1343493
Associate Professor
Bernd Ploderer
Faculty of Science,
School of Computer Science
Biography
Dr Bernd Ploderer is a Human-Computer Interaction researcher at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Working primarily in health and wellbeing domains, Dr Ploderer studies, designs and evaluates interactive technologies to help people make sense of data about themselves and the world around them. He leads the Digital Wellbeing Lab at QUT, which envisages a future where all digital technology is designed in partnership with communities for their social, mental and physical wellbeing.Currently, he is involved in the following projects:
- Digital Self-care with Generative AI (supported by the Digital Wellbeing Lab)
- MyFootCare: empowering people with a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) in their self-care through mobile visual analytics (supported by The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation)
- Designing distanced intergenerational interaction with tangible technology (supported by ARC DP240102717)
- I want to Move it, Move it: exploring children's active play through tangible and embodied interfaces (supported by ARC DP200100723)
- Research ethics and integrity advisor for the School of Computer Science
- Associate Chair for the Health Committee at the CHI23 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- Secretary for the Australian Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group
Personal details
Positions
- Associate Professor
Faculty of Science,
School of Computer Science
Keywords
Human-Computer Interaction, Human-Computer Interaction for Healthy Living, Digital wellbeing, self care, personal informatics, active play, intergenerational play, generative AI
Research field
Human-centred computing
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy (University of Melbourne)
Professional memberships and associations
ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI): Member Fellow of the Higher Education Academy CHISIG - Computer-Human Interaction Special Interest Group: Committee Member
Teaching
Bernd Ploderer received his PhD in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in 2011. He has been teaching HCI units each semester since 2013 at the University of Melbourne (2013-2015) and at QUT (since 2016). Dr. Ploderer has made contributions to the scholarship of learning and teaching in HCI through the “working field theories for design” method, which he developed through the advanced HCI unit at QUT (CAB310) to support IT students in the human-centred design process to better translate their fieldwork insights into technology designs. This method won an Honourable Mention Award at the prestigious ACM CHI conference in 2021, awarded to the top 5% of papers.
Dr Ploderer is currently responsible for the teaching and administration of the following human-computer interaction subjects:
- “CAB210 User Experience Fundamentals” (undergraduate) in-depth, qualitative user research through contextual inquiry, co-design, usability and user experience evaluation
- “CAB310 Interaction and Experience Design” (undergraduate) advanced human-computer interaction unit focussed on the theory, design, and evaluation of emerging technologies for human use
- “IFN591 Principles of User Experience” (postgraduate) introduction to user experience and human-centred design of digital technologies
Professional Development
- Dr Ploderer is a Fellow of The Higher Education Academy, which demonstrates my commitment to teaching, learning and the student experience.
- In 2017 he graduated with a Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice (GCAP), QUT, Brisbane. GCAP is a continuing professional education course for staff working in higher education to develop knowledge, skills, and professional values in the key areas of: learning and teaching, research, and career planning and development.
Experience
Dr Ploderer is looking for Honours and PhD students with a background in HCI to collaborate on research projects listed above. If you are interested, please:
- Read through my proposed topics and some of my recent publications
- Familiarise yourself with the PhD scholarships available, eligibility criteria, and the application process at QUT
- Prepare the following documents: (i) a brief research proposal, (ii) a CV and (iii) a transcript of your academic results
Publications
- Capel, T., Ploderer, B., Bircanin, F., Hanmer, S., Yates, J., Wang, J., Khor, K., Leong, T., Wadley, G. & Newcomb, M. (2024). Studying Self-Care with Generative AI Tools: Lessons for Design. DIS '24: Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 1620–1637. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/250415
- Clark, D., Brown, R., Harman, J., Lazzarini, P., Van Netten, J. & Ploderer, B. (2023). Self-Monitoring Diabetes-Related Foot Ulcers with the MyFootCare App: A Mixed Methods Study. Sensors, 23(5). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/238240
- Ploderer, B., Rodgers, S. & Liang, Z. (2023). What's keeping teens up at night? Reflecting on sleep and technology habits with teens. Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, 27(2), 249–270. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/227707
- Ploderer, B., Rezaei Aghdam, A. & Burns, K. (2022). Patient-Generated Health Photos and Videos Across Health and Well-being Contexts: Scoping Review. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 24(4). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/229905
- Ploderer, B., Lawrence Taylor, J., Muñoz, D., Bircanin, F. & Brereton, M. (2021). Diagramming Working Field Theories for Design in the HCI Classroom. CHI 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: Making Waves, Combining Strengths, 1–14. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/210406
- Vella, K., Ploderer, B. & Brereton, M. (2021). Human-Nature Relations in Urban Gardens: Explorations with Camera Traps. CHI 2021 - Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems: Making Waves, Combining Strengths, 1–13. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/210436
- Wilson, C., Sitbon, L., Ploderer, B., Opie, J. & Brereton, M. (2020). Self-expression by design: Co-designing the ExpressiBall with minimally-verbal children on the autism spectrum. CHI 2020 - Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–13. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/200894
- Wilson, C., Brereton, M., Ploderer, B. & Sitbon, L. (2019). Co-design beyond words: 'Moments of interaction' with minimally-verbal children on the autism spectrum. CHI 2019 - Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–15. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/130556
- Rodgers, S., Ploderer, B., Maloney, B. & Hang, J. (2019). Designing for wellbeing-as-interaction. CHI EA 2019 - Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–6. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/128954
- Munoz Saez, D., Ploderer, B. & Brereton, M. (2019). Position exchange workshops: A method to design for each other in families. CHI 2019 - Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, 1–14. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/128926
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Bernd, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2021
- Details
- Honorable Mention award for my CHI 2021 paper "Diagraming Working Field Theories for Design in the HCI Classroom". The paper was ranked among the top 5% of all accepted submissions.
