Human Work Interaction Design by Torkil Clemmensen

Author:Torkil Clemmensen
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030717964
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

7.2 Theorizing (Theory Building) Workshops

The theorizing workshop is a method for using the HWID platform to create publishable theory. It is to be used when the participating researchers each have one or more finished workshop papers or other forms for work-in-progress papers. It can be used in small groups like student report groups with 2–5 participants, research project groups with 5–20 participants, or larger symposium groups of 20–100 participants. The main idea is to collaboratively theorize and have fun with that. Since the purpose is to create theory, it is different from most design methods. For example, theorizing workshops would probably not apply design fiction understood as a methodological interweaving of the designer’s practice with that of the science fiction author’s (Markussen & Knutz, 2013; Sterling, 2009), though this approach by a closer look appears to be a socio-technical humanistic approach to design science; theorizing workshops would rather more specifically seek to interweave the designer’s practice with that of the academic research authors.

Furthermore, a theorizing workshop is about theory building, not about academic paper writing. Individual papers can be improved by getting dedicated feedback from other researchers regarding RQ, use of theory/literature, method, discussion, and more. Theory can be tested in empirical work by grounding predictions with existing models, diagrams, or figures, or by comparing with existing theory. However, a theorizing workshop is neither about improving academic writing or about empirical testing of existing theory; a theorizing workshop is about theory building and exploration, that is, a support and part of the practice of theorizing. The theorizing is about, within and across academic research papers, to examine previously unexplored relationship or processes, including HW-ID relations and case-specific HWID processes. In addition, to introduce new constructs or significantly re-conceptualize existing ones in a re-conceptualization of what we mean by, for example, ‘interaction design’ in HWID. Finally, a theorizing workshop or sessions should focus on a specific overarching theme, which most probably could be the conference theme.

Steps in a theorizing workshop

A theorizing workshop has two theorizing steps, a self-reflection step and a preparation and a communication step. Step zero is the preparation step. This is where the data and research papers are gathered and perhaps, if not already, read or read again. An agenda for the theorizing is set, a schedule rolled out, and roles allocated. Theorizing material is made available.

The first theorizing step is to articulate the constructs of a theory (Weber, 2003). This means to formulate new constructs which are then used to build a new theory about some phenomena. The phenomena can be a novel one not described in previous theory—in HCI typically a novel (interaction) technology. Or it can be a twist or a tweak that the researchers do in their conceptualization of an already conceptualized phenomena. In both cases, they need to build a new theory of the phenomenon that reflects this conceptualization. Articulating the construct may include (1) to define the constructs of an existing theory more precisely, (2) delete constructs from an existing theory to

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