Rikard Harr

I am a senior lecturer in informatics and responsible for the department's doctoral education and also part of the department's management team. I am active in the research environment Design Informatics and conduct my research in the field of human-computer interaction. My research focus is on how the design of IT challenges us in different situations and environments.
 
The challenges I am mainly interested in concern, for example, how our use of technology makes it difficult to focus on our work and private life. Our use of technology has contributed to an increasingly fragmented existence where interruptions and disruptions are common, something that can have a negative impact on both our efficiency and our well-being. I also study manipulative dimensions of design such as how companies and organizations try to influence our decision-making. I focus partly on what is call dark design patterns, i.e. design techniques to make us e.g. unreflectively carry out purchases, and partly on persuasive design, i.e. how design can affect our behavior such as exercising more or losing weight.
 
I am currently writing an article with a colleague based on a study of how weight loss apps relate to unhealthy weight loss. Here we are interested in whether these apps in any way try to stop this weight loss, or maybe even encourage it. The article will be sent to the international conference Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) which will be arranged in 2022.
 
I defended my dissertation in 2009 and have since studied the design of IT within and outside research projects. I review articles on a regular basis that publish in various journals/conferences and currently participate in the arrangement of the design conference NordiCHI which will be arranged in Umeå-Uppsala.