Defence of doctoral thesis in the field of design, M.Sc. Maria Karyda

M.Sc. Maria Karyda will defend the thesis "Data Agents: Envisaging Meaningful Representations of Personal Data as Part of Everyday Life" on 21 October 2021 at 12:00 in Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Design.

Opponent: Prof. William Odom, Simon Fraser University, Canada
Custos: Prof. Sampsa Hyysalo, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Design

The public defense will be organized via remote technology. Follow defence: https://aalto.zoom.us/j/61863369812
Zoom Quick Guide: https://www.aalto.fi/en/services/zoom-quick-guide

Thesis available for public display at: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/doc_public/eonly/riiputus/
Doctoral theses in the School of Arts, Design and Architecture: https://aaltodoc.aalto.fi/handle/123456789/54

Press release:

In her doctoral dissertation, Maria Karyda investigates the sense-making of the emotional and temporal qualities of personal data through data-agents – the main conceptual contribution of this research. Data-agents are affective physicalizations of personal data that resemble everyday objects in appearance and are intended for personal use, while always considering personal data as an inherently social phenomenon.

Using an expansive Research through Design approach, the author conceptualizes data-agents through participatory design activities, personal data visualization, object-theater and prototyping. Furthermore, data-agents are imagined in different contexts that relate to personal data, like data that originates from long-distance relationship communication; data that relates to women’s hygiene during menstruation; self-presentation and ownership of personal data; and the relationship between physiological data and lived experiences.

This work may be of relevance for Human-Computer Interaction scholars in the fields of personal informatics, data physicalizations and human-data interaction, with focus on the affective qualities of personal data, as it outlines opportunities and challenges for the design and application of meaningful representations of personal data in the context of everyday life.

Contact information of doctoral candidate: