At home with users: a comparative view of living labs

Benedikt Ley; Corinna Ogonowski; Mu Mu; Jan Hess; Nicholas Race; David Randall; Mark Rouncefield; Volker Wulf

doi:10.1093/iwc/iwu025

At home with users: a comparative view of living labs

Benedikt Ley, Corinna Ogonowski, Mu Mu, Jan Hess, Nicholas Race, David Randall, Mark Rouncefield, Volker Wulf

Computing

Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Living Labs provide a ‘human-centric’ research approach for the design of new ICT artefacts. In Living Labs users participate over several design stages, providing insights into unexpected ICT use, co-creation and evaluation of new IT solutions. Although this approach is becoming more popular, there is little comparative and reflective work on its practical dynamics, problems and possibilities. In this study, we analyse two 4-year Living Lab projects in Lancaster, UK and Siegen, Germany within the domain of Social TV, and compare experiences. We focus on documenting the purposes, methods and user dynamics that affect the trajectory of such long-term research initiatives, focusing inter alia on the dynamics of researcher/user interaction and the developing issues of trust and managing expectations; emphasizing some often neglected ethical issues and the impact of users' individual characteristics and their role in the community dynamics of Living Labs.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	21-35
Journal	Interacting with Computers
Volume	27
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/iwc/iwu025
Publication status	Published - 29 Jul 2014

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AU - Ley, Benedikt

AU - Ogonowski, Corinna

AU - Mu, Mu

AU - Hess, Jan

AU - Race, Nicholas

AU - Randall, David

AU - Rouncefield, Mark

AU - Wulf, Volker

PY - 2014/7/29

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At home with users: a comparative view of living labs

Abstract

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