Configuring Alternative Human-Media Relations
Time: Wed 2026-06-03 14.00
Location: F2, Lindstedtsvägen 26 & 28, Stockholm
Video link: https://kth-se.zoom.us/j/65593603052
Language: English
Subject area: Media Technology
Doctoral student: Yann Seznec , Medieteknik och interaktionsdesign
Opponent: Professor Thor Magnusson, University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Island
Supervisor: Associate Professor Robert Comber, Medieteknik och interaktionsdesign; Lektor Elina Eriksson, Medieteknik och interaktionsdesign
QC 20260508
Abstract
This thesis describes the design of a set of sound making devices. These were built asa Research through Design inquiry into how to confront the biases that guide thedesign of interfaces for digital media. Each of the resulting designed artifacts enactsalternatives to the so-called cornucopian paradigm of computing design, whichpromises permanence and endless growth.
The work is situated within Sustainable HCI (SHCI), specifically borrowing fromlimits and constraints-based design principles. The resulting designs include devicesthat manifest concepts of destruction, degrowth, and a reimagining of how to interactwith vast media libraries. An analysis of the devices points towards a set of specificdesign qualities that emerge from their creation and use.
These qualities suggest a move away from designing for unsustainable growth andpermanence and towards something based on the underlying characteristics of themedia itself. The portfolio thus represents a reconfiguration of the human-mediarelationship by designing for and with the limitations of our personal media.