Open research questions in Innovative Human-Technology Interaction

What the literature leaves open

• By locating defamiliarization within the banality of the ordinary—within the primordial dimension of people’s very pres- ence—this study highlights the ever-fluctuating currents of indeterminacy that shape tensions in daily background expectancies, dynamics that remain underexplored in sociological analysis.

  Unbecoming a Marijuana User · 2026 · DOI

• This paper presents a single-case longitudinal account grounded in an artist’s archive, with uneven documentation spanning fif- teen years. To address these limitations, findings are presented as transferable heuristics rather than universal claims, and key claims are grounded in repeated evidence across stages — includ- ing contrasts between performance and installation contexts and between a failure-prone and a robust installation redevelopment. 7.1 Future directions The tentacle instruments remain in active development, and this paper represents one point in an ongoing practice. New iterations are currently in development, continuing to explore the tentacle form across different placements, materials, and sound architec- tures. Current work focuses on developing mapping strategies and code complexity for the hip-based digital versions, including Playing Rough: Malleable Instruments for Participatory Performance NIME ’26, June 23–26, 2026, London, UK further exploration of multimodal interaction in which more than one parameter can be controlled simultaneously. Improving how body-contact sensing functions within digital circuits is a contin- uing priority — this includes pre-digital signal amplification and the exploration of capacitive touch [2], which may offer a more stable and expressive alternative to direct resistance-based sens- ing. Audible and physical feedback mechanisms are also being explored to better communicate instrument state to participants in live, noisy settings. This paper is offered as a deliberate con- tribution to the NIME historical record, and future iterations of the tentacle instruments will continue to generate the kind of longitudinal, practice-led documentation that Bin identifies as urgently needed [3].

  Playing Rough: Malleable Tentacle Instruments for Participatory Performance · 2026 · DOI

• However, as some improvements in wellbeing have been reported, and if a more generalised benefit is observed, then this should be examined more rigorously in future projects. house is small, and audience was further limited by an entire side of the meeting house being occupied by performers, the audience consisted of invited guests only.

  The Listening Composer Revisited: Participatory Design Methods in the Co-Creation of Two Collaborative Music Compositions · 2026 · DOI

• This article is primarily a practical paper with limited referencing on the theory behind the model. Therefore, it does not expand on comparative analysis of similar methods and critics on experiential forms of therapy or communication. The websites www.rcompass.life and www.playoflife.com expand on the theory with case studies, bibliography, and interactive forums for professional enrichment. l D o w n o a d e d f r o m h t t p: / / m e r i d a n a. i l l e n p r e s s. c o m / j / p s g p a r t i c e - p d l f / / / / 6 8 1 3 9 3 0 4 9 8 4 0 / i 0 7 3 1 - 1 2 7 3 - 6 8 - 1 - 3 9 p d. f b y a s g p p @ a s g p p o r g o n 2 2 A p r i l.

  RCompass, a Digital Sociometry. What Would Moreno Think About It? · 2026 · DOI

• Our aim is not to claim an exhaustive account of all possible futures of MST, nor to generalise from the scenarios presented here. Rather, we offer these insights as provocations and pointers that can inspire further reflection and debate. We are aware that the future visions generated in our workshops are subjective, shaped by the partici- pants’ own experiences, expertise, and perspectives. At the same time, we hope that the ideas articulated in this paper can serve as a starting point for haptic researchers and designers to critically engage with the distinctive challenges that may accompany the ongoing development of MST technologies. As noted in our methodological reflections, outcomes are shaped by participant group compositions, including individuals’ profes- sional backgrounds and lived experiences. Furthermore, as each workshop used different what-if scenarios and allocated time dif- ferently across activities, we cannot fully separate the influence of group composition from these other factors. Future work could address this by conducting parallel workshops with different stake- holder groups speculating on the same scenario, allowing for more direct comparison of how expertise shapes speculative outcomes. Our workshop design prioritised a progression from potential users through domain experts to technology designers, rather than breadth across all possible stakeholder groups. Future work could extend this enquiry to include stakeholders who would implement these technologies (e.g., industrial developers), practitioners who would use them in their practices (e.g., nurses, teachers, therapists, and somatic practitioners), and members of vulnerable communities who may be most affected by them. For future workshops, we also see value in grounding futuring activities in more tangible experiences of MST. While our scenar- ios were based on discussion and imagination, the use of physical prototypes as speculative tools could provide a more embodied entry point into envisioning futures [53]. Bringing artefacts and prototypes into workshops may not only stimulate participants’ cre- ativity but also elicit affective and bodily responses that are difficult to capture through verbal speculation alone (which is in line with our observations on using physical yarn to connect consequences). Such approaches could reveal new experiential dimensions of both opportunity and risk that remain hidden without a tactile or lived experience of the technology.

