
Tools & technologies for user-centric innovation
Chairs
Prof. Dr. An Jacobs & Dr. Klaas Bombeke
Submissions to this track deal with (digital) tools & supporting technologies and technical evolutions that (can) have an impact on Living Lab theory and practice. The focus is not on the technologies or tools per se, but on their (potential) impact for user-centric innovation.
Developing open technology solutions in simulated living lab
by Nikki Holliday, T. Molitor, C. Clarck
Category: Research-in-progress
Keywords:
- living lab
- simulation
- open source
- electronic health records
- Covid-19
Abstract. Many patients still experience sub-optimal care leading to adverse outcomes such as unplanned Intensive Care Unit admission, emergency surgery, cardiac arrest, and death. Electronic Health record software has the potential to support improved identification of those at risk of deterioration, however existing proprietary software solutions are costly and not always fit for purpose. This paper describes a research project supporting the development of a new EHR open source software application which will be developed with users in a simulated living lab environment, the impact of Covid-19 on face to face data collection, and the steps the research team are taking to ensure work continues in the current global pandemic crisis.
Nikki Holliday
Design Manager at the Centre for Intelligent Healthcare

Nikki Holliday
Design Manager at the Centre for Intelligent HealthcareAfter receiving my BSc (Hons) Psychology at the University of Leeds, and completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Social Science Research Methods at the Open University, I began working as a researcher at Coventry University’s Health Design and Technology Institute (HDTI) whilst completing an MSc in Assistive Technology. I am now working as a Design Manager at the Centre for Intelligent Healthcare, specializing in managing technology product and service design through user-centered techniques such as co-creation, co-production, usability studies, focus groups and interviews, and utilizing rapid prototyping to support data collection and idea exploration with users. I have extensive research experience with service users, carers and a wide range of health and social care staff. I have experience of working on nationally funded projects such as InnovateUK, the NHS, and the Ministry of Defence, as well as commercially funded projects.
Examining people’s implicit smartphone use attitudes via an adapted IAT procedure
by Floor Denecker, Lieven De Marez, Koen Ponnet
Category: Research-in-progress
Keywords:
IAT task
Implicit measures
Smartphone use attitudes
Multimethod research
Abstract. This paper proposes an adapted IAT procedure. In this case, it is specifically used to examine adults’ attitudes towards smartphone use in particular situations. Just as in the ‘normal’ IAT procedure, the D score between the incongruent and congruent block is calculated for each participant, to examine the strength of the examined implicit association (Hargadon, Macdonald, and Fabrigar 2018). However, the analysis of the adapted IAT procedure is somewhat different. First, the consistency rates in participants responses are computed. Next, the categorization proportions for each situations are examined for each situation. In this way, ‘appropriateness’ consensus is investigated. To end, the D scores are calculated for each condition, seen as a combination of situation and categorization. The proposed adapted IAT procedure can offer interesting insights into aspects that are not otherwise accessible via explicit self-reports (Nosek, Hawkins, and Frazier 2011) and can be an interesting addition to multimethod research.
Floor Denecker
Teaching assistant, PhD candidate & junior researcher at the research group for Media, Innovation, and Communication technologies at Ghent University

Floor Denecker
Teaching assistant, PhD candidate & junior researcher at the research group for Media, Innovation, and Communication technologies at Ghent UniversityAs teaching assistant and PhD candidate at the Department of Communication Sciences, I am a junior researcher at the research group for Media, Innovation, and Communication technologies at Ghent University. In general, my research focuses on the effects of smartphone use, in different contexts, on different types of productivity and different facets of wellbeing. To investigate this, I try to bring together my knowledge about psychological experimental techniques, as for example the IAT task, and topics and theories from the field of the communication sciences. Beneath the known explicit measures, the IAT task can be used as an implicit measure to assess the impact of smartphone use on its users.
Exploring Co-Agency in Human-Machine Assemblages: Toward a Methodology for Collective Intelligence Design
by David Crombie, Soenke Zehle
Category: Research-in-progress
Keywords:
- collective intelligence design
- human-computer interaction
- collective agency
Abstract. The rise of new forms of human-machine collaboration raises questions for living lab
methodologies that aim to comprehend machines as elements in complex dynamic
systems rather than distinct technological objects. We argue that it makes sense to
approach infrastructures integrating human and machinic agency as stacks, building
on an existing systems design discourse that already adopts a holistic view of the
integration of soft- and hardware as well as dynamic contexts. The goal of this paper
is to make the case that such an approach facilitates the creation of new living lab
methodologies and encourages actors to reexamine the common sense informing
our concepts of human and machinic agency.
David Crombie
Researcher

David Crombie
ResearcherDavid has been active in research and policy co-ordination and consultancy at a European level since FP4, with a focus on human-centred strategic design issues and crossover innovation trajectories. He joined HKU in 2007 as European Research Coordinator, in 2011 he authored a pan European study on the Entrepreneurial Dimension of the Cultural and Creative Industries for EACEA informing the policy discussions for the H2020 programme for supporting the creative industry sector. He is active in many European research, innovation and policy networks and initiatives.
Soenke Zehle
Lecturer

