Towards Design of Interaction Systems for Constrained Spaces

Abstract

The traditional definition of home is undergoing a number of changes, primarily driven by socioeconomic factors that make home affordability challenging. Other drivers of change include new technologies (such as online collaboration and work tools), the widespread availability of the internet in remote areas, and increased remote work opportunities. This shift has led to the emergence of small living spaces, such as co-living setups and tiny homes, where technology plays a crucial role in everyday activities. However, much of today's technology assumes larger living spaces, potentially compromising user experience in these spatially constrained environments.

My first chapter details a study that re-examines these implicit assumptions within human-computer interaction (HCI), focusing on how small spaces can still foster the creation of meaningful “places” through technology. By conducting phenomenological analysis and diary studies among inhabitants of small spaces, I identify key elements – boundaries, temporality, mastery, and future-thinking – that contribute to placemaking. Additionally, I found seven distinct types of places that emerge in these environments, such as leisure places and work places. These findings suggest that even in physically restricted spaces, individuals are capable of creating a rich multiplicity of places. Through this study, I demonstrated that small spaces, when augmented with technological interventions and personal agency, can support the creation of dynamic and versatile places.

My second chapter details a study where I investigated placemaking in small spaces “in the wild” by studying the non-traditional lifestyle of #vanlife. This lifestyle is gaining traction through social media and socio-economic factors noted before, and it is estimated that three million people live the vanlife in North America alone. Vanlife merges travel, home, and work, with individuals living full-time in modified cargo vans – an ideal community to further investigate placemaking in small, constrained spaces. This extended study, involving around 200 hours of fieldwork and interviews, offered a detailed portrait of vanlifers' current technology practices. A thematic analysis revealed unique intersections of technology with culture, design, homesteading, offline organization, and gaming. These findings yielded eleven provocations aimed at inspiring critical design and fostering informed inquiry into technological solutions tailored for vanlife. Through this study, I continued to uncover how technology not only adapts to but also enhances unconventional living arrangements.

Building on insights from the first two studies, I identified a design opportunity to create a research artifact that directly responded to the infrastructural constraints and placemaking practices observed in small, resource-limited environments. Through a Research through Design (RtD) process, I developed the Proteus Card Deck: a centrally coordinated set of battery-less e-ink displays that function as a hybrid physical-digital deck. Its design reflects the practical limitations and socio-technical adaptations documented in both shared housing and vanlife settings, supporting flexible, low-power, and space-efficient interaction. By enabling tangible engagement for play, Proteus fosters the creation of distributed places for work, mastery, and social connection. The final system was evaluated through a within-subjects user study using validated instruments to assess usability, player experience, and social connection, alongside qualitative analysis of open-ended feedback. Results showed that Proteus effectively extended the placemaking strategies identified in the earlier studies, enhancing perceptions of social connection in remote contexts and offering a more engaging, tangible experience than conventional digital platforms.

The trajectory from field-informed design to iterative construction to targeted deployments in the field was foundational to my research, enabling the production of situated design knowledge grounded in empirical findings and materially responsive to the lived realities of small, technologically constrained spaces. My thesis highlights the need for HCI to consider diverse living conditions in technology design, offering a new perspective on enhancing user experience in non-traditional living arrangements. This research provides a foundation for designing technology that considers spatial constraint, while opening up new avenues for HCI research in understanding and facilitating interaction in small spaces.