  Speculating the Impacts of Mediated Social Touch Technology · 2026 · DOI

• Although this study puts forth valuable insights into the way power dynamics are enacted in co-design with older adults, certain limita- tions need to be reflected upon when interpreting the presented results. Due to geographical limitations, not all interviews could be performed in person, but rather had to be switched to an online format. Despite video-conferencing, non-verbal cues might have been imperceptible, thus potentially resulting in a different interview flow than in the in-person interviews. In addition, despite the wide array of academic backgrounds, this study – entailing only 11 expert interviews within the Melbourne metropolitan area – limits the transferability of the findings to other countries or regions in which co-design with older adults is practiced. Further research in other regional settings and cultural contexts would add useful compara- tive data. Furthermore, this study only reports on the narrative and expe- riences of facilitators and does not represent the voices of lived-experience experts as participants in co-design processes, thus limiting the insights this study provides. Future studies are needed that focus on the perspec- tives and experiences of lived-experience experts in co-design research to further our understanding and delve deeper into the nuances and intrica- cies of power dynamics in co-design with older adults. 21 Power dynamics in co-design practices with older adults Conclusion As our society continues to age, the importance of co-design practices will only become more pronounced. The future of policies and technologies lies not in creating universal, one-size-fits-all solutions, but in developing flexible and adaptable approaches that can be personalised and co-designed with those they aim to support. Our study showed that, despite efforts to create spaces that allow for this to happen, established hierarchies, power dynamics, regulations, and other kinds of formative structures appear to diminish the democratising capacity of these endeavours. If policymakers, universities, and other stakeholders, such as jour- nals and ethics committees, are genuinely committed to democratising research and design, we need approaches that ensure reflection on poten- tial blind spots that obstruct genuine inclusion. The responsibility of facil- itators of co-design therein lies not only to remain mindful of the conflict and power dynamics at play in co-design but also to raise awareness and advocate on behalf of (potential) participants in co-design.

  “Moving sands of power?” – power dynamics in co-design practices with older adults · 2026 · DOI

• Several limitations warrant consideration. First, our study did not include non-manipulative control designs, so ratings cannot be anchored to a benign baseline. Substantial variance across patterns mitigates this concern: deception ratings ranged from -2.09 (False Hierarchy) to +0.07 (Pull To Refresh), with a significant Kruskal-Wallis test (p = .015). Pull To Refresh received near-neutral deception and positive attractiveness ratings, functioning as a de facto reference point, and the central correlation depends on relative ordering rather than absolute levels. Second, we used mockups rather than functional prototypes. The near-neutral Covertness ratings and Obstruction’s failed coherence likely reflect this: covert mechanics and exit-barrier manipulations require functional interaction to fully manifest. Third, our sample skewed toward technically savvy users (87% self-reported technical savvy) residing predominantly in Austria (75%), with the survey administered in English and German. Less-savvy users may experience similar affective responses with reduced ability to articulate them. Fourth, we examined social media dark patterns specifically. Whether the deception-attractiveness association generalizes to other domains (e-commerce, health apps, financial services) remains an empirical question. Fifth, our autonomy-focused items have not undergone formal psychometric validation. The development process drew on dark pattern literature and the Microsoft Desirability Toolkit (Benedek & Miner, 2006); practical utility was nonetheless evident: the autonomy items flagged 6 patterns as deceptive and 8 as pressuring, versus 1 flagged as problematic by the standard UEQ-S overall score. Sixth, our correlational design cannot establish causality. Reverse causation (unattractive designs triggering suspicion) or a third unmeasured variable (e.g., general DECEPTION IS UGLY 21 negativity toward the interface) could drive both aesthetic and deception judgments. Experimental manipulations varying deception while controlling aesthetics would help distinguish these possibilities.

  Deception Is Ugly: Linking Aesthetic Judgment to Perceived Manipulation in Dark Patterns · 2026 · DOI

