Associate Professor Stephen Viller
Associate Professor

Stephen Viller

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 51190

Background

Human-centred design of interactive systems

Stephen Viller is a researcher and educator in human-centred design methods, particularly applied to designing social, domestic and mobile computing technologies, and understanding how people's interactions in everyday settings inform the design of such technologies. He has over 30 years of experience in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Interaction Design, and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research, where he has focused on bridging disciplines and diverse methodological perspectives. He has concentrated on qualitative methods, particularly observational fieldwork, contextual interviews, diary studies and field trips, but also increasingly on more ‘designerly’ approaches such as cultural probes, low-fidelity prototypes, speculative design.

Stephen is an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (EECS), where he leads the Human-Centred Computing discipline. He is also UQ's Theme Leader for the Digital Worlds and Disruptive Technologies theme in the QUEX Institute, and national chair of CHISIG, the Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society of Australia (HFESA). From 2016-2019 he was the EECS (ITEE at the time) Director of Coursework Studies (Chair of T&L committee) and from 2011-2016 he was Program Director of the Bachelor of Multimedia Design and Master of Interaction Design. His publications span various interdisciplinary journals and conferences in HCI/CSCW and technology design. He has a BSc (Hons) Computation (UMIST), MSc Cognitive Science (Manchester) and PhD Computing (Lancaster).

Availability

Associate Professor Stephen Viller is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Affective computing Built Environment and Design Collaborative and social computing Communication and media studies Design Distributed computing and systems software Education Educational technology and computing Fairness, accountability, transparency, trust and ethics of computer systems Graphics, augmented reality and games Human-centred computing Human-computer interaction Information and Computing Sciences Information visualisation Language, Communication and Culture Library and information studies Mobile computing Organisational, interpersonal and intercultural communication Pervasive computing Requirements engineering Social and community informatics Social robotics Software engineering Specialist studies in education Virtual and mixed reality

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours) of Computer Science, University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
  • Masters (Coursework) of Cognitive Science, The University of Manchester
  • Doctor of Philosophy of Computer-Human Interaction, The University of Lancaster

Research interests

  • Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)

    I am interested in all aspects of the understanding of social interaction, methods of studying people in social settings, and informing the design of social technologies.

  • Interaction Design

    I am interested in people-centred methods for informing the design of interactive technologies. In particular, I explore how methods from other disciplines can be adopted and adapted to improve the software design process.

  • Emerging technologies

    Technology is only really interesting to me in terms of what it allows people to achieve. I am interested in various technologies in order to prototype and explore novel applications to solve problems in specific contexts. Current technologies I am working with include Internet of Things (IoT), Mixed and Augmented Reality (AR), Physical Computing, and mobile social software.

  • Application contexts

    Interaction design research takes place in everyday settings where we can understand current practice/activities and prototype and evaluate solutions. My research has involved a wide range of contexts, including dependable and safety-critical systems, office work, tourism, health, behaviour change, and education. In all these domains, my approach is to inform the design of technologies that not only meet the functional and usability needs/requirements of the people in the context, but that are also technologies that people would actually want to use.

Search Professor Stephen Viller’s works on UQ eSpace

109 works between 1991 and 2025
All (109) Journal Article (22) Other Outputs (6) Edited Outputs (4) Conference Publication (70) Book Chapter (7)

41 - 60 of 109 works

2016

Conference Publication

Could the inherent nature of the internet of things inhibit person-to-person connection?

Cervantes, Maria, Ramani, Ramya, Worthy, Peter, Weigel, Jason, Viller, Stephen A. and Matthews, Benjamin Robert (2016). Could the inherent nature of the internet of things inhibit person-to-person connection?. 11th ACM SIGCHI Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS 2016, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 4 - 8 June, 2016. New York, NY, United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/2908805.2909418

Could the inherent nature of the internet of things inhibit person-to-person connection?

2016

Conference Publication

StoryLamp: Sentimentality is killing the world

Disalvo, Alyssa, Watson, Leila, Yu, Zishan, Worthy, Peter, Weigel, Jason, Viller, Stephen and Matthews, Ben (2016). StoryLamp: Sentimentality is killing the world. 11th ACM SIGCHI Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, DIS 2016, Brisbane, Australia, 4-8 June, 2016. New York, United States: Association for Computing Machinery. doi: 10.1145/2908805.2909409

StoryLamp: Sentimentality is killing the world

2015

Conference Publication

Designing for visually impaired developers

Epifani, Andrea, Boden, Marie, Meinicke, Larissa, Matthews, Ben and Viller, Stephen (2015). Designing for visually impaired developers. World Conference of the International Association of Design Research, Brisbane, Australia, 2-5 November 2015. The International Association of Societies of Design Research.

Designing for visually impaired developers

2015

Other Outputs

NewsCube

Doherty, Skye, Epifani, Andrea, Lloyd, David, Harrison, John and Viller, Stephen (2015). NewsCube. Samford, QLD, Australia: NewsCubed.

