
Overview
Background
I study design as a collaborative process that materialises alternative social futures. Those futures are sometimes new products, systems, services, infrastructures and technologies. But they can also be social contracts, agreements, processes, ways of working and new possibilities for our collective lives together.
I currently lead research projects in three broad domains: designing advocacy, designing the materials of participation, and augmenting skill and expertise through design.
The designing advocacy project has worked with a range of stakeholders with reduced agency such as people with mental health needs, chronic illnesses, injured workers, and other stigmatised or at-risk groups. We have developed methods for the inclusion of their perspectives in design processes, insights about their specific conditions and needs, critical analyses of how they are conceptualised from the perspectives of technologists and service providers, and design proposals for services and technologies that amplify their agency.
The designing the materials of participation project develops formats and processes for participatory design—the inclusion of stakeholders in the design of systems that will affect the organisation of their work and life. In this project we study how technologies and systems are used in microanalytic detail, analysing how tools and materials shape people's interactions. We use this understanding as a basis for the design of new methods and processes (and sometimes new matierals) for involving people in the design process, and giving them greater autonomy over the systems they will use.
The augmenting skill and expertise through design project studies specialist work practices for the purposes of developing technology support for that work. We have worked with aeromedical teams, audiologists, passport officers, emergency first responders, quick service chefs, primary school teachers, and other professional contexts of use to understand the local and particular skills that enable those workplaces to function effectively and collaboratively. We use these understandings to inform the deisgn of technologies and work practices that support, and preserve, those core professional skills.
The constants across these projects relate to the design process—the methods used to understand people, identify design opportunities, facilitate collaboration between project stakeholders, champion users' contexts and requirements, prototype early solutions, evaluate concepts in the field, and build new technologies. This results in a variety of research contributions: new design methods and perspectives that have been tailored for specific contexts of use, identification of the potentials and limitations of different approaches to design and analysis, the discovery of context-specific issues for the design of new systems, new understandings of people, their work and contexts of use, and the design and evaluation of bespoke technologies.
Availability
- Associate Professor Ben Matthews is:
- Available for supervision
Fields of research
Qualifications
- Bachelor (Honours) of Engineering, The University of Queensland
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
Research interests
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Interaction design
Ben's research focuses on the human and social aspects of designing technologies. His research develops methods for studying design, for studying how people use technologies, and for designing interactive products and systems. His work has developed methods and approaches for involving users and other stakeholders in technology design processes, designing new products and systems, as well as case studies of design processes in organisations and analyses of technology use in people's everyday lives.
Works
Search Professor Ben Matthews’s works on UQ eSpace
2009
Journal Article
Intersections of brainstorming rules and social order
Matthews, Ben (2009). Intersections of brainstorming rules and social order. CoDesign, 5 (1), 65-76. doi: 10.1080/15710880802522403
2009
Book Chapter
Intersections of social order and brainstorming rules
Matthews, Ben (2009). Intersections of social order and brainstorming rules. About: designing: Analysing design meetings. (pp. 33-47) edited by Janet McDonnell and Peter Lloyd. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
2009
Journal Article
Technology use and patient participation in audiological consultations
Matthews, Ben and Heinemann, Trine (2009). Technology use and patient participation in audiological consultations. Australasian Medical Journal, 1 (12), 174-180. doi: 10.4066/AMJ.2009.99
2009
Conference Publication
From occupying to inhabiting - A change in conceptualising comfort
Jaffari, Svenja D. and Matthews, Ben (2009). From occupying to inhabiting - A change in conceptualising comfort. Beyond Kyoto Conference, Aarhus, Denmark, 5-7 March 2009. Bristol, United Kingdom: Institute of Physics Publishing. doi: 10.1088/1755-1315/8/1/012008
2009
Conference Publication
Peeling apples: prototyping design experiments as research
Mattelmaki, Tuuli and Matthews, Ben (2009). Peeling apples: prototyping design experiments as research. Nordic Design Research Conference: Engaging Artefacts, Oslo, Norway, 30 August – 1 September 2009. Oslo, Norway: AHO.
