Interests:

• Creative and Arts-based Methods including visual methods, drawing, storytelling, storymapping, dance
• Participatory and Co-Design Methods
• Arts in HCI
• First Person/Autobiographical Research Methods
• Software Design and Engineering
• Graphic Facilitation, Visualisation of Data/Information/Knowledge
• Comics Studies
• Death and Bereavement Studies
• Psychology (emotion, personality, identity, self, autism)
• Speech and Language Therapy (aphasia)

Projects:

2023-present: Arts Engagement and Digital Technologies in an Independent Library

• project exploring arts engagement and digital technology to foster sharing of stories/feedback/comments in an independent library
• project also explores how this can increase engagement with the historical information and other offers by such a library
• collaboration with The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne (Lit & Phil), Ahmed Kharrufa and Rob Anderson from Open Lab, School of Computing, Newcastle University
• for more information see project description at Open Lab

2022-present: Self-Organised Learning Evironments for Young Refugees and Asylum Seekers

• project on self-organised learning environments (SOLEs) for young refugees and asylum seekers
• methods used include draw-write-tell with sentence completion, cue-card-supported visual storytelling, roleplay, pupil view templates
• collaboration with Reem Refaat Talhouk from Nortumbria School of Design (Northumbria University), Bridget Lara Stratford from Action Foundation, Haley Powers from North-East Solidarity and Teaching (Newcastle University), Ahmed Kharrufa from the School of Computing, Newcastle University and James Stanfield from the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences (Newcastle University)
• for more information see project description on CDC website

2023/2024: Travelling Sketchbook for Arts in HCI

• ’Travelling Sketchbook for Arts in HCI’ showcasing arts-based practice in HCI of international researchers and artists
• contributions by researchers and artists from Canada, China, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Sweden, the UK and the USA
• explores the intersection between HCI and artistic expression, illuminating what it means to use art in HCI
• shows the breadth of Arts in HCI, illustrating the many fruitful possibilities for extending existing research and dissemination methods in HCI
• also advocates for equal authorship between principal researchers and contributing artists.
• for more information see project description at Open Lab

2023: Autoethnographic Exploration of Doodling

• ’Travelling Sketchbook for Arts in HCI’ showcasing arts-based practice in HCI of international researchers and artists
• collaboration with Makayla Lewis from Kingston University London, UK, Miriam Sturdee from Unversity of St Andrews, UK and Mafalda Gamboa from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
• explores doodling as a tool for self-control while attending passive online spaces
• uses autoethnographic diary and a collection of doodles
• developed five themes using affinity diagramming: More than human, Designerly ways of sketching, Traces of time and space, Emotional aesthetics & thoughts, Sketching materials, techniques, and tangible characteristics.
• for more information see project description at Open Lab

2023: Tabletop Role-Playing for Inclusive Design

• topic: sustainable futures for ‘older adults’
• methods used include: Tabletop Role-playing, drawing (iSquare), visual sketchnotes, group discussion and observation
• hands-on workshop at Academic Mindtrek 2023 Conference; 03-06 Oct 2023, Tampere, Finland
• collaboration with Kirsikka Kaipainen from Tampere University, Michael Heron from Chalmers and Gothenburg University, Miriam Sturdee from University of St Andrews, Makayla Lewis from Kingston University London and Jennifer Liddle from Newcastle University
• for more information see project description at Open Lab

2022-2023: Digital Approaches for Gathering Student Opinions in School

• project on digital technology to ascertain student opinion in schools
• methods used include interviews and focus groups supported by map-based visual methods and drawing
• collaboration with Pamela Woolner and Alison Whelan from the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences as well as Ahmed Kharrufa from the School of Computing, all Newcastle University
• funded by the UK government's Department for Education
• report published by the UK government's Department of Education on Gov.uk
• for more information see project description at Open Lab

2022-2023: Social Robots and Community Issues

• project on adolescents' design of social robots as response to issues in their local community
• was conducted as part of Altitude Foundation's "Code Project: Bots for Good"
• methods used involve drawing, clay sculpting and MicroBits, structured interviews and questionnaires
• collaboration with Altitude Foundation and Kirsikka Kaipainen, Tampere University
• for more information see project description at the Centre for Digital Citizens

2022: QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project

• project on badging and micro-credentialing within UK Higher Education through the use of 21st Century skills profiles
• with Rupert Ward, Alan Hayes, James H. Davenport and others from various UK universities

2021: Sonic Dancer project

• methods used include dance, music, card sorting and drawing as well as observation and semi-structured interviews
• Silvia Carderelli-Gronau (Bath Spa University, UK) and Dr Swen E. Gaudl (University of Plymouth, UK/University of Gothenburg, Sweden)
• Human-Computer Interaction Consultant (Contractor) in creative technology project using movement and sound to enable connection and interaction beyond the visual sphere

2015-2018: Leverhulme Trust project 3DBI

• at Department of Computer Science, Department of Psychology (CAAR Centre for Applied Autism Research), University of Bath, UK
• developing digital behaviour interventions for children with autism, their parents and teachers

2015/2016: Public engagement project "Nature tales and tails: children, drawing and nature"

• funded by the Public Engagement Unit of University of Bath
• methods used include drawing, living art sculpture
• project co-lead of a participatory research project on marine nature, exploring primary school children's research experiences through participatory arts-based methods (drawing, writing, visual storymapping, living flower sculpture)

2015: Virtual Roman Experience (virtual reality dome)

• public engagement project on experiencing and learning about (architectural) history through virtual reality domes, Departments of Computer Science and Architecture of University of Bath, at the Cheltenham Science Festival

2013: Joint attention in human-human and human-robot interaction

• at School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol & Bristol Robotics Laboratory, UK
• funded by full graduate scholarship by Leonardo da Vinci EU Programme
• quantitative study on joint attention in human-human and human-robot interaction, focus: gaze behaviour

2012/2013: JISC funded project Open Innovation Exchange

• at Serious Games Institute SGI, Coventry, UK
• development of a virtual marketplace web application for open innovation exchange between research and industry

2011-2013: researchingGames BarCamp (later GameCamp Berlin)

• Co-organisator and -coordinator of 'unconference' on digital games research with participants from various disciplines including computer science, media studies, social science and literature studies

2009-2012: Games Master Class

• at Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Media Technology IDMT Children's Media Department, Erfurt, Germany
• research seminar on digital games, with students of various disciplines and professionals of the digital games industry

2010: Fraunhofer Talent School workshop "Digital Games as Research Tools"

• participatory STEM/MINT workshop by researchers for highschool students

2009: Childrens' and Parents' Panel (CHIPP)

• at Fraunhofer IDMT, Erfurt, Germany
• project workshops on (violence in) digital games involving active and receptive media work with children and their parents, including participatory storyboarding and video production

2009: Colloquium on Design through Storyboarding CoDeS

• organiser of research colloquium on storyboarding and storytelling approaches towards the design of software applications

2009: Girls' Day workshop "Digital Games as Research Tools"

• at Fraunhofer IDMT, Ilmenau, Germany
• conception, conduction and evaluation of participatory STEM/MINT workshop for girls by researchers for high school students

2006/2007: Internship at FP7 funded IPerG Project

• at Trans-Reality Game Laboratory, Högskolan på Gotland, Visby, Sweden
• funded by full undergraduate scholarship by Leonardo da Vinci EU programme
• concept, technical design and implementation of a digital game prototype "House of Bubbles"