Research Interests

Conference Papers

Media Communication, Consumption and Use: The changing role of the designer. Dr. Leon Cruickshank, Martyn Evans, DRS Conference, Sheffield, June 2008

New Media / New Problems / New Methods - A Case Study of Interactive Video Production in Industry , IASDR, Hong Kong 2007

Journal Articles

Informing the design of virtual environments for personal work with physical information technologies, Roger Whitham, Dr. Leon Cruickshank, Interacting With Computers (Submitted)

As digital information technologies come to replace their physical predecessors, what properties of the paper-based work environment still remain important for personal work? This paper considers the needs individual work places on the work environment and how these needs are met by both physical and digital information technologies.The core theme of this paper is communication with the self. Two areas are discussed in detail. Firstly, controlling future action through reminding and representing problems, to assist in problem solving activities. Secondly, the shortcomings of digital information technologies for personal work are discussed, and possible directions for addressing these shortcomings suggested. A design approach to resolving these issues is suggested, accompanied with an example software artefact design.

'Making Interactive TV Easier to Use: Interface Design for a Second Screen Approach' Dr. Leon Cruickshank, Dr. Annette Hill, Dr. Emmanuel Tsekleves, Roger Whitham, Dr. Koko Kondo, The Design Journal, Vol. 10, No. 3, December 2007.

This paper describes a project that adopted an innovative user-led approach to produce a novel redevelopment of presentation and interaction strategies for Interactive Television (iTV). The approach involves making technical expediency subservient to the aspirations and frustrations of users through an ethnographic study. In this case 20 households set the scope the project and of involving these collaborative users in an ongoing participatory design and user testing process that aims to bend technology towards users rather than concentrating on the technologically expedient solution. This project called UITS (User-Led iTV Services) and undertaken in collaboration with Westminster University with a budget of £73 000 over two years funded by HEIF2 through the West Focus consortium. The outcomes of this project described in this paper present some significant changes to the way iTV could operate. Some of these were systemic changes (for example pay-as-you-go iTV) but the major proposal was the employment of a supplementary second screen on which (almost) all graphical information was displayed, freeing the main screen to show TV programme all of the time. Through in-home testing we found this was dramatically more accessible in terms of legibility, adaptability and less intrusive on general TV viewing. It also facilitated a 'lean back' mode of interaction more harmonious to current TV practices; iTV services operated more like integrated interactive magazines.The success of this project led to a follow-on called BITE, funded through HEIF3 for £105 000 over 2 years broadening the scope of investigation it has also been presented at workshops in CHI2006 (Monteral) and EuroiTV 2006. It was the subject of a daylong knowledge transfer event at the Business Design Centre, London, 14th June 2007 (http://dea.brunel.ac.uk/uits). We were invited to publish a description of the more technical HCI aspects of UITS in the Usability Professionals Association's User Experience Magazine, published Volume 6, Issue 3, 2007.

'Rapid Prototyping and Fast User Trial of Multimedia Broadcast and Cellular Services' Int. J Mobile Communications, J. Cosmas, L. Cruickshank, L. Elgohari, T. Itagaki, K. Krishnapillai, A. Lucas, L. Zheng. Vol. 3, No. 3, 2005, pp 263 - 286

This paper describes a new approach to interface and service design in interactive TV as part of the IST (EU) funded project CISMUNDUS. CISMUNDUS was one of the key EU projects establishing the capabilities and possible applications of the newly developed UMTS ('3G') telecommunications networks and interactive TV; it included partners such as Philips Research, France Telecom, Rye, IRT and Motorola. This paper describes a novel approach to the development of services for this new hybrid environment that draws together iTV and Telco networks. This approach allows for the almost automatic translation of service design from a very accessible wildly used simulation / authoring software (Macromedia Director) into MHP the much less accessible language of iTV broadcast. I led the user interface design and information architecture of the new services developed in the prototyping process in addition to a broader contribution to the design of the simulation design tools. A practical demonstration of this system and using live broadcast media was presented as part of the IST media village at the IBC (International Broadcasting Conference) 2005.

C Space is a series of user mediated, virtual reality environments that are location aware and situated within specific geographical locations (for example a park or city square) by data-casting to mobile devices using DVB-T (terrestrial digital TV) technology, in essence this is a system that allows the broadcasting of virtual reality environments that overlay specific geographical areas and are accessed through a portable (PDA-like) terminal.C Space was part of a large European Union (IST) funded research project called CISMUNDUS (Convergence of IP-based Services for Mobile Users and Networks in DVB-T and UMTS Systems) exploring the convergence of mobile phone technology and digital broadcast in mobile devices. The aim of CISMUNDUS was to design, make and field test devices and services that exploit the possibilities of combining DVB-T (terrestrial digital TV) with UMTS (3G telecom technology) in mobile devices. This project had a total funding €8.1 million (€4.3 of which came from industrial partners including Philips Research, IRT, RYE and France Telecom).

'A Provocative Educational Application of a New Approach to Design Methodology'. Leon Cruickshank. Wonderground, 1-4th November 2006, Design Research Society International Conference, Lisbon

Design methodology is not often formally addressed in either the education of designers or by practicing designers. There is a danger that design methodology separates from and becomes irrelevant to design practice, a danger amplified by a move towards either design science or a full acceptance of the implications of a hermetical / rhiosomic interpretation of design methods. This paper argues that rather than promoting a true, accurate or even desirable design methodology, the debate can be redrawn and that design method and methodology can be separated and considered in different frames of reference. The design of design methodics to a broader audience represents a significant re-contextualisation of the debates surrounding the position of design methodology in education. This paper argues that design methodology is essentially an unknowable, individual component and that design methods are thinking tools that can be explainable, modifiable and are portable between designers. These assertions have been applied to a series of workshops across a broad range of subjects and abilities with over 400 students in total at Brunel University, UWE, Glamorgan University and Gwent and Exeter Colleges of Art. This provocative process results very quickly in animated discussions with students about method and methodology. It offers an approach that accelerates the normal implicit communication of design methods now under threat with the pressure being placed on traditional studio education.

Additional Information

Examination and Review

Project Reviewer, Bionets project, a 4 year FP7 project funded through the Future Technologies Call.

External Examiner, BA (Hons) Digital 3D Design, 2005-2009, The University of Salford.

PhD Supervision Interests

Open Innovation and Mass Creativity User Centred and User-Led Design Interactive TV Technology and Society Design Methodology Design Theory and Philosophy