@inproceedings{Hirsch2026ContextualizingPublicb,
title = {Contextualizing Public Interfaces for Meaningful Human-Environment Interactions with Traces in Use},
author = {Linda Hirsch (Social Emotional Technology Lab, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States), Dr Marius Hoggenmüller (Design Lab, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia), Prof. Dr. Andreas Martin Butz (LMU Munich, Munich, Germany, Louisa Sophie Bekker (LMU Munich, Munich, Germany), Sarita Maria Sridharan (LMU Munich, Munich, Germany), Ceenu George (Chair of Human-Computer Interaction, TU Berlin, Berlin, Germany)},
url = {https://www.hci.tu-berlin.de/, website},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-04-13},
urldate = {2026-04-13},
abstract = {Meaningful interactions positively impact users' meaning-making and feeling socially and culturally connected with their surroundings. However, creating such interactions is a continuous, complex challenge. We present the Traces in Use design concept supporting interface contextualization for meaningful human-environment interactions in public places. The concept was developed and evaluated in three steps: I) exploring traces of use characteristics as inspiration for design, II) introducing the concept definition, its theoretical evaluation, and a supporting framework, and III) practically evaluating the concept by developing, contextualizing, and testing three interfaces (a lion interface, a drum, and a storyteller) in two empirical field studies (N=40). The results show that the concept promotes meaningful interaction by supporting users' feelings of socio-cultural connectedness and meaning-making. With this, our work contributes the Traces in Use design concept, its development, and its methodological application for meaningful human-environment interactions and interface contextualization in public places.},
keywords = {Journal},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inproceedings}
}