Hello from the other side: a design workshop to bridge asymmetries between messaging clients
When messaging across interoperable platforms or different clients in a decentralized network, there is a common set of functionalities defined by the common protocol or API bridging the conversation, but there may also be unique functionality exclusive to each client. These differences may sometimes have important implications in the user experience and privacy of the conversation partners, but there are no design patterns or agreed standards for dealing with them. For example, imagine that someone sends a "view only once picture" but the receiver's client lacks this functionality: would you expect the receiver to simply show the picture? To show an error message saying "message not supported"? Or should the sender client prevent the use of "asymmetrical functionality" in the first place?
In this design workshop, we will introduce the concept of "seamful design", briefly present cases where asymmetrical functionalities may harm user experience, and engage all attendees in a prototyping activity to explore potential workarounds through design. Based on the prototyped design ideas, we will discuss trade-offs, challenges and potential best UX practices for designing around functional asymmetries in interoperable messaging.
This workshop will be run by members of the mInt research lab on user-centered messaging interoperability from Aalborg University (Copenhagen, Denmark).
Workshop participants will gain knowledge on user-experience design concepts and low-fi prototyping of user interfaces. Participants will be encouraged to stay in touch after the workshop in a Matrix room and collaborate on a blog post summarizing the main takeaways.
Carla is a tenure-track assistant professor at the Department of Computer Science at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, where she researches and teaches Human-Computer Interaction. Her main research studies how communication technologies, especially messaging apps, affect interpersonal relationships, and how the way people use one platform interconnects with the way they use others. She conducts empirical studies to understand how people adapt software to fit their communication needs and builds prototypes that explore ways of providing them with richer control over their expression and online privacy. She currently manages a 4-year long research project about managing privacy and social boundaries in interoperable messaging platforms.
I'm Stina Olsson, a PhD student at Aalborg University in Copenhagen, Denmark. My PhD project is on Human-Computer Interaction principles for messaging interoperability.
I am a PhD researcher in human-computer interaction at Aalborg University in Copenhagen. Through empirical studies, I evaluate how people navigate digital ecosystems and their constraints, and the adaptive strategies they develop to maintain (dis)communication with their personal networks.
Tom Biselli is a postdoctoral researcher in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at Aalborg University with an interdisciplinary background in computer science, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience. His research focuses on how people navigate increasingly complex digital information environments and how technology can be designed to support autonomy, competence and control when interacting with these environments.
His work spans user-centered privacy & security, misinformation, and human-centred AI, with a particular interest in how users understand, evaluate, and interact with digital systems that shape digital information flows. Using mixed-methods approaches including interviews, surveys, think-aloud studies, online experiments, and participatory design, he investigates users’ mental models, information needs, and decision-making processes, and develops interventions to support greater user agency.