Research Products at Scale: Learnings from Designing Devices in Multiples of Ones, Tens, Hundreds and Thousands
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In this paper, I argue that scale is an important quality of research products [32] and reflect upon the lessons learnt from designing and producing research products at scales ranging from one-offs to those reproduced in thousands. I describe details from a body of research completed by our studio over twenty years by examining four research projects that were designed, developed, and manufactured at four distinct levels of scale. I draw out details from these projects that have not previously been reported and discuss the methodological implications of growth not just for design and production, but also for strategies for engaging with participants. In addition, I discuss particular features of research products produced at the four levels of scale and describe the benefits and trade-offs of producing research products at different scales.
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Framing the scaling challenge through the HCI lens of 'research products' clarifies the particular demands of scaling the Ryelands AI Lab by articulating a design space with constraints.
“To frame this challenge productively, we are considering to frame it through the established HCI lens of 'research products' [68] developed by Odom and colleagues and recently expanded precisely in the dimension of 'scale' [16] by Boucher, as this clarifies the particular demands of scaling the Ryelands AI Lab by articulating a design space with constraints.”
From Responding to Generative AI Technologies with Research-through-Design: The Ryelands AI Lab as an Exploratory Study (2024) · cites this paper as [16]
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- Authors
- Boucher, A.
- Affiliations
- Northumbria University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Boucher, Andy
- ORCID
- Boucher, Andy
- Venue
- Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- Publisher
- ACM
- Published
- 2023-04-19
- Pages
- 1-15
- OpenAlex
- W4366548902
- Cited by
- 21
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 4.87
- Type
- conference paper
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (GR/N15986/01, EP/P006256/1)
- European Research Council (Grant agreement ID: 226528)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Innovative Human-Technology Interaction
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Design Education and Practice
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Art, Technology, and Culture
- Keywords
- research products, scale, design and production, manufacturing industry, participant engagement, iterative design, prototype development
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