PhD Design. UP / ID+.

Meaningful Accidents: mechanisms and processes for provoking serendipity in interaction design. Ricardo Manuel Coelho de Melo Supervision by Miguel Carvalhais, PhD Research funded by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Abstract This research proposes the creation of a methodological framework that will allow interaction designers to implement a basis for serendipitous discoveries. We trust this framework will allow the development of systems that are conducive to the discovery of new, uncommon and meaningful information. This research project aims at creating this framework through an analysis of the serendipity phenomenon and its relationship with information acquisition, as well as the observation of its current relationship with with available systems and platforms. With the increased personalisation possible in the digital medium, information is reduced to a catered stream of content that the systems perceive to be relevant, not to the interactors, but to a constructed persona of them. We believe that by introducing serendipity in the development of interactive systems, they will be able to promote the discovery of meaningful information and contribute to the creative process of making insightful connections with it.

Methodology Within the first phase of our purposed methodology, employing grounded theory methods, we have began an understand of serendipity in its multiple applications, gathered a working definition of the concept and its inherent mechanisms, as well as identified previous attempts to observe and induce it, in its various media. We have further explored the relationship between serendipity and ideation in creative communities as well as its value for information discovery. The second phase began with the development of experiments and working prototypes of serendipitous systems, informed by the data gathered in the first phase, in analogue and digital formats. These prototypes, and their respective validation and testing, will, in turn, inform the development and creation of a methodological framework towards the creation and development of future systems that promote serendipitous discoveries.

Main accomplishments We have, at the moment, established our research streams, focusing the study within Interaction Design, as well as identifying fertile fields of further investigation, such as Information Theory and Human Information Interaction. Our research began with a specific focus of serendipity within the digital context, with particular interest on the Web. We have since observed that designing for serendipity is both interdisciplinar as well as intermedia and, as such, needs to be observed in an holistic fashion, both online and offline, in order to understand it in its entirety. We have, as well, defined a better understanding of the serendipity phenomenon itself, of its core processes, mechanics and traits, it’s relationship with randomness and coincidence, and the specific contexts in which it’s most likely to occur. We have further developed a working definition of serendipity within the specificity of this research: as the accidental discovery of meaningful information and the creative capacity of making insightful connections with it. We were invited to present on this topic at the 2014’s Narrative Strategies Symposium. We have begun a series of experimental projects that explore the nature of creativity and information encountering, and how these feed to the subject of serendipity, specifically within the case study of creative communities. One of these projects, entitled Serendipity Cloud, was the subject of a paper and artwork submitted to xCoAx 2015, currently awaiting notification. We started, and continue, a gathering of the current state of the art of possible serendipitous systems and other interactive systems that allow for an opportunistic acquisition of information. Through the preliminary analysis of this state of the art, we have developed a taxonomy hypothesis which encapsulates the multitude of information gathering methods, which we have identified as the system’s sentience. A paper on this subject was submitted and accepted for the 2015 ARTECH International Conference on Digital Arts. Finally, we have also been able to grow our established network.

Difficulties found One of the main difficulties found is in the interdisciplinary nature of the serendipity phenomenon, not only within the field of design and interaction, but also in artistic practices, information theory, problem-solving, psychogeography, among others. This implies an extensive, and broad, literature review. Due to the elusive nature of serendipity, there’s an also inherent difficulty in its observation, as such, it hampers the analysis of the available state of the art, as well as in our own experiences. Despite its relative newness, the research topic is in exponential growth. However, there is an observable lack of continued, iterative work on the concrete projects that address serendipity, which will require to be address by this research.

Next developments We will be continuing the development of prototypes and experiences, as well as further develop those we have begun, and start the analysis process of the data gathered from them. We plan on starting further collaborations with the established network in order to further develop new projects, as well as apply the gathered serendipity concepts into existing interactive systems. We have as well planed future case studies through pedagogical actions, workshops and media labs that will further develop the subject and experiment on its implementation and implication.