- Type
- Committee Role/Editor or Chair of an Academic Conference
- Reference year
- 2021
- Details
- Associate Chair for the Health Subcommittee at CHI 2022, the ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- PCHF Innovation Grant to conduct a trial study "MyFootCare: A Mobile App to Engage Patients with Diabetic Foot Ulcers in Self-Care." With P Lazarrini, J van Netten, R Brown, D Clark, and J Warnock
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Metro North Hospital and Health Service Link Grant to develop and trial "Better Individualised Stroke Care using Technology (BISCUT)." With T Green, J Muller, K Clark, and A Tariq
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- QUT Vice Chancellor's Performance Award for mentoring research students and colleagues through CHI writing workshops
Selected research projects
- Title
- Designing Distanced Intergenerational Interaction with Tangible Technology
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP240102717
- Start year
- 2024
- Keywords
- Title
- Understanding and Treating Videogame Addiction in Young People
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- 2011768
- Start year
- 2022
- Keywords
- addiction treatment; behavioural intervention; randomised controlled trial; Addictive Behaviours; prospective cohort study
- Title
- Framing and Enabling Children's Active Play using Novel Technology
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP200100723
- Start year
- 2021
- Keywords
- Title
- Ambient Nature Network: New Technologies to Connect People to Nature
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP190101647
- Start year
- 2019
- Keywords
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Looking for a postgraduate research supervisor?
I am currently accepting research students for Honours, Masters and PhD study.
- Understanding and designing for digital self-care
- I want to move it, move it: framing and enabling children's active play using novel technology
- Designing distanced intergenerational interaction with tangible technology
You can browse existing student topics offered by QUT or propose your own topic.
Current supervisions
- Co-Designing Technologies with International Students from Indonesia in Australia to Support their Wellbeing
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Daniel Johnson, Dr Tara Capel - HCI in the Garden: Technology for Sharing and Living with Nature, Inspired by Phenology for Older Adult Gardeners
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Margot Brereton, Dr Kellie Vella - Designing Conversational Agents to Support Pre-school Children for Music Education
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Distinguished Professor Susan Danby, Professor Daniel Johnson, Dr Sarah Matthews - The Role of Digital Technology in Engaging Children with Nature
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Margot Brereton, Dr Kellie Vella, Dr Tshering Dema - Designing Elements of Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interactions for Young Children's Active Play
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Thea Blackler, Adjunct Professor Peta Wyeth, Dr Nicole Vickery - The applications of tangible embodied and embedded interaction (TEI) in facilitating intergenerational active play
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Thea Blackler, Dr Nicole Vickery, Dr Daniel Cook - Co-designing Relational Technologies with People with Dementia and Informal Caregivers to Support and Express their Personhood
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Professor Margot Brereton, Associate Professor Alessandro Soro - Mobile health for secondary prevention of Diabetes-related foot ulceration
PhD, Associate Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Peter Lazzarini
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
- Making a makerspace: Reimagining makerspaces for women's participation (2023)
- Co-Designing with Adults with Moderate to Severe Intellectual Disabilities to Enable Active Communication Technology Use (2022)
- Crafting and connecting: Co-designing technologies with older adult crafters to promote family connections (2022)
- Leveraging Social Media to Co-Design Support for Developing Life Skills Among Young Adults with Intellectual Disability (2022)
- Co-Design Beyond Words with Minimally-Verbal Children on the Autism Spectrum (2021)
- Development of Interfaces for Orthopaedic Surgeons to Control Minimally Invasive Surgical Robots During Knee Arthroscopy (2021)