NewsCube

2015

Conference Publication

Children's expectations and strategies in interacting with a Wizard of Oz Robot

Worthy, Peter, Boden, Marie, Karimi, Arafeh, Weigel, Jason, Matthews, Ben, Hensby, Kristyn, Heath, Scott, Pounds, Paul, Taufatofua, Jonathon, Smith, Michael, Viller, Stephen and Wiles, Janet (2015). Children's expectations and strategies in interacting with a Wizard of Oz Robot. OZCHI '15, Melbourne, Australia, 7-10 December 2015. New York, NY, United States: ACM. doi: 10.1145/2838739.2838793

Children's expectations and strategies in interacting with a Wizard of Oz Robot

2014

Conference Publication

Designer client communication in web design: a case study on the use of communication in practice

Dekker, Andrew, Worthy, Peter, Viller, Stephen, Zimbardi, Kirsten and Robinson, Ricky (2014). Designer client communication in web design: a case study on the use of communication in practice. Australian Computer-Human Interaction Conference (OzCHI 2014), Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2-5 December 2014. New York, NY, United States: ACM. doi: 10.1145/2686612.2686681

Designer client communication in web design: a case study on the use of communication in practice

2014

Conference Publication

Designing Support for Collaboration around Physical Artefacts: Using Augmented Reality in Learning Environments

Weigel, Jason, Viller, Stephen and Schulz, Mark (2014). Designing Support for Collaboration around Physical Artefacts: Using Augmented Reality in Learning Environments. IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) - Science and Technology, Munich Germany, 10-12 September 2014. Piscataway, NJ United States: I E E E. doi: 10.1109/ISMAR.2014.6948507

Designing Support for Collaboration around Physical Artefacts: Using Augmented Reality in Learning Environments

2014

Conference Publication

Designing for reducing procrastination on side projects

Lu, Zeqing, Matthews, Ben and Viller, Stephen (2014). Designing for reducing procrastination on side projects. Australian Computer-Human Interaction Conference (OzCHI 2014), Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2-5 December 2014. New York, NY, United States: ACM. doi: 10.1145/2686612.2686673

Designing for reducing procrastination on side projects

2013

Conference Publication

Young children engineering robots to create cities of the future: A work in progress

Campbell, C., Boden, M., Dole, S. and Viller, S. (2013). Young children engineering robots to create cities of the future: A work in progress. 24th International Conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education, Chesapeake, Canada, 25-29 March 2013. New Orleans, Louisiana, United States: SITE.

Young children engineering robots to create cities of the future: A work in progress

2013

Book Chapter

Going DEEP: Public, iterative release as a mobile research strategy

Dekker, Andrew, Marrington, Justin and Viller, Stephen (2013). Going DEEP: Public, iterative release as a mobile research strategy. Tools for Mobile Multimedia Programming and Development. (pp. 1-17) Hershey, PA, United States: IGI Global. doi: 10.4018/978-1-4666-4054-2.ch001

Going DEEP: Public, iterative release as a mobile research strategy

2013

Conference Publication

Community exchange: Social software to support group discussion

Nor, Romiza M. and Viller, Stephen (2013). Community exchange: Social software to support group discussion. 2013 International Conference of Information and Communication Technology, ICoICT 2013, Bandung, Indonesia, 20 - 22 March 2013. Piscataway, NJ United States: I E E E. doi: 10.1109/ICoICT.2013.6574564

Community exchange: Social software to support group discussion

2013

Conference Publication

Principled ways of finding, analysing and planning for communicative overhead in interaction technology for fashion industry

Yang, Jason, Rintel, Sean and Viller, Stephen (2013). Principled ways of finding, analysing and planning for communicative overhead in interaction technology for fashion industry. 15th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, HCI International 2013, Las Vegas, NV United States, 21 - 26 July 2013. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-39265-8_54

Principled ways of finding, analysing and planning for communicative overhead in interaction technology for fashion industry

2013

Conference Publication

Green robots, sustainable cities and inquiring minds: young children engineer robots to create cities of the future

Dole, Shelley, Boden, Marie, Campbell, Chris and Viller, Stephen (2013). Green robots, sustainable cities and inquiring minds: young children engineer robots to create cities of the future. 7th International Technology, Education and Development Conference (INTED), Valencia, Spain, 4-6 March 2013. Valencia, Spain: International Association of Technology, Education and Development (IATED).

Green robots, sustainable cities and inquiring minds: young children engineer robots to create cities of the future

2012

Conference Publication

Design of software to support families with food-allergic and food-intolerant children

Henricksen, Karen and Viller, Stephen (2012). Design of software to support families with food-allergic and food-intolerant children. 24th Australian Computer-Human Interaction Conference (OzCHI 2012), Melbourne, VIC, Australia, 26 - 30 November 2012. New York, USA: ACM. doi: 10.1145/2414536.2414571

Design of software to support families with food-allergic and food-intolerant children

2012

Conference Publication

Outsourcing: Mashing up design methods and technologies in the fashion industry

Yang, Jason, Viller, Stephen and Rintel, Sean (2012). Outsourcing: Mashing up design methods and technologies in the fashion industry. PIN-C 2012: Participatory Innovation Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 12-14 January 2012. Sønderborg, Denmark: University of Southern Denmar.

