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Designing a Tangible Device for Re-Framing Unproductivity

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Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2021 (INTERACT 2021)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12935))

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Abstract

We report on the design of a tangible device for encouraging the acceptance of unproductive time on office workers. We first conducted interviews for a better understanding of the subjective experience of productivity. We found that while the idea of being productive can evoke positive feelings of satisfaction, dealing with unproductive time can be a struggle, negatively affecting people’s moods and self-esteem. These findings guided the design and implementation of RU, a tangible device for reflecting on self-care time. Our prototype offers a physical representation of the mainstream productivity mindset and plays with the idea of connecting and charging energy to encourage the user to experience the time considered unproductive as self-care. In a second study, participants used the device for 5 days and our results suggest that the device motivates reflection on activities beyond work and increases awareness of the importance of taking time for self-care.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We conducted all interviews online via Zoom in either Spanish, Catalan or English as they preferred. All Non-English quotes we report from this study are a translation from the original language.

  2. 2.

    All interviews were audio-recorded under the participants’ consent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Judith Sirera

  2. School of Computing and Information Systems, University of Melbourne, Doug McDonell Building, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Eduardo Velloso

Authors
  1. Judith Sirera
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  2. Eduardo Velloso
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Judith Sirera or Eduardo Velloso .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Polytechnic University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Carmelo Ardito

  2. Computer Science Department, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    Rosa Lanzilotti

  3. Computer Science Department, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Alessio Malizia

  4. Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, UK

    Helen Petrie

  5. Computer Science Department, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    Antonio Piccinno

  6. Computer Science Department, University of Bari Aldo Moro, Bari, Italy

    Giuseppe Desolda

  7. Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA, USA

    Kori Inkpen

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Sirera, J., Velloso, E. (2021). Designing a Tangible Device for Re-Framing Unproductivity. In: Ardito, C., et al. Human-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 2021. INTERACT 2021. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12935. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85610-6_29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85610-6_29

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-85610-6

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