The Viewpoint Project: Engaging a

Disenfranchised Community with Street

TechNick Taylor

University 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

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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 solutions

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.

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@nicktaylor3