2008
Journal Article
Emergent interaction: Creating spaces for play
Matthews, Ben, Stienstra, Marcelle and Djajadiningrat, Tom (2008). Emergent interaction: Creating spaces for play. Design Issues, 24 (3), 58-71. doi: 10.1162/desi.2008.24.3.58
2008
Conference Publication
Talking about hearing: Designing from users' problematisations
Kjeldsen, Malene and Matthews, Ben (2008). Talking about hearing: Designing from users' problematisations. 5th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (NordiCHI'08), Lund, Sweden, 18 - 22 October 2008. New York, United States: ACM Press. doi: 10.1145/1463160.1463237
2008
Journal Article
What can we learn from the probes? The role of interpretation in contributions to knowledge
Matthews, Ben and Horst, Willem (2008). What can we learn from the probes? The role of interpretation in contributions to knowledge. Working Papers in Art & Design, 5.
2008
Conference Publication
Participatory innovation: A research agenda
Buur, Jacob and Matthews, Ben (2008). Participatory innovation: A research agenda. 10th Conference on Participatory Design, PDC 2008, Bloomington, Indiana, 1- 4 October 2008. New York, NY: ACM Press.
2007
Journal Article
Easy doesn't do it: Skill and expression in tangible aesthetics
Djajadiningrat, Tom, Matthews, Ben and Stienstra, Marcelle (2007). Easy doesn't do it: Skill and expression in tangible aesthetics. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 11 (8), 657-676. doi: 10.1007/s00779-006-0137-9
2007
Journal Article
Locating design phenomena: A methodological excursion
Matthews, Ben (2007). Locating design phenomena: A methodological excursion. Design Studies, 28 (4), 369-385. doi: 10.1016/j.destud.2006.12.002
2006
Conference Publication
Grammar, meaning and movement based interaction
Matthews, Ben (2006). Grammar, meaning and movement based interaction. OZCHI 2006, Sydney, Australia, 20 -24 November 2006. New York, United States: ACM Digital Library. doi: 10.1145/1228175.1228258
2005
Conference Publication
Practical action as inquiry - facilitating appropriation in a design handover event
Matthews, Ben and Clark, Brendon (2005). Practical action as inquiry - facilitating appropriation in a design handover event. 6th International Confernce of the European Academy of Design, Bremen, Germany, 29-31 March 2005. Bremen, Germany: European Academy of Design.
2005
Conference Publication
Teaching design research in the studio
Matthews, Ben and Buur, Jacob (2005). Teaching design research in the studio. Nordic Design Research Conference: In the Making, Copenhagen, Denmark, 29 - 31 May 2005.
2004
Other Outputs
Studying design : an interpretive and empirical investigation of design activity at differing levels of granularity
Matthews, Benjamin Robert (2004). Studying design : an interpretive and empirical investigation of design activity at differing levels of granularity. PhD Thesis, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/106835
2001
Conference Publication
Brick games in boardrooms: Making use context tangible
Matthews, B, Brereton, M and Buur, J (2001). Brick games in boardrooms: Making use context tangible. 5th Design Thinking Research Symposium, Delft Netherlands, 18-20 December 2001. Delft, The Netherlands: DUP Science.
2000
Conference Publication
Reflections on a candidate user-interface for a wireless vital signs monitor
Mcgarry, B., Matthews, B. and Brereton, M. (2000). Reflections on a candidate user-interface for a wireless vital signs monitor. DARE 2000, Elsinore, Denmark, 12-14 April 2000. Elsinore, Denmark: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). doi: 10.1145/354666.354670
2000
Conference Publication
The role of social and physical interaction in engineering concept generation
Matthews, B. and Brereton, M. F. (2000). The role of social and physical interaction in engineering concept generation. CoDesigning 2000, Coventry, UK, 11-13 September 2000. Great Britain: Coventry University.