• Several directions follow. A first priority is formal scale development for the autonomy-focused items (confirmatory factor analysis, test-retest reliability). Alternative antonyms should be compared psychometrically, for example deceptive/honest alongside deceptive/benevolent, and anti-addictive in place of non-addictive, testing whether explicitly positive poles allow the instrument to characterize “bright” as well as dark patterns. A full user-experienced ethics questionnaire, with subscales for pressure, covertness, and deception, would complement existing UX instruments. Further directions include longitudinal research on whether aesthetic aversion diminishes as patterns become familiar; individual differences in the deception-unattractiveness association; and behavioral validation examining whether articulated perception predicts resistance to manipulation. Pull To Refresh and the Normalization Hypothesis. Pull To Refresh is an informative exception, rated slightly positive on deception (M = 0.07) and attractiveness (M = 0.58) despite high addiction ratings (M = -1.00). As the only case near-neutral on deception, it was also the only pattern rated positively on attractiveness, exactly as the r = 0.93 correlation would predict. We propose a normalization hypothesis: patterns that become ubiquitous may cease to co-occur with deception-related aesthetic aversion even when addictive mechanics remain recognizable. Pull To Refresh is now standard across mobile interfaces; users may acknowledge its addictive quality while no longer perceiving the design intent as deceptive, since the mechanism involves motor habit rather than cognitive misdirection. If aesthetic-based manipulation signals diminish with exposure, proactive regulatory intervention may be necessary before novel patterns become entrenched.

  Deception Is Ugly: Linking Aesthetic Judgment to Perceived Manipulation in Dark Patterns · 2026 · DOI

• Moving forward, we aim to evaluate how DLCI influences a broader range of creative agency factors, including process control, author- ship, and creative support [23, 27]. This analysis will incorporate additional user data, such as interaction logs, satisfaction ratings, and validated agency scales. We will also examine how limitations of text-to-image models (e.g., producing varying images even when the meta-prompt remains the same) influence perceived story co- herence and user satisfaction. In addition, we will investigate tech- niques for incorporating additional narrative components, such as story conflict and resolution, to better understand how creators control and tailor these elements [4].

  StoryComposerAI: Supporting Human-AI Story Co-Creation Through Decomposition and Linking · 2026 · DOI

• Given the current lack of guidelines on mobile technologies in humanitarian response, the article concludes by recommending that humanitarian practitioners draw on an existing framework, the Principles for Digital Development (2016).

  Designing User‐Centered Humanitarian Technologies with Displaced People in Iraq: Lessons from Refunite's Mobile Family Tracing Platform · 2018 · DOI

• Although user‐oriented research has been increasing, the MIR field is still lacking in holistic, user‐centered approaches to evaluating music services beyond measuring the performance of search or classification algorithms.

  User experience with commercial music services: An empirical exploration · 2015 · DOI

• In this brief contribution I argue that an apparent dichotomy between information behavior seen as the behavior of individuals and their respective information styles and information behavior considered as a social practice may be resolved by considering the underresearched corporeality of the human body aka embodiment, which is a fundamental aspect of any kind of behavior, including information behavior.

  The missing link: Information behavior research and its estranged relationship with embodiment · 2015 · DOI

• This paper bridges this gap in research and illustrates how an autistic person's interaction and reaction to their home environment, can create understanding, tangible insights and clues to inform the design and adaptation of environments to reduce triggers of anxiety, making them more comfortable, enjoyable and meaningful for that person.

  Designing living environments with adults with autism · 2014 · DOI

• Naturally this stirred the academics among us (myself included) who feel that our research is often poorly understood or, worse, ignored by practitioners and in the response session, where a panel of "experts" gave their reactions to the address, this comment sparked a dialog that would not fade with the weekend but bled over into the SIGIA list the next week.

  Three Down and Yet More to Come: A Report from the IA Summit 2002 · 2002 · DOI

• t h a t nonconforming uses be amortized over a reasonable period of t o a permitted use i n time and then r e v e r t the d i s t r i c t s f i n d themselves i s open t o criticism from the a d m i n i s t r a t i v e i f not from the l e g a l viewpoint. J u s t w h a t i s meant by the amortization of a use i s somewhat vague. It seems t o be t h e i n t e n t i o n t h a t the board of appeals should consider each ind i v i d u a l case of nonconforming use and e s t a b l i m i t f o r i t s continuance based l i s h a time the s p e c i a l circumstances surrounding it. on It would be a d i f f i c u l t t o determine such a period of time f o r the continuance of each such use,as the f a c t o r s t h a t would have t o be considered a r e so many, so It r e q u i r e s no complex, g r e a t imagination t o r e a l i z e the d i f f i c u l t y of s e t t i n g a reasonable amortization d a t e f o r a s i n g l e case; and when each decision m u s t be adjusted so as t o be reasonable and e q u i t a b l e when compared t o t h a t f o r every o t h e r nonconforming use i n a municipality, the problem becomes even more involved. and so intangible.

  Some Aspects of the Problem Of Nonconforming Uses: Discussion · 1938 · DOI

• Despite this recognition, the specific role of hand employment in various consensus-building discourses remains elusive, and there is a lack of quantitative evidence of hand employment in authentic classrooms.

  Hands-on Consensus Building: Leveraging Deep Learning Models to Unveil Hand Gestures in Consensus-Building Discourses · 2025 · DOI

• Yet, despite the recognized social-supportive role of retail venues, relatively little is known about how third place atmospheres can effectively be orchestrated in online retail settings.

