Sabbath day home automation: "it's like mixing technology and religion"
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
A digital family calendar in the home: lessons from field trials of LINC
GI '07 Proceedings of Graphics Interface 2007
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Dying, death, and mortality: towards thanatosensitivity in HCI
CHI '09 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
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Computing supports a number of activities across the lifespan, from interactive games for children to smart homes for seniors. However, one part of the lifespan which is often overlooked by application designers is the end of life - a period marked by issues of mortality, dying, and death. My thesis takes up this area as its object of study, and does so specifically by examining the bereaved as a target population. I argue that most modern technologies are not designed with proper acknowledgement of the eventual death of their users, and that this oversight results in a series of circumstances which complicate affairs for bereaved family members. Based on evidence from a survey and interview study, I identify opportunities for technology designers to support bereavement activities through a process called "thanatosensitive design." My thesis seeks to contribute methodological insights for designing for the end of the lifespan, a novel system which connects bereaved individuals together, and account of how this system mediates social support.