Designing For Caring and Carefull Online Communities

INVESTIGATING THE DESIGN OF ONLINE PLATFORMS AND GAMES TO SUPPORT CARING AND INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES

This initiative seeks to explore the many uncertainties about how to translate research into design practice through applied projects linking theory with practice. In particular the initiative aims to use design thinking to inform strategies and tools that encourage a culture of caring and support within online communities. Platforms that support online communities can be designed to incentivize prosocial behavior, reflection and empathy. Some of these design features might include thinking about community governance structures, moderation practices, and codes of conduct. Technologies, such as conversational agents and chatbots, can also be used to create opportunities for reflection and to support prosocial attitudes.

Research Projects

  • Positive Online Communities: Research with a large streaming platform exploring best practices in the design of positive online communities.
  • Policies of Misconduct: Research on how standards of conduct are displayed, expressed, seen, and used by players in the context of online multiplayer games.
  • ExperienceCraft: A collaboration between Connected Camps and Experience Camps this project, this project explores the design and moderation of a Minecraft server for youth who have experienced the death of a parent or sibling.
  • Play Lounge: Design-based research in partnership with Connected Camps to develop activity frameworks and design guidelines for the creation of virtual play lounges in platforms like Minecraft and Discord to support youth-centered social connection.

Related Writing

Krithika Jagannath and Katie Salen. 2022. Beyond Just Rules: Server Rules for Shaping Positive Experiences in an Online Play Community for Youth. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact, 6, CHI PLAY, Article 222 (October 2022), 28 pages, https://doi.org/10.1145/3549485

Katie Salen Tekinbaş, Krithika Jagannath, Ulrik Lyngs, and Petr Slovák. 2021. Designing for Youth-Centered Moderation and Community Governance in Minecraft. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interact. 28, 4, Article 24 20 (May 2021), 40 pages.

Abel, C. A., & Grace, T. D. (2020). Designing dyadic caregiver-child personas for interactive digital media use. Proceedings of the Interaction Design and Children Conference, 198–204. https://doi.org/10.1145/3392063.3394391

Krithika Jagannath, Katie Salen, and Petr Slovàk. 2020. “(We) Can Talk It Out…”: Designing for Promoting Conflict-Resolution Skills in Youth on a Moderated Minecraft Server. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 4, CSCW1, Article 49 (May 2020), 26 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3392855

 

“Mediating Conflicts in Minecraft: Empowering Learning in Online Multiplayer Games.” Slovak, Petr & Salen, Katie & Ta, Stephanie & Fitzpatrick, Geraldine. (2018). CHI. 

Krithika Jagannath, Remy Cross and Katie Salen Tekinbaş. “When the Clubhouse Doors Close: Discord Opens New Spaces to Create and Connect,” CLL Blog May 19, 2021.