Adam Parnaby

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I am a postgraduate researcher, designer, and maker. Before joining Open Lab, I spent several years designing live games and escape rooms utilising custom-built electronics and software. Prior to that, I studied Physics at Durham University. I have designed and built a variety of technologies including automated radiation monitors, digital noticeboards, interactive puzzles and games designed to build teamwork and communication skills, and a password-protected rotary phone.

My research interests include new modes of civic participation afforded by technology, digital inclusion, the experiences of marginalised people with regard to digital services, and the role of identity and confidence in an increasingly digital world. In my recent work, I have collaborated with communities experiencing marginalisation in order to design interventions to facilitate the learning and practice of digital skills.

I take the view that everyone is an expert on their own lived experience. As a result, my research is typically participatory in nature, and I seek to work closely with communities in order to centre the voices of people impacted by the design process.

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The Map Is Not The Territory

In Science and Sanity¸ Alfred Korzybski remarks that “A map is not the territory it represents”. This very nicely encapsulates the idea that a model of reality is not, in and of itself, reality. Rather, its value is derived from how closely it resembles reality, that we may use the model to make purposeful decisions.

Outside Context

In 1991, Scientific American published an article by Mark Weiser titled The Computer for the 21^st Century. In it, Weiser presents an idyllic vision of a world where “computers are so ubiquitous that no one will notice their presence”. It presents a story of Sal,

Situated Action - So What?

According to Suchman’s (2006) idea of situated action, plans are not the be-all and end-all of human behaviour. Whilst we may make plans, and use them as tools to inform our actions, no plan we can (practically) create could possibly account for every situation. There is always the chance that the course we chart will take us into the proverbial storm,

What Are We Studying, Anyway?

When researching human-computer interactions, the same phenomenon can be approached in many different ways. Take, for example, the common habit of closing a pop-up dialog (such as might appear on a webpage or in an app when taking some irreversible action) without reading it. Since, presumably, the designer put that information there for a reason and would like the user to see it,

What HCI Can Learn From a 2001 Horror Game

In their paper ‘Ambiguity as a Resource for Design’[1], Gaver et al. present the idea that ambiguity (often considered something to be avoided or minimised) can be seen as an opportunity to affect perceptions and drive meaningful user engagement. In the course of the article, they argue that “ambiguity can make a virtue out of technical limitations”.