Staff Profile

I am Professor of Social Computing in Open Lab. Open Lab is part of the school of Computing and is Newcastle University’s inter-disciplinary research centre in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). I have thirty years of experience as a human-centred design researcher and have over 230 publications in the area.

My research focusses on the human-centred design of socially engaged digital technologies and an important part of our current research funding in Open Lab is Digital Civics, this includes the EPSRC- funded Centre for Doctoral Training in Digital Civics and the Digital Economy Research Centre. Digital Civics addresses the social and political applications of digital technologies in areas which include health, education, participatory democracy, ageing, and social justice.

I am probably best known for my work with John McCarthy on theory and methods for experience-centred design. In 2004, we co-authored Technology as Experience (MIT Press). In 2010 we co-authored, Experience-centred design: Designers, users and communities in dialogue (Morgan Claypool), and in 2015 we co-authored Taking [A]Part: The politics and aesthetics of experience-centred design (MIT Press).

To get an idea of the range of HCI research in Open Lab, take a look at our web site, https://openlab.ncl.ac.uk. For specific information about our Digital Civics programme, check out or Digital Civics Web site, https://digitalcivics.io.

• Bartindale T, Sheikh A, Taylor N, Wright P, Olivier P. StoryCrate: Tabletop Storyboarding for Live Film Production. In: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing (CHI'12). 2012, Austin, Texas, USA: ACM.
• Taylor N, Marshall J, Blum-Ross A, Mills J, Rogers J, Egglestone P, Frohlich D, Wright P, Olivier P. Viewpoint: Empowering Communities with Situated Voting Devices. In: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing (CHI'12). 2012, Austin, Texas, USA: ACM.
• Hook J, Green D, McCarthy J, Taylor S, Wright P, Olivier P. A VJ Centered Exploration of Expressive Interaction. In: 29th Annual International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2011, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: ACM Press.
• Taylor R, Schofield G, Shearer J, Wallace J, Wright P, Boulanger P, Olivier P. Designing from within: humanaquarium. In: 29th Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2011, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: ACM, New York, NY, USA.
• Leong TW, Wright P. Music in Households in the Digital Economy. In: Digital Engagement. 2011, Newcastle upon Tyne.
• Gaver W, Boucher A, Bowers J, Blythe M, Jarvis N, Cameron D, Kerridge T, Wilkie A, Phillips R, Wright P. The Photostroller: Supporting Diverse Care Home Residents in Engaging with the World. In: Proceedings of the Annual Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI). 2011, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: ACM Press.
• Wright P, McCarthy J. Experience-centred Design: Designers, users, and communities in dialogue. New York, USA: Morgan Claypool, 2010.
• Gaver W, Blythe M, Boucher A, Jarvis N, Bowers J, Wright P. The Prayer Companion: Openness and specificity, materiality and spirituality. In: CHI 2010: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2010, Atlanta, Georgia, USA: ACM Press.
• Leong TW, Wright P, Vetere F, Howard S. Understanding experience using dialogical methods - The case of serendipity. In: 22nd Australasian Computer-Human Interaction Conference (OZCHI). 2010, Brisbane, Australia: ACM Press.
• Wright PC, McCarthy JM. Empathy and experience in HCI. In: CHI 2008: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2008, Florence, Italy: ACM.
• Blythe M, Wright P. Technology scruples: why intimidation will not save the recording industry and how enchantment might. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 2008, 12(5), 411-420.
• Taylor R, Schofield G, Hook J, Ladha K, Bowers J, Wright P. Crafting interactive systems: learning from digital art practice. In: CHI EA 2013: Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2013, Paris: ACM.
• Clarke R, Wright P, Balaam M, McCarthy J. Digital portraits: photo-sharing after domestic violence. In: CHI 2013: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2013, Paris, France: ACM.
• Vines J, Thieme A, Comber R, Blythe M, Wright PC, Olivier P. HCI in the press: online public reactions to mass media portrayals of HCI research. In: CHI 2013: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2013, Paris: ACM Press.
