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© Copyright 2020 Lucas Franco Colusso i Understanding and Tooling Translational Research in Human-Computer Interaction Lucas Franco Colusso A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2020 Reading Committee: Gary Hsieh, Co-Chair Sean A. Munson, Co-Chair Julie A. Kientz Edward Hirsch Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Human Centered Design and Engineering ii University of Washington Abstract Understanding and Tooling Translational Research in Human-Computer Interaction Lucas Franco Colusso Chairs of the Supervisory Committee: Gary Hsieh and Sean A. Munson Human Centered Design and Engineering Successfully bridging research and practice in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) can lead to better products and services that benefit society, as well as refined research questions and theories. However, groups of HCI practitioners and HCI researchers often fail to benefit from each other’s valuable expertise, which led to the use of a “research-practice gap” metaphor to illustrates the hardships of bridging research and practice. Although the research-practice gap has framed and motivated studies and opinion pieces by HCI academics, there is still much to be understood about the relationships of research and practice in HCI. This dissertation investigates the nuances of the research-practice gap metaphor in HCI, and the knowledge exchange and use by different groups in the HCI community. Informed by such nuances, I design tools to bridge research and practice in HCI. First, I investigate the research-practice gap to expose the complexity underlying the stark separation between two groups. I study HCI community members’ current efforts to engage in Translational Research efforts, with a focus on knowledge consumption and utilization as well as barriers for knowledge to flow across groups. As a result, I propose a Translational Science Model using the concept of a continuum instead of a gap, to represent how knowledge flows in the HCI community through multiple gaps. I define and describe instances of Translational Research in the HCI field. In addition, I propose design considerations regarding the creation of resources and design methods to facilitate the translation of HCI knowledge from scientific findings to design. Through these contributions, the HCI community can better understand current practices around disseminating and translating HCI knowledge, and the challenges and opportunities for Translational Research to impact distinct design activities. Second, to help bridge the research and practice gaps, I design and evaluate tools aimed at tackling specific barriers for Translational Research in HCI. Translational Research tools in HCI have been framed around academics’ knowledge dissemination models and needs. In turn, I propose and evaluate tools focused on practitioners’ needs and workflow. In one tool, I tackled the barrier of language by creating learning modules for HCI practitioners to read and understand theoretical concepts. On another tool, I tackled the barrier of applicability and contribute a design method to facilitate the application of existing theories into the design process. Learnings from these design explorations help to further furnish our iii knowledge on how to effectively implement Translational Research efforts and provide additional nuance on the barriers for knowledge dissemination and translation in HCI. In summary, this dissertation introduces and defines Translational Research in HCI and provides a foundation for the discipline to investigate and design translational processes and tools. Such contributions will hopefully inspire efforts to consolidate a Translational Science in HCI. iv Table of Contents Table of Contents v Acknowledgments vi Glossary and Acronyms vii List of Figures ix List of Tables x Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Problem Statement and Outline 2 Chapter 2 Background 5 Knowledge Dissemination Models 5 Translational Research in Medicine 7 The Research-Practice Gap and Translational Research in HCI 15 Summary of Related Work 19 Chapter 3 A Translational Science Model for HCI 20 Methods 20 Related Work 21 Findings 25 Discussion 32 Summary of Contributions 36 Chapter 4 Translational Resources to Support Design Practice 37 Related Work 38 Methods 40 Findings 42 Discussion 47 Summary of Contributions 50 Chapter 5 Improving Understanding 51 Related Work 52 Design of the Learning Module 53 Methods 58 Results of the First Evaluation 58 Results of the Second Evaluation 63 Discussion 66 Summary of Contributions 70 Chapter 6 Facilitating Application 72 Related Work 73 The Sprint 75 Methods 80 Findings 82 Discussion 86 Summary of Contributions 90 Chapter 7 Discussion 92 Future Work 104 Chapter 8 Conclusion and Contribution 113 Bibliography 115 Appendix 124 v Acknowledgments Throughout the writing of this dissertation, I have received a great deal of support and assistance. Only with support and assistance from special and caring individuals I was able to submit this final version. I would first like to thank my supervisors, Professors Gary Hsieh and Sean A. Munson, whose expertise was invaluable in teaching me how to do research. Your insightful feedback pushed me to sharpen my thinking and brought my work to a higher level. You provided me with the tools that I needed to successfully complete my dissertation studies. Second, I would like to acknowledge my colleagues from Lab 423 and everyone at the Human Centered Design and Engineering Department for their support, collaboration, and for all of the opportunities I was given to further my career. Also, the work presented in this dissertation would not have existed without the unique and diverse contributions of so many members of the Human-Computer Interaction community. To all my students, study participants, and peers from around the world, thank you. In addition, I would like to thank my family and friends back home – who were always there for me and always will. I am also forever in debt with the outstanding professionals working for the University of Washington in multiple support roles. A special thanks goes to Allen Lee, Alice Franck, Pat Reilly, Leana De La Torre, and Machelle Allman. Finally, but not least important, I could not have completed this dissertation without the support of my loving and caring wife, Alison Jayne Kolberg. Day-to-day life with you offered happy distractions to rest my mind and my heart outside of work. To Alison – my cornerstone – I submit my infinite gratitude and love. vi Glossary and Acronyms Human-Computer Interaction I acknowledge that Human-Computer Interaction is a broad, diverse discipline that has evolved throughout the years (Bødker 2015). However, in the context of this dissertation, I will use Card et al.’s (1996) definition of Human-Computer Interaction as an applied discipline concerned with the design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive systems and with the study of phenomena surrounding them. I will often refer to Human-Computer Interaction using the acronym “HCI.” HCI Practice and HCI Research Within HCI, several designations have been used to describe practice: “Interaction design” (Goodman et al. 2011; Norman 2010; Roedl & Stolterman 2013), “HCI practice” (Ogunyemi et al. 2019), or even “UX design.” Common to the terms is that they refer to a practice containing three key elements: what a professional does, what they experience, and in what context practice happens (Goodman et al. 2011). In essence, professionals in the HCI field carry out design activities to create products or services. They design or redesign artifacts but also make deals, develop code, investigate user problems, create product roadmaps, design agendas, recruit coworkers, and navigate company politics. These professionals may be visual designers who work with graphic expression, developers implementing code, or researchers conducting applied investigations. These professionals may work in consulting companies, in-house, or they may be self-employed. Based on the previously mentioned definitions and my own understanding of practice in HCI, I define HCI practice as the process or practice of devising, planning, or constructing something, focusing on the design of effective, user-friendly, and interactive computing systems (Dix et al. 2003; Goodman et al. 2011; Velt 2018). I often refer to HCI practice as the work of interaction designers, user experience designers, user experience researchers, and software developers. This definition is somewhat limited but serves the scope of the studies in this dissertation. Second, research is the active, thorough, and systematic process for gaining and broadcasting knowledge. Research within HCI focuses on how human-computer interactions affect people’s work and activities (Dix, 2009). Research papers are often published at conferences and journals for an academic audience. Some concrete examples of knowledge that come from such research include theories, descriptions, and causal explanations and predictions (Shneiderman, 2016). Within HCI, practical knowledge, solutions, and guidelines may also be published. In the context of this dissertation and based on my own understanding of research in HCI, HCI research is concerned with investigative and design processes that produce knowledge, enabling understandings and generalizations about phenomena in the interactions between people through and with technology. From here on, I refer to HCI research as the work performed by HCI scholars in academic