  Creating and maintaining digital third places: Orchestrating interaction ritual chains at a distance · 2025 · DOI

• While the portfolio-building narrative has long been established as central to work in the creative industries, the evolving form of the creative portfolio as a key component of the self-brand and the implications on creative work in the age of social media have been comparatively underexplored.

  Brand yourself, design your future: Portfolio-building in the social media age · 2019 · DOI

• These agents are afforded high levels of discretion in the interpretation and implementation of policy and guidance, yet little is known about how they perceive this system or operate within it, creating a ‘veil’ over the decision-making process.

  The ‘veil’ of control: the perceptions and attitudes of UK design-control planners · 2019 · DOI

• These services can encompass, but are not limited to any one, digital interactions, physical products, communication materials or human interactions, and address the behind-the-scenes organizational change that must occur to support the creation and maintenance of services focused on people.

  People Are Not Users · 2018 · DOI

• In the future, an increasing number of devices will be utilized in concert to support human activities, but little is known about how these interacting multidevice settings should be designed optimally in a human-centered manner.

  Technology Choreography: Studying Interactions in Microsoft's Future Visoins Through Dance · 2017 · DOI

• The rate of change in developed markets is relatively low, unlike emerging markets (although this factor varies widely, especially between cities and rural areas).

  IA for the rest of the world · 2009 · DOI

• An enduring problem confronting design science is the question of how to distil design principles and propositions in contexts where only limited evidence has accrued directly in connection with the design problem at hand.

  Toward a (Pragmatic) Science of Strategic Intervention: Design Propositions for Scenario Planning · 2008 · DOI

• Until the early 1990s, this context was limited to a minority subculture who enjoyed interaction with the machine through the medium of learnt “command lines” in arcane computer languages.

  Modernism and the Esthetics of Personal Computing · 2003 · DOI

• Abstract Abstract In spite of the increase of citizen participation in urban design in recent years, few studies have addressed how professional designers evaluate the quality of work resulting from it.

  The Quality of Participatory Design: <i>The Effects of Citizen Input on the Design of the Boston Southwest Corridor</i> · 2001 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Innovative Human-Technology Interaction

• A generative co-design framework for healthcare innovation: development and application of an end-user engagement framework · Research Involvement and Engagement · 2021 · 272 citations
• Luminate: Structured Generation and Exploration of Design Space with Large Language Models for Human-AI Co-Creation · 2024 · 141 citations
• Single‐case experimental designs: Characteristics, changes, and challenges · Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior · 2020 · 138 citations
• Pathways for Design Research on Artificial Intelligence · Information Systems Research · 2024 · 91 citations
• Toward a (Pragmatic) Science of Strategic Intervention: Design Propositions for Scenario Planning · Organization Studies · 2008 · 77 citations
• Generative AI in User Experience Design and Research: How Do UX Practitioners, Teams, and Companies Use GenAI in Industry? · Designing Interactive Systems Conference · 2024 · 72 citations
• Collaborative speculation: Anticipation, inclusion and designing counterfactual futures for appropriation · Futures · 2021 · 61 citations
• Work Design for Global Professionals: Connectivity demands, connectivity behaviors, and their effects on psychological and behavioral outcomes · Organization Studies · 2020 · 50 citations
• Brand yourself, design your future: Portfolio-building in the social media age · New Media & Society · 2019 · 50 citations
• Understanding and using technological affordances: a response to Boyle and Cook · ALT-J · 2004 · 48 citations

Most recent work

• Verbal, visual and affective work when chairing digital meetings: a micro-ethnographic study · Journal of Organizational Ethnography · 2026
• An adaptive, youth-centred co-design methodology: place-based co-design centring youth and community participation · Research Involvement and Engagement · 2026
• How Do Future Visions Shape the Field of Human-Computer Interaction? · 2026
• Co-speculating future design research opportunities in community sharing with local sharing communities · Proceedings of DRS · 2026
• Towards GroupSense: Capturing Socio-emotional Dynamics through Postural Cues and Retrospective Reflections · 2026
• Stories as infrastructure: storytelling, care and carelessness in response to a supervised injecting room · Australian Geographer · 2026
• Making digital work flow: accomplishing waste collection through practices of repair · Journal of Organizational Ethnography · 2026
• Designing Workbook Probes for Families: A Smart Home Case Study of Intergenerational Co-Speculation · 2026
• Interactivity in the Cognition of Users to Dynamic Contents · International Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Psychology · 2026
• Swarm UIs: Impact of Assistance on Users' Sense of Agency · SPIRE - Sciences Po Institutional REpository · 2026

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