• Taylor N, Cheverst K, Wright P, Olivier P. Leaving the Wild: Lessons from Community Technology Handovers. In: CHI 2013: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2013, Paris: ACM.
• Blythe M, Briggs J, Hook J, Wright P, Olivier P. Unlimited editions: three approaches to the dissemination and display of digital art. In: CHI 2013: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2013, Paris: ACM.
• Hook J, McCarthy J, Wright P, Olivier P. Waves: exploring idiographic design for live performance. In: CHI 2013: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2013, Paris: ACM.
• Hook J, Schofield G, Taylor R, Bartindale T, McCarthy J, Wright P. Exploring HCI's Relationship with Liveness (CHI'12 Workshop). In: CHI EA 2012: CHI '12 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2012, Austin, Texas, USA: ACM Press.
• Vines J, Clarke R, Leong T, Wright P, Light A, Iversen OS. Perspectives on participation: evaluating cross-disciplinary tools, methods and practices. In: 9th ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '12). 2012, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: ACM Press.
• McCullagh P, Nugent CD, Zheng H, Zhang S, Huang Y, Davies RJ, Black ND, Wright P, Hawley M, Eccleston C, Mawson SJ, Mountain GA. Knowledge capture for self management of long-term conditions. In: 1st International Congress on Telehealth and Telecare 2011. 2011, London: King's Fund & University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC).
• Kirkham R, Mellor S, Green D, Lin J, Ladha K, Ladha C, Jackson D, Olivier P, Wright P, Ploetz T. The Break-Time Barometer: An Exploratory System for Workplace Break-time Social Awareness. In: ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp). 2013, Zurich, Switzerland: Association for Computing Machinery.
• Gaver W, Blythe M, Boucher A, Jarvis N, Bowers J, Wright P. The prayer companion: openness and specificity, materiality and spirituality. In: CHI '10: The SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2010, Atlanta, Georgia, USA: ACM New York, NY, USA.
• Taylor R, Bartindale T, Chaudhry Q, Heslop P, Wright P, Bowers J, Olivier P. "Which Brew are you Going to Choose?" An interactive 'Tea-Decider-er' in a Teahouse Shop Window. In: Laval Virtual: 16th International Conferences and Exhibition of Virtual Technologies and Uses. 2014, Laval, France: ACM.
• Taylor R, Schofield G, Shearer J, Wright P, Boulanger P, Olivier P. Nightingallery: theatrical framing and orchestration in participatory performance. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 2014, 18(7), 1583-1600.
• Crivellaro C, Comber R, Bowers J, Wright PC, Olivier P. A pool of dreams: facebook, politics and the emergence of a social movement. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '14). 2014, Toronto, Canada: ACM Press.
• Schofield G, Green D, Hook J, Wright P, Olivier P. Cinehack: Supporting Micro-budget Digital Film and Video Production. In: DE2013: The Fourth Annual Digital Economy All Hands Conference. 2013, MediaCityUK, Salford, UK: Digital Economy - RCUK.
• Vines J, Clarke R, Wright P, McCarthy J, Olivier P. Configuring participation: On how we involve users in design. In: ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2013, Paris, France: ACM Press.
• Hook J, Verbaan S, Wright P, Olivier P. Exploring the Design of Technologies and Services that Support Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology Practice. In: DE2013: The Fourth Annual Digital Economy All Hands Conference. 2013, Salford, UK.
• Marshall M, Vines J, Wright P, Kirk DS, Lowe T, Wilson R. Accountability work: Examining the values, technologies and work practices that facilitate transparency in Charities. In: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. 2018, Montreal QC, Canada: Association for Computing Machinery.
• McNaney R, Vines J, Dow A, Robinson H, Robinson H, McDonald K, Brown L, Santer P, Murray D, Murray J, Green D, Wright P. Enabling participation of people with Parkinson's and their caregivers in Co-inquiry around collectivist health technologies. In: Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '18). 2018, Montreal, Canada: ACM.
• Vlachokyriakos V, Crivellaro C, Wright P, Olivier P. Infrastructuring the Solidarity Economy: Unpacking Strategies and Tactics in Designing Social Innovation. In: Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '18). 2018, Montreal, Canada: ACM.
