Shaping The Concept Of AROs

During Min’s doctoral research on co-designing reminiscence technologies for people with blindness, we began experimenting with ways of sharing the findings with participants from the exploratory study. We spent 8 months developing an audio documentary, simplifying complex academic writing structure and translating academic jargon. The process of producing and sharing this audio documentary revealed the potential and importance of non-traditional formats for embodying and circulating research knowledge in ways that felt meaningful to both participants and audiences.

Building on this project, Min organized a workshop on Alternative Research Outcomes (AROs) at DIS 2023, bringing together researchers and designers interested in how creative, situated, and public-facing forms—such as sound recordings, documentary films, zines, exhibitions, interactive artifacts or community-involved workshops—can extend and transform the outcomes of HCI research.

This gathering highlighted both the richness and the limitations of current practices, as well as the urgent need to establish a shared vocabulary and a community around various forms of research outcomes. We continued the discussion with our collaborators and some workshop attendees to keep iterating on the definition and values of AROs.

Building on this foundation, the CHI 2025 paper articulated a refined concept of AROs and identified four key qualities—translational, situational, transparent, and initiatory—that distinguish them from other research outputs.

AROs foreground forms of knowledge that are embodied, situated, and relational, pursuing values that may be “unaligned” with traditional academic dissemination channels, such as fluidity, community-focused values and objectives, responsibility and shared authorship.

AROs In The Homeware Lab

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We, as a Homeware Lab, have already been practicing the production of alternative outcomes in previous and ongoing projects.

DIY Tutorial of Table-Non-Table

Capra Film

QueuePlayer Video & Brochure

The trajectory and continuing practices of ARO reflect the emergence and evolution of alternative forms of sharing HCI research as a uniquely situated concept, a way of recognizing, valuing, and systematically developing research outcomes that extend beyond conventional academic dissemination.