Outsourcing: Mashing up design methods and technologies in the fashion industry

2012

Journal Article

Street computing: towards an integrated open data application programming interface (API) for cities

Robinson, Ricky, Rittenbruch, Markus, Foth, Marcus, Filonik, Daniel and Viller, Stephen (2012). Street computing: towards an integrated open data application programming interface (API) for cities. Journal of Urban Technology, 19 (2), 1-23. doi: 10.1080/10630732.2012.698064

Street computing: towards an integrated open data application programming interface (API) for cities

2011

Conference Publication

Open-ended art environments motivate participation

Morrison, Ann, Viller, Stephen and Mitchell, Peta (2011). Open-ended art environments motivate participation. 8th International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (ACE2011), Lisbon, Portugal, 8–11 November 2011. New York, United States: ACM Press. doi: 10.1145/2071423.2071479

Open-ended art environments motivate participation

2011

Conference Publication

Discovery table: Exploring the design of tangible and ubiquitous technology for learning in preparatory classrooms

Boden, Marie, Andrew Dekker and Viller, Stephen (2011). Discovery table: Exploring the design of tangible and ubiquitous technology for learning in preparatory classrooms. 23rd Australian Computer-Human Interaction Conference, Canberra, Australia, 28 November - 2 December 2011. New York, United States: ACM Press. doi: 10.1145/2071536.2071543

Discovery table: Exploring the design of tangible and ubiquitous technology for learning in preparatory classrooms

2010

Conference Publication

Dialogic shifts: The rhythm and sequence of artefacts in aesthetically informed interaction design practice

Yuille, Jeremy, Akama, Yoko, Macdonald, Hugh, Stewart, Nifeli, Vaughan, Laurene and Viller, Stephen (2010). Dialogic shifts: The rhythm and sequence of artefacts in aesthetically informed interaction design practice. 22nd Annual Conference of the Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group (CHISIG) of Australia on Computer-Human Interaction, Brisbane, Australia, 22-26 November 2010. New York , United States: ACM Press (Association for Computing Machinery). doi: 10.1145/1952222.1952263

Dialogic shifts: The rhythm and sequence of artefacts in aesthetically informed interaction design practice

2010

Conference Publication

Ethnography considered useful: Situating criticality

Morrison, Ann, Viller, Stephen and Mitchell, Peta (2010). Ethnography considered useful: Situating criticality. 22nd Annual Conference of the Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group (CHISIG) of Australia on Computer-Human Interaction, Brisbane, Australia, 22 - 26 November 2010. New York, United States: ACM Digital Library. doi: 10.1145/1952222.1952261

Ethnography considered useful: Situating criticality

Current funding

  • 2024 - 2028
    The Enhancing Women's Recovery after Cancer Treatment Program (RECENTRE): A values-based implementation and evaluation (NHMRC 2022 Partnership Project PRC3 administered by Griffith University)
    Griffith University
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2026
    XR Safety Training for Crisis Situations
    CSIRO
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2023 - 2024
    The Enhancing Women's Recovery after Cancer Treatment Program (RECENTRE): A values-based implementation and evaluation
    NHMRC Partnership Projects
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2023
    Redback Smart Monitoring Platform (Advance Queensland Platform Technology Program grant administered by Redback Operations Pty Ltd)
    Redback Technologies Australia
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2017
    COMPASS - passport processing research project
    Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
    Open grant
  • 2012 - 2014
    Home EnergyCoach: Driving energy efficient behaviours through interactive technologies
    UQ FirstLink Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2011 - 2013
    Green robots, sustainable cities and inquiring minds: Young children engineer robots to create cities of the future
    UQ Collaboration and Industry Engagement Fund
    Open grant
  • 2009 - 2010
    Accessible Interactions
    Australasian CRC for Interaction Design
    Open grant
  • 2008 - 2010
    Urban Interfaces
    Australasian CRC for Interaction Design
    Open grant
  • 2005 - 2009
    Suburban Communities
    Australasian CRC for Interaction Design
    Open grant
  • 2005 - 2007
    Virtual Communities
    Australasian CRC for Interaction Design
    Open grant
  • 2005 - 2006
    HDM Touchstone
    Australasian CRC for Interaction Design
    Open grant
  • 2003
    Human-centred design of ubiquitous computing systems
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant

Availability

Associate Professor Stephen Viller is:
Available for supervision

Looking for a supervisor? Read our advice on how to choose a supervisor.

Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Associate Professor Stephen Viller directly for media enquiries about:

  • Computer Supported Cooperative Work - CSCW
  • Engineering - ITEE
  • Human-centred design - ITEE
  • Human-Computer Interaction - HCI
  • Interaction Design - IxD
  • Interactive technologies - ITEE
  • ITEE - engineering
  • Mixed Reality
  • Mobile social software MoSoSo
  • Physical Computing
  • Requirements Engineering - RE
  • Social software - ITEE
  • Ubiquitous Computing - UbiComp
  • User Experience Design

Need help?

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communications@uq.edu.au