• Wilkinson G, Bartindale T, Nappey T, Evans M, Wright P, Olivier P. Media of things: Supporting the production of metadata rich media through IoT sensing. In: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. 2018, Montreal QC, Canada: Association for Computing Machinery.
• Morrissey K, Garbett A, Wright P, Olivier P, Jenkins EI, Brittain K. Care and Connect: Exploring Dementia-Friendliness Through an Online Community Commissioning Platform. In: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2017, Denver, Colorado, USA: ACM.
• Green DP, Schofield G, Pritchard G, Olivier P, Wright P. Cinehacking Cape Town - Embracing informality in pursuit of high quality media. In: CHI '17 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2017, Denver, CO, USA: Association for Computing Machinery.
• McCarthy J, Wright P. Commentary: Making Interactivity Meaningful for Contemporary HCI. Human-Computer Interaction 2017, 32(3), 148-152.
• Meissner JL, Vines J, McLaughlin J, Nappey T, Maksimova J, Wright P. Do-It-Yourself Empowerment as Experienced by Novice Makers with Disabilities. In: 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. 2017, Edinburgh, United Kingdom: ACM.
• Green DP, Bowen S, Hook J, Wright P. Enabling Polyvocality in Interactive Documentaries through "Structural Participation". In: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2017, Denver, Colorado, USA: ACM.
• Puussaar A, Clear AK, Wright P. Enhancing Personal Informatics Through Social Sensemaking. In: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2017, Denver, Colorado, USA: ACM.
• Vlachokyriakos V, Crivellaro C, Wright P, Karamagioli E, Staiou E-R, Gouscos D, Thorpe R, Kruger A, Schoning J, Jones M, Lawson S, Olivier P. HCI, solidarity movements and the solidarity economy. In: CHI'17 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. 2017, Denver, Colorado: Association for Computing Machinery.
• Vines J, McNaney R, Holden A, Poliakov I, Wright P, Olivier P. Our Year with the Glass: Expectations, Letdowns and Ethical Dilemmas of Technology Trials with Vulnerable People. Interacting with Computers 2017, 29(1), 27-44.
• Taylor R, Spence J, Walker B, Nissen B, Wright P. Performing Research: Four Contributions to HCI. In: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '17). 2017, Denver, Colorado, USA: ACM.
• Kazakos K, Asthana S, Balaam M, Duggal M, Holden A, Jamir L, Kannuri N, Kumar S, Mamindla A, Manikam A, Murthy M, Nahar P, Phillimore P, Sathyanath S, Singh P, Singh M, Wright P, Yadav D, Olivier P. A Real-Time IVR Platform for Community Radio. In: Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI 16). 2016, San Jose: ACM.
• Fowler GJS, Pereira-Medrano AG, Jaffe S, Pasternak G, Pham TK, Ledezma P, Hall STE, Ieropoulos IA, Wright PC. An iTRAQ characterisation of the role of TolC during electron transfer from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. Proteomics 2016, 16(21), 2764-2775.
• Blythe M, Andersen K, Clarke R, Wright P. Anti-Solutionist Strategies: Seriously Silly Design Fiction. In: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2016. 2016, San Jose, CA, USA: ACM.
• Thieme A, McCarthy J, Johnson P, Wallace J, Lindley S, Ladha K, Jackson D, Nowacka D, Rafiev A, Ladha C, Nappey T, Kipling M, Wright P, Meyer TD, Olivier P. Challenges for Designing new Technology for Health and Wellbeing in a Complex Mental Healthcare Context. In: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2016. 2016, San Jose, CA, USA: ACM.
• Vlachokyriakos V, Crivellaro C, LeDantec C, Gordon E, Wright P, Olivier P. Digital Civics: Citizen empowerment with and through technology. In: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2016. 2016, Santa Clara, California, USA: Association for Computing Machinery.
• Clarke R, Crivellaro C, Di Mascio D, Wright P. Re-configuring Participatory Media for Citizen Elders in Urban Planning. In: Proceedings of the 3rd Conference on Media Architecture Biennale. 2016, Sydney, Australia: ACM New York.
• Crivellaro C, Taylor A, Vlachokyriakos V, Comber R, Nissen B, Wright P. Re-Making Places: HCI, 'Community Building' and Change. In: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2016. 2016, San Jose, CA, USA: ACM Press.
• Bartindale T, Schofield G, Wright P. Scaffolding Community Documentary Film Making Using Commissioning Templates. In: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2016. 2016, San Jose, CA, USA: ACM.
• Clarke R, Briggs J, Light A, Wright P. Situated Encounters with Socially Engaged Art in Community-Based Design. In: 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems DIS 2016. 2016, Brisbane, Australia: ACM.
• Clarke R, Briggs J, Light A, Wright P. Situated Encounters with Socially Engaged Arts in Community-based Design. In: Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS 2016). 2016, Brisbane, Australia: ACM.
• Bowen S, Durrant A, Nissen B, Bowers J, Wright P. The value of designers' creative practice within complex collaborations. Design Studies 2016, 46, 174-198.
• Bartindale T, Schofield G, Crivellaro C, Wright P. TryFilm: Situated Support for Interactive Media Productions. In: The 19th ACM Computer-Supported Cooperative Work & Social Computing (CSCW 2016). 2016, San Francisco, USA: ACM.
• Kirk D, Durrant A, Wood G, Leong T, Wright P. Understanding the Sociality of Experience in Mobile Music Listening with Pocketsong. In: Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS 2016). 2016, Brisbane, Australia: ACM.
• Kirk DS, Durrant A, Wood G, Leong TW, Wright P. Understanding the Sociality of Experience in Mobile Music Listening with Pocketsong. In: 2016 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems DIS 2016. 2016, Brisbane, Australia: ACM.
• Sarangapani V, Kharrufa A, Balaam M, Leat D, Wright P. Virtual.Cultural.Collaboration - Mobile phones, video technology, and cross-cultural learning. In: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services, MobileHCI 2016. 2016, Florence, Italy: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.
• Vines J, Pritchard G, Wright PC, Olivier P, Brittain K. An Age-Old Problem: Examining the Discourses of Ageing in HCI and Strategies for Future Research. ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) 2015, 22(1), 2.
• Vines J, Wright P, Silver D, Winchcombe M, Olivier P. Authenticity, Relatability and Collaborative Approaches to Sharing Knowledge about Assistive Living Technology. In: ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW 2015). 2015, Vancouver, Canada: ACM Press.
• Green D, Bowen S, Newell C, Schofield G, Bartindale T, Crivellaro C, Sheik A, Wright P, Olivier P. Beyond Participatory Production: Digitally Supporting Grassroots Documentary. In: Proceedings of the 33rd annual SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems CHI 2015. 2015, Seoul, South Korea: ACM Press.
• Schofield G, Bartindale T, Wright P. Bootlegger: Turning Fans into Film Crew. In: CHI '15: Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2015, Seoul, South Korea: ACM Press.
• Crivellaro C, Comber R, Dade-Robertson M, Bowen S, Wright P, Olivier P. Contesting the City: Enacting the political through digitally supported urban walks. In: CHI '15: Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2015, Seoul, South Korea: ACM.
• Smith T, Bowen S, Nissen B, Bowers J, Hook J, Verhoevan A, Wright P, Olivier P. Exploring gesture sonification to support reflective craft practice. In: CHI 2015 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2015, Seoul, South Korea: ACM Press.
• Taylor R, Bowers J, Nissen B, Wood G, Chaudhry Q, Wright P, Bruce L, Glynn S, Mallinson H, Bearpark R. Making Magic: Designing for Open Interactions in Museum Settings. In: C&C '15 SIGCHI Conference on Creativity and Cognition. 2015, Glasgow, United Kingdom: Association for Computing Machinery, Inc.
• Hook J, Clarke R, McCarthy J, Anderson K, Dudman J, Wright P. Making the invisible visible: Design to support the documentation of participatory arts experiences. In: CHI 2015 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2015, Seoul, South Korea: ACM Press.
• Clarke R, Vines J, Wright P, Bartindale T, Shearer J, McCarthy J, Olivier P. MyRun: Balancing Design for Reflection, Recounting and Openness in a Museum-based Participatory Platform. In: British HCI 2015. 2015, Lincoln, UK: ACM Press.
• McCarthy J, Wright P. Taking [A]Part: The Politics and Aesthetics of Participation in Experience-Centred Design. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2015.
• Vines J, Clarke R, Light A, Wright PC. The beginnings, middles and endings of participatory research in HCI: An introduction to the special issue on 'perspectives on participation'. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 2015, 74(1), 77-80.
• Evans EH, AraujoSoares V, Adamson AJ, Batterham AM, Brown H, Campbell M, Dombrowski SU, Guest A, Jackson D, Kwasnicka D, Ladha K, McColl E, Olivier P, Rothman AJ, Sainsbury K, Steel AJ, Steen IN, Vale L, White M, Wright P, Sniehotta FF. The NULevel trial of a scalable, technology-assisted weight loss maintenance intervention for obese adults after clinically significant weight loss: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials 2015, 16, 421.
• Wright P, McCarthy J. The politics and aesthetics of participatory HCI. Interactions 2015, 22(6), 26-31.
• Hook J, Verbaan S, Durrant A, Olivier P, Wright P. A Study of the Challenges Related to DIY Assistive Technology in the Context of Children with Disabilities. In: DIS Companion '14. 2014, Vancouver, BC, Canada: ACM.
• Schofield G, Green D, Smith T, Wright P, Olivier P. Cinejack: using live music to control narrative visuals. In: DIS '14 Proceedings of the 2014 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. 2014, Vancouver, BC, Canada: ACM.
• Vines J, Denman-Cleaver T, Dunphy P, Wright P, Olivier P. Experience design theatre: exploring the role of live theatre in scaffolding design dialogues. In: CHI '14 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2014, Toronto, Canada: ACM.
• Bartindale T, Jackson D, Ladha K, Mellor S, Olivier P, Wright P. RedTag: automatic content metadata capture for cameras. In: TVX '14 Proceedings of the 2014 ACM International Conference on Interactive Experiences for TV and Online Video. 2014, Newcastle, UK: ACM.
• Wood G, Vines J, Balaam M, Taylor N, Smith T, Crivellaro C, Mensah J, Limon H, Challis J, Anderson L, Clarke A, Wright PC. The dept. of hidden stories: playful digital storytelling for children in a public library. In: SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2014, Toronto, ON, Canada: ACM New York, NY, USA.
• Wood G, Vines J, Balaam M, Taylor N, Smith T, Crivellaro C, Mensah J, Limon H, Challis J, Anderson L, Clarke A, Wright PC. The Department Of Hidden Stories: Playful Digital Storytelling for Children in a Public Library. In: 32nd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2014, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: ACM.
• Dunphy P, Vines J, Coles-Kemp L, Clarke R, Vlachokyriakos V, Wright P, McCarthy J, Olivier P. Understanding the experience-centeredness of privacy and security technologies. In: 2014 New Security Paradigms Workshop NSPW '14. 2014, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Association for Computing Machinery.
• Nissen B, Bowers J, Wright P, Hook J, Newell C. Volvelles, domes and wristbands: embedding digital fabrication within a visitor's trajectory of engagement. In: DIS'14: 2014 conference on Designing interactive systems. 2014, Vancouver, Canada: ACM.
• Obrist M, Wright PC, Kuutti K, Rogers Y, Hook K, Pyla PS, Frechin JL. Theory and Practice in UX Research: Uneasy Bedfellows?. In: CHI EA '13: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. 2013, Paris, France: Association for Computing Machinery.
• Meissner JL, Strohmayer A, Wright P, Fitzpatrick G. A Schnittmuster for crafting context-sensitive toolkits. In: Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings. 2018, Montreal, Canada: Association for Computing Machinery.