The Viewpoint Project:

Engaging a Disenfranchised

Community with Street Tech

Nick TaylorUniversity of Dundee

Lightweight Physical and

Situated Civic Engagement

TechnologyNick Taylor

University of Dundee

Enabling Civic

Engagement

• Motivation: why get

involved?

– Self-Efficacy

• Opportunity:

facilitating conditions

• Ability: make the most

of opportunities

Online Civic

Engagement

• More opportunities than

ever before

• Issues around ability

– digital exclusion, bad design

• Motivation can still be

lacking

– Self-efficacy again

– Myth of Digital Democracy

Physical

Technology

• Familiar forms and

obvious interaction

• Smarter environments

(ubiquitous computing

etc.)

• Creative technology

– Technology, design and art

Situated

Technology

• Can be encountered

serendipitously

• Reach non-tech savvy

audience

• Public space is a

traditional venue for

civic activity

How can lightweight, physical

interventions in public spaces

engage members of the public?

Bespoke Project

• Residents regularly

consulted on

community initiatives

• Suffering from

‘consultation fatigue’

• Low sense of efficacy

due to lack of change

Viewpoint

• Lower barriers to

participation

– Approx. 200 votes per week

• Weekly polls from

councilors and

community leaders

• Feedback mechanism

for reporting actions

Challenges

• Trade-off between quality and quantity of data

• Creating a positive feedback loop

• Top-down intervention

– No ability for citizens to drive agenda

• High cost

Viewpoint 2.0

• Second generation

worked with activists

• Collecting objective

data rather than

opinions

• Informing/supporting

campaign for

pedestrianisation

Viewpoint 2.0

• Data matches a

separate street survey

• Proposals put forward

to council based on

results (April 2013)

• Official plans

announced (October

2014)

PosterVote

• Attempting to make

Viewpoint cheap

• Cheap electronics

combined with auto-

generated poster

• Tying in to existing

practices around

planning notices etc.

PosterVote

• Concept proved to be

highly evocative

• Levels of use slightly

lower

• Lack of feedback for

voters

• Design still largely

fixed Image: Microsoft Research

DIY and Activism

• Strong existing

relationship between the

two

• Developing unique or

customised tools that

address specific, local

needs

• Connecting problem

holders with problem

solvers

• Sharing skills and sharing

Citizen Science

• Members of the public

collecting/analysing data

• Mobiles etc. playing large

role

• Potential for evidence-

based policy-making

Thank you!

• Taylor et al. (2012). Viewpoint: empowering

communities with situated voting devices. CHI

2012.

• Vlachokyriakos et al. (2014). PosterVote:

expanding the action repertoire for local political

activism. DIS 2014.

nick-taylor.co.uk

@nicktaylor3