Thomas Otto (short bio)

Designer & Design Researcher, Germany

Astrid Deichmann (short bio)

User-centred IT Processes, Germany

Objectives:

The tutorial aims to encourage discussion, exchange approaches, and apply them in a hands-on fashion in the concept/design phases of new or current algorithmic systems that will have an impact on people and businesses.

Content and benefits:

Designers and HCI professionals face new complexities in their work today. We are not only creating interactions for individual applications (apps, websites, services) for humans but rather complete digital ecosystems that can't be hardly managed without smart agents and their underlying algorithms. These systems and their agents already have an impact on people from loan application, insurance, (online) security to the critical infrastructure. This poses new challenges to us. We must adapt to, explore, and try new things to face these challenges. The goal of the tutorial is to introduce new practices, talk about them, and use them. To help designers and HCI professionals deal with complexities and build better algorithmic systems. The tutorial will be based on academic research insights, expert groups, industry experience, and participant input. 

The participants will work in groups focussing on cases from different areas (welfare, public services and health). Working along the process steps in a workshop environment covering all stages of creating an algorithmic system with focus on the »Design & Conception« phase:

1. Goal and requirement gathering
   Why do we need a system? Why are the goals? Which problem do we try to solve?
2. Design & Conception
   How does an interaction between systems and people look like? What impact will it have on people and business?
3. Testing & Iteration
   How can we prototype our ideas and possible outcomes of our systems?
4. Implementation & Maintenance
   How can a robust implementation look like? How can feedback loops between people and the system look like?

The tutorial is acting as a safe space to explore, discuss and fail with attempts. It provides professionals the possibility to learn/discuss approaches and apply them with peers and other experts.

Target Audience:

This tutorial aims to bring together professionals from the field of HCI and design who are working on algorithmic systems/projects and people from the theoretical background to apply methods and insights on implementation projects.

List of materials or devices required by the participants:

• Material from your research/project that you want to share as digital assets or printed artefacts
• Adapter for a projector (if needed to share some work)
• Pens (thicker ones, like sharpies)