Most technologies are developed by a homogeneous group of predominantly white and Asian cis-men. Participatory methods are rarely used to include the people who are expected to use the technologies. Even if marginalised people are the focus of development or research, they do not directly participate in it but are instead seen through the lens of dominant people in their lives such as case workers and carers. As a research community and society at large we are missing out on a range of human experiences and needs for which we should attend to in our research, but also on technological development designing with these groups could spark. I work with people often neglected as active stakeholders, such as refugees, disabled people, queer people, people without work or in low-paying jobs, elderly and children, homeless people, foster families, fat people or people of colour. Through that inclusive work, I contribute to technological design and development as well as a democratic society. I create technology not just for but with people in playful and critical research settings.
I follow an intersectional approach that captures the life worlds of marginalised people in a multi-faceted way. This way, I can support our knowledge in how marginal- isations play into technological need and use, develop further methods and technologies that areempowering for all and make technology for people that is meaningful and relevant to them. In that, I use physical computing and digital games as platforms for novel interaction mechanisms and critical content. As a playing field for investigations into aspects affecting people and the technologies they interact with, games additionally offer a research instrument, which is engaging for participants. The area of games and play then comprises a tool which will allow me to not only understand players and their motivations better but also further innovate in the areas of game and technology development. I illustrate potential projects following this strand of research below.
If you’re interested in more details, I illustrate past and current project as well as my publications and CV on the dedicated pages.