User Experience and the Human Spirit

1. User Experience and the Human Spirit Design to facilitate spiritual and numinous experiences Elizabeth Buie@ebuie Northumbria UniversityDepartment of Media and Communication Designelizabeth.buie@northumbria.ac.ukSupervisors: Mark Blythe, Gilbert Cockton

2. Background • Master’s degrees in Mathematics (NC State) and Human Development (Maryland) • In CHI for many years as a practitioner • Consultant in interaction design, usability and UX, mostly in government systems

3. Background • Master’s degrees in Mathematics and Human Development • In CHI for many years as a practitioner • Consultant in interaction design, usability and UX, mostly in government systems • Co-editor of book on UX in government

4. Eton Choirbook score

5. Donaldson score

6. Beltway

7. Collegium Cantorum

8. “Spiritual experience” An experience in which one feels a deep connection with something larger than oneself (Seligman’s view, part of “meaning making” in his PERMA framework of well-being) “Something” could be a deity or something else: • the bounty of nature • the grandeur of the universe • the compassion of a humanitarian cause • the richness of a research programme

9. Research Questions • What characterizes techno-spiritual experiences and supporting technologies? • Can technology be designed to facilitate such experiences without being tied to a specific faith tradition? • What value might such ICTs have beyond experience & spirituality per se? (e.g., creativity, well-being) The answers should inform the design of techno-spiritual ICT

10. Research Goal 1 & Methods Explore qualities of techno-spiritual experiences & ICTs: • Review literature about historical use of means such as architecture & music to evoke spiritual experiences • Analyse purposes and qualities of a variety of existing techno-spiritual ICTs • Interview people from a wide variety of spiritual perspectives to elicit descriptions of spiritual experiences that they have had • Analyse descriptions from the interview data using a grounded theory approach

11. Research Goal 1: Progress (1) 1. Review literature about use of means such as architecture & music to evoke spiritual experiences: • Literature on the nature of spirituality and spiritual experience turned out to be much richer • Most from healthcare and psychology/psychiatry/neuroscience • Spirituality: spirituality vs. religion, assessing spirituality • Spiritual experience: phenomenology, triggers, common characteristics • Nature of awe, wonder, numinosity • Terminology: [ spiritual / numinous / transcendent / sacred / mystical / religious / peak ] experience

12. Research Goal 1: Progress (2) 2. Analyse purposes and qualities of a variety of existing techno-spiritual ICTs: • Inventory of iTunes App Store(and comparison with coverage of ACM-DL; alt.chi 2013)

13. Research Goal 1: Progress (2) 2. Analyse purposes and qualities of a variety of existing techno-spiritual ICTs: • Inventory of iTunes App Store(and comparison with coverage of ACM-DL; alt.chi 2013) • Analysis of viewer comments on top-viewed YouTube videos for meditation (and some features of videos; presented at DPPI 2013) • A recent (April 2014) search of YouTube for “meditation” found 9.4 million videos

14. Research Goal 1: Progress (3&4) 3. Interview people from a wide variety of spiritual perspectives to elicit descriptions of spiritual experiences that they have had: • Began pilot interviews to obtain data on spiritual and religious backgrounds and experiences • Have conducted four pilot interviews so far 4. Analyse interview data (not started) I would like to discuss some considerations regarding techniques for data collection and approaches to analysis, design, and evaluation.

15. Research Goal 2 Develop a conceptual framework that relates the qualities of techno-spiritual experiences and ICTs. • Analyze the qualities of the ICTs that supported and facilitated the interviewees’ experiences, and add them to the qualities found by Goal 1 • Identify and analyze relationships between the qualities of techno-spiritual experiences and those of ICTs that facilitate them, and document them in a conceptual framework (not started)

16. Research Goal 3 Explore in more depth the design space of techno-spiritual experiences. • Follow the qualitative study with research through design. Develop a prototype and explore the space of techno-spirituality in more depth with participants • Refine and revise the design as appropriate, to incorporate findings from evaluative studies • Refine the conceptual framework as appropriate (not started) I would like to discuss some considerations regarding techniques for data collection and approaches to analysis, design, and evaluation.

17. Explorations Imaginary abstracts: “a summary of a paper that has not been written about a prototype that does not exist”(Mark Blythe, CHI 2014 paper) Science fiction and its treatment of techno-spirituality

18. Contribution to Knowledge Greater knowledge of how people are using technology to enhance their spiritual lives A better understanding of the relationship of design to the quality and qualities of techno-spiritual experiences Potential value of techno-spiritual design to other aspects of life

19. Thank you Elizabeth Buie Northumbria University Newcastle upon Tyne, UK elizabeth.buie@northumbria.ac.uk @ebuie uxandhumanspirit.wordpress.com (research) leisurelyseekingdoctorate.wordpress.com (blog)