Designing for (hidden) energy responsibilities

In the field of Sustainable Human-Computer Interaction, there are many examples of research exploring how ICT can be used to influence people’s energy use. Typically, this research focuses on domestic electricity use and on how to persuade individuals to reduce or change their use of electricity. However, the effectiveness of such approaches has been questioned and it has been proposed to look beyond the individual to the communities, corporations and governments that affect people’s energy practices. In my PhD work, which is now halfway through, I have studied roles and responsibilities that could influence energy related practices for the cases of personal transportation needs and energy use in apartment buildings. For each of the cases I have identified: key roles and responsibilities that could influence energy practices, examples of situations where ICT (together with other interventions) could support a more sustainable use of energy, and design aspects that are important to consider in such situations. These preliminary findings are presented and discussed together with suggestions for directions of future work.

Program:
13:15-15:15 50% seminar Hanna with discussant Maria Håkansson from Chalmers
15:15-15:30 fika
15:30-16:30 seminar Maria Håkansson

The 50% text is available from Hanna on request.

PhD student: Hanna Hasselqvist
Supervisors: Cristian Bogdan, Ylva Fernaeus, Mario Romero

Most welcome!