2000
Conference Publication
Knowledge and inspiration: Concept generation in engineering design
Matthews, B. R. and Brereton, M. F. (2000). Knowledge and inspiration: Concept generation in engineering design. Engineering Design Conference 2000, Brunel University, UK, 27-29 June 2000. London: Professional Engineering Publishing.
Supervision
Availability
- Associate Professor Ben Matthews is:
- Available for supervision
Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.
Supervision history
Current supervision
-
Doctor Philosophy
Weaving Tech and Teach: A Participatory Design Exploration with Primary School Teachers
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Viller
-
Doctor Philosophy
Exploring Emotional and Cognitive Effects of Heterogeneous Mixed Reality Remote Collaboration
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Viller
-
Doctor Philosophy
Projection-Based Augmented Reality as a collaborative tool in Architecture Education
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Marie Boden
-
Doctor Philosophy
Design Fixation and its Impact on Creative Thinking in Primary School Students
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Kim Wilkins
-
Doctor Philosophy
Technology support for information needs in the patient trauma pathway
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Penelope Sanderson
-
Doctor Philosophy
An opportunity for death-positive design
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Skye Doherty
-
Doctor Philosophy
Communication and collaboration with head-worn displays: A program of laboratory studies
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Nicole Hartley, Dr Cassandra Chapman
-
Doctor Philosophy
Designing for location dependence: a framework for design
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Viller
-
Doctor Philosophy
A conversation analysis study of the 1993 Waco siege negotiations
Associate Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
Communication and collaboration with head-worn displays: A program of laboratory studies
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Nicole Hartley, Dr Cassandra Chapman
-
Doctor Philosophy
A conversation analysis study of the 1993 Waco siege negotiations
Associate Advisor
-
Doctor Philosophy
Exploring Mobile Games as Tools for Screening Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression: A Game Analytics Approach
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Julie Henry, Dr Nell Baghaei
-
Doctor Philosophy
Exploring Mobile Games for Screening Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression: A Game Analytics Approach
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Julie Henry, Dr Nell Baghaei
-
Doctor Philosophy
Designing for location dependence: a framework for design
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Viller
-
-
Doctor Philosophy
Head-worn displays in healthcare: Provider, patient, and social perspectives
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Nicole Hartley, Dr Cassandra Chapman
-
Doctor Philosophy
Make Your Own Language Adventure Game: Co-Developing Complex Digital Language Materials With Young Learners
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Janet Wiles
Completed supervision
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Projection-Based Augmented Reality as a collaborative tool in Architecture Education
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Marie Boden
-
2024
Doctor Philosophy
Weaving Tech and Teach: A Participatory Design Exploration with Primary School Teachers
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Viller
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Supporting Healthcare Workers in an Emergency Medical Response Context with Head-Worn Displays
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Professor Penelope Sanderson
-
2022
Doctor Philosophy
Material Forms of Participation: Exploring the Value of Design by Making Design Methods Accessible to Non-designers
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Stephen Snow
-
2021
Doctor Philosophy
Fiercely practical: Developing a novel ethnomethodologically-informed think-aloud analysis for investigating the work of play of computer roleplaying games
Principal Advisor
-
2020
Doctor Philosophy
Setting wicked problems using design methods: People's hesitancy to engage with the Internet of Things
Principal Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Viller
-
2023
Doctor Philosophy
Women¿s Empowerment: Saudi women¿s perceptions of strategies and policies in relation to women¿s employment in the IT industry
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Dr Jessica Korte
-
2015
Doctor Philosophy
Web Designer / Client Communication: An in-situ development and evaluation of tools and methods to support the collaborative design of interactive technologies
Associate Advisor
Other advisors: Associate Professor Stephen Viller
Media
Enquiries
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