Soenke Zehle
LecturerSoenke Zehle, media theorist, writes, teaches, curates, with a focus on collaborative arts-and-technology research. Lecturer in Media Theory at the Academy of Fine Arts Saar (HBKsaar), he is also managing co-director of K8 Institut für strategische Ästhetik gGmbH, the academy’s non-profit company for think tank, transfer, and training activities, as well as an affiliate researcher at the Ubiquitous Media Technologies Lab of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). Between 2012 and 2018 he also worked as managing director of the academy’s xm:lab - Experimental Media Lab. Current research concerns: anticipation, collective intelligence design, open technologies, documentary aesthetics.
Finding citizens insights: a digital deep dive into everyday life in Smart Kalasatama
by Mette Hiltunen, Michel Nader Sayún
Category: Practitioners papers
Keywords:
- citizen engagement
- digital participation
- participatory methods
- smart cities
- inclusivity
Abstract. In urban living labs, active citizen engagement is in the center of citizen-centric innovation. In Smart Kalasatama, the smart district of Helsinki, a six-week deep dive study with seven local households was conducted in the spring of 2020. The study was entirely carried out with digital participation tools by utilising the software Miro as a platform for online collaboration between the interviewer and interviewees. Visual digital boards were prepared to support the weekly interviews and were used to collect detailed qualitative insights about the participants’ everyday experiences and observations of the services, activities and smart solutions piloted and implemented in Kalasatama. Digital tools were found to be an effective approach to engage citizens as they allowed diverse participation and a deeper reflection while requiring less effort than traditional participatory research methods. The deep dive study can be replicated and applied to other living lab activities in the future.
Mette Hiltunen
Project Planner

Mette Hiltunen
Project PlannerMette Hiltunen (M.Sc.Eng.) works as a Project Planner at Forum Virium Helsinki and is responsible for coordinating the Smart Kalasatama Urban Lab space. With a background in design, product development and sustainability, she is focused on user-centered design processes to engage citizens and experts in co-creating better and more sustainable everyday solutions.
Michel Nader Sayún
Designer

Michel Nader Sayún
DesignerMichel Nader Sayún is a designer interested in collaboration and participatory practices from Mexico City. He currently works doing a participatory evaluation for the Smart Kalasatama project at Forum Virium Helsinki. He is studying a Master in Arts in Collaborative and Industrial Design from Aalto University and graduated from License in Industrial Design from ITESM CCM. He has worked in close collaboration with educational projects in Design Week Mexico, with World Design Organisation and independently in photojournalism and documentary filming. Michel is experienced in field research and social or community-oriented projects. He has participated and mentored in Aalto Sustainable Global Technologies as well as in Problem Based Learning South Asia. As a critical thinker, he has worked with several NGOs and government agencies. He is native in Spanish and fluent in English.
Neural Rope #1: an urban collaborative project between art and scientific research
by Elena Marchiori & Luca Maria Gambardella
Category: Practitioners papers
Keywords:
- collaborative project
- urban art
- living lab
- public space
- informal learning
- artificial intelligence
Abstract. On Sept. 2nd 2019 a new permanent interactive installation named "NeuralRope#1 Inside an Artificial Brain” located at the pedestrian tunnel in Besso-Lugano, Switzerland has been freely opened to the public. "NeuralRope#1” is an initiative of L*3 – Lugano Living Lab which facilitated the creation of this collaborative work between institutions (City of Lugano and local universities), the local artist Alex Dorici, and the scientist prof. Luca Maria Gambardella from IDSIA (Dalle Molle Institute for Artificial Intelligence, USI-SUPSI). "NeuralRope#1" represents an artificial neuronal network installed in the Besso pedestrian tunnel (length of the tunnel: 100 metres). The installation reproduces in three dimensions a large neural network using several LED screens, which are constantly operating 24/7. The installation interact through cameras with people who are walking through the tunnel. NeuralRope#1 represents a best practice of profitable collaboration between institutions, art and scientific research. Indeed, it demonstrates the opportunities to use public spaces which combine urban art and informal learning solutions. NeuralRope#1 represents a valid informal learning solution to present to public what is Artificial Intelligence and how it works. NeuralRope#1 learns from humans to interpret autonomously the environment that surrounds it. Lugano Living Lab played a crucial role in facilitating all the actors involved in the project and its development. At the same time by ensuring the openness of the project in terms of accessibility, understating, dissemination and open data. More info about the project: https://luganolivinglab.ch/en/projects/neuralrope1/
Elena Marchiori
Scientific collaborator at Lugano Living Lab - City of Lugano, Switzerland

Elena Marchiori
Scientific collaborator at Lugano Living Lab - City of Lugano, SwitzerlandElena Marchiori is a scientific collaborator at the City of Lugano, Switzerland, and coordinator at the Lugano Living Lab, the urban lab of the City of Lugano in partnership with USI-Università della Svizzera italiana. She is also a Lecturer at USI where her research areas are: usability and digital analytics, online communication and reputation in online media. She is also general secretary of the Swiss Chapter of IFITT - International Federation for Information Technologies in Travel and Tourism. She holds an M.Sc. in Media Management and a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences.