switch to second hand shopping but continue to consume at the same high rate, they still contribute to the ongoing demand for fast fashion on a larger scale. Ultimately, the most effective way to reduce the fashion industrys environmental impact is to lower overall consumption. This can be achieved by keeping clothes for longer and taking better care of them.

I love how sustainable this practice is, and how the things I make are customized perfectly to me and my needs. I also feel more grateful and attached to the things I make myself because I put time and effort into it. For me, doing these crafts give me some time off from real life, where I can sit and sew for example and suddenly 5 hours have gone by without me even noticing or checking my phone once. I would like to be able to find a way to influence and share this feeling with others.  

In design and research 1 I worked with the topic doomscrolling. Researching how social media platforms draw you in and keep you trapped consuming content. I realized that what helps me most of all to stay offline and enjoy the real world are these kinds of physical projects. Therefore, I think a natural continuation into design and research 2 is to explore how i can try to share this hobby with others it might be able to have the same effect on.  

My friends and family often ask me if I can please make them something too or teach them how I did it after I show my projects. Maybe there is a way to show, help, and teach this to everyone?  

My current idea is to create a website people can use to get help on how they can recycle their own old materials into something new.

Possible features of the website: 

  • Patterns for upgrades and remakes 
  • Sewing tutorials 
  • AI that generates patterns customized to your measurements. (maybe a paid subscription?) 
  • Search filters for things like : tools, skill level, time, fabric available  
  • Community forum?  
by amelie.bund -

[DesRes 2 @BirgitBachler] Entry 01: Employee and Consumer Protection

New semester – new me. More or less, at least. While I was extremely confident about my chosen research topic last semester “Creating User-Centered Strategies that align with Business and IT Goals in an innovative Agile Environment. Use Case: Self Checkout Terminals in Supermarkets” the tables have turned.

Rewind – initial idea

Reason No. 1: I initially chose this topic because ever since my internship at Bosch last year I’ve realized how important it is to keep all three feasibility, viability and desirability in mind .

Reason No. 2: The specific use cases of Self Checkout terminals in supermarket seemed like a reasonable extension to the topic, since it aligns with my tasks at my student job. On top, my company would’ve be interested in a collaboration for the thesis.

Long story short: I have gotten to realize that theses matters are already researched through and through.

Motivation – Focusing on employees and/or consumer protection

Instead I would like to contribute something that’s actually innovative and has a social and ethical impact on top. Over the past few years topics such as protection of employees and consumer protection have been on my mind frequently.

Possible idea + 1st Prototype

About two years ago I had the opportunity to participate in an interdisciplinary project called Legal Design Sprint endorsed by the Chambor of Labour Vienna. The project of my team (topic “Mobility”) was even awarded by a team of experts.

Topic Mobility – How do people commute to work?

Two thirds of Austrian employees commute to work by car. [1]

To guarantee a sustainable future this must change. There is a set of alternatives, such as riding the bike to work or using public transport. Nevertheless, these options are limited and raise a few pain points:

  • How much responsibility should be carried upon employers?
  • Which obstacles are people on the countryside facing?
  • How do we convince car drivers to let go of their habits?
  • Are possible alternatives tangible?

Our Solution

With our concept “Business Mobility Strategy” employers must be made responsible for the possibilities of commute that are being offered to their employees. To do this a dialog between both sides – employers and employees – needs to happen.

  1. Interface: The service will be implemented in the “USP – Unternehmensserviceportal” (= the major online service for Austrian businesses).
  2. Data collection: Employers must enter data such as the distance to the nearest bus station or the amount of parking space available for employees.
  3. Less Red Tape: Business owners are constantly exposed to endless and redundant paperwork. Usability Tests will assure a seamless and viable end-to-end experience.
  4. Data Evaluation: Once all the information is submitted the businesses approach and actions towards sustainability in mobility will be graded. This assessment scheme will be defined by experts to guarantee transparency.
  5. Recommended Actions: The evaluation also provides businesses with an answer on how to improve in the topic of sustainable mobility.‍ Employers can set these recommendations as goals to improve rating and help their employees with commuting to work.
  6. Spot Checks: An independent institution will make sure the businesses have submitted their mobility data correctly.

Alternative options:

  • dark patterns in fast fashion e-commerce (e.g. SHEIN)
  • user centered interaction of the “Arbeitnehmer:innenveranlagung”

Reference

[1] G. Kovacic, Cristian Andronic, and S. Kirchmayr-Novak, ÖV-Erreichbarkeit großer Arbeitsplatzstandorte in Österreich. 2022.

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by julia🐨razumovskaia -

PROTOTYPING – Design & Research II (Birgit) – 1/6

Continuing my research on the topic of “Slowness”from last semester, I will be doing further work on this topic as part of the Design & Research II course with Birgit Bachler PhD.

For the final assignment, I will need to record a 2-minute video of the final prototype — in my case, I plan to use prototyping in Figma, which each of you will be able to test. The research will again focus more on contextual analysis, as well as user testing, bibliography, and heuristic evaluation.

In this first blog post, I want to show you three quick lo-fi prototypes for a future app. The task was to create 3 scenarios, and I’ll be presenting each of them today. All of them were put together and thought through quickly, in no more than 20–30 minutes.

*Also, during the second session with Birgit, we did a speed dating exercise, and at the end I’ll go over some notes and discuss the issues my classmates encountered.

Prototype 1: Mood-based navigation 😁

In this scenario, the user first selects their mood or intention (calm, curious, social, fast), and then receives a route that matches that mood.
The route includes different types of spaces — parks, cafes, quiet street, depending on the user’s chosen mood.
The goal is to demonstrate how navigation can adapt to the person, rather than just to the geographical task.

Prototype 2: Fast vs. Slow Route 🏃‍♀️

This scenario compares two approaches to navigation: “fast” and “slow”.
It shows the user that a longer route can be a better experience—it passes through green spaces, quiet streets, and places to stop (such as cafes or shops).
The goal is to shift the focus from efficiency to the experience of the route and a conscious choice.

Prototype 3: Explore unknown areas 🤷‍♀️

Here, the navigation system encourages users to explore unfamiliar parts of the city.
The map is divided into “known” and “unknown” zones, and users can choose a route that takes them through new places.
The goal is to encourage exploration, step outside of familiar routes, and foster a personal connection with the city.

🗨️ Speed Dating notes:

During testing, additional scenarios emerged that are not covered by the current logic:

  1. First, a safe route is important, especially at night — taking into account street lighting, the presence of people, and the overall sense of safety.
  2. Second, the issue of data collection arose: to implement such routes, we need to understand where to source information, for example, regarding lighting, traffic, locations, and user behavior.
  3. There was also a request for budget-friendly routes, paths that take cost into account (like avoiding expensive locations or suggesting affordable spots), which adds another layer of personalization.

by ylva.larsen -

Product/Business Idea

What Problem are you solving?

I want to promote sustainable clothing consumption. I want to show people that it really can be quite easy to repair, tailor, and even make your own clothes. Studies show that taking part in the making and maintenance of your clothes makes you feel more attached to them, resulting in you taking better care of them and keeping the clothes longer.

Why should we care about it?

The fashion industry is one of the most environmentally harmful industries in the world. Fast fashion generates enormous amounts of waste, uses large quantities of water, and is one of the most exploitative businesses when it comes to labor rights.

What is the solution you are offering? How does it work?

Right now, my idea is a website for reusing old clothes and materials. It can generate sewing patterns based on the materials available, their quantity, and the user’s preferences. The user can customize the experience as much as possible by using filters to reflect factors such as their skill level, available time, tools, and workspace.

Who is the target audience? Who is the customer?

I would say my target audience would be young people that are interested in living more sustainably and are motivated to keep their clothing consumpion down.

Key words for my main taget group: thrifters, crafty, prctical, motivated, hobbies, sewing

What is going to happen? (Change & Impact)

People will realize how easy it is to take care of and customize their clothes. Early users will influence others, and hopefully the rest of society will follow their lead. This will decrease fast fashion demand and, in the long run, have a positive effect on the environment. 🙂

by Indigo Tschurtschenthaler -

ClimaSynth: Enhancing Environmental Perception through Climate Change Sonic Interaction

Interaction Design with Seppo Gründler

In this entry I will be reviewing a NIME (New Interfaces for Musical Expression) paper I read, ClimaSynth: Enhancing Environmental Perception through Climate Change Sonic Interaction. The authors are Eleni-Ira Panourgia and Angela Brennecke from Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF and Bela Usabaev from the Cologne Academy of Media Arts. The paper was published in 2024 from the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression.

The document describes ClimaSynth, an interactive application that aims to communicate climate change through sound, using interaction as a means to raise awareness about the changing environment. ClimaSynth explores the relationship between acoustic and climatic effects by allowing users to manipulate sound through an interface.

I believe it is relevant for New Interfaces for Musical Expression because it explores how we can use simple sonic parameters to communicate big issues. At the same time, it is relevant for my research because it shows a way to draw attention to an environmental cause.

The web-based application developed wishes to enhance environmental perception and explore how sound can express aridity and drought. It achieves this through contrast and familiar sounds, which are associated with climate conditions. The aim is also to investigate the issue through non-human perspectives.

The sonic experience wants to be accessible, with a blurred distinction between content and interface. The authors wanted to create a minimal UI that united sound and vision. Other applications in this format already exist, such as Sound Canvas, Lines and GrainTrain. Riverssounds, another one, allows users to navigate river ecosystems with mouse interaction.

Climate change also means that environments sound differently. This interactive application tries to communicate this using a sound design technique called granular synthesis. It transforms audio by breaking it down into microscopic fragments called “grains”. In this case, granular synthesis is used to manipulate recordings. 

The user can select a soundscape from a drop-down menu: “birds near water”, “river water” and “tree bark”. Each of these corresponds to a field recording. They can then adjust two parameters with sliders, “areas” and “spread”, which are then translated visually and sonically. By modifying these parameters, it is possible to transition between two extremes: the birds singing alone or accompanied by insects, the river becoming dryer and the tree bark readjusting its flexibility, all changes caused by drought. 

The “spread” value is visually translated as a purple area around the mouse, that can be more or less dense. With zero spread the grains are sampled from the same point, while a higher value allows for a broader selection of grains.

The “area” value shows the number of black dots around the mouse. Lower values allow the sounds to be individually perceived, while higher values make us perceive them as connected.

The conceptual originality of ClimaSynth is using parameters to communicate climate change and identifying which ones convey the idea the best. The non-human perspective of the applications makes the user almost feel like they are a fish in the river or the tree itself.

The idea of melting interface and content is coherent and shows that sound and visual elements can also communicate greater problems without needing any words.

The paper is missing information about target audience, testing and participants.

I also think that it is not very accessible to someone not from the field because the way the parameters work is not intuitive. Their visual translation is clear, but I found the sonic changes difficult to grasp. Before reading the paper, I was not sure of what the interactions meant. I would have wished for clearer naming of the parameters or labels on the two ends of the sliders, as a sort of cue of their effect on the sound. 

With the climate changes not being too evident on screen or sonically, I think the result is limited, although after playing with it for a while it is possible to perceive the changes.

As a consequence, I believe that the mapping could be more thoughtful, but the instrument is still performable beyond the lab. It explores musical expression in a way that is closer to nature and it surely conveys a message.
I agree with what is stated in the conclusion of the paper: “This approach offers a promising direction for conveying the complexity of climate change through rich sonic encounters with changing environmental states.” 

The conclusion also mentions the possibility to integrate more parameters and environmental or location-specific data in the UI, and I can imagine the interface changing for each recording, to make the experience more immersive.

I reckon the application could be displayed in exhibitions about environmental issues, but it could also be used to promote behavioural change in interactive ads.

The method explored has potential to communicate the complex issue that is climate change, and it was of great inspiration for my research theme, as I am interested in how interaction can raise awareness about light pollution. Using parameters, whether visual or sonic and analysing them is a way to communicate environmental changes and I will take it into consideration when working on my light pollution project.

by anja.kljajic -

D&R2 SED D2 – Business Idea 2/2

What Problem are you solving?

Most game interfaces are static and cluttered, creating massive legibility and navigation barriers for visually impaired players. Designers often lack the time or specialized tools to implement complex WCAG-like standards and multi-sensory feedback.

Why should we care about it?

Accessibility isn’t just a “feature”, it is a fundamental right to play. When games like Black Myth: Wukong launch with unreadable text, it excludes millions of players and hurts the game’s reputation and reach.

What is the solution? How does it work?

An interactive design engine that acts as a “Canva for Game UI.” It allows designers to drag-and-drop modular HUD elements and automatically checks them against accessibility rules while providing a library of haptic and audio logic.

Who is the target audience/customer?

The target audience is the visually impaired gaming community who needs better tools to play. The paying customer is the UX/UI Designer and Game Studio looking to streamline their workflow and meet professional standards.

What is going to happen? (Change & Impact)

We will move from a “one-size-fits-all” UI to a Modular Era where games are playable by everyone from day one. This shift reduces “design guesswork” for studios and replaces frustration with independence and mastery for players.

Bonus: How can this make money?

The platform will operate on a Freemium SaaS model, offering a free basic toolkit for students and indies, while charging Enterprise Subscription fees to large studios for advanced simulation tools and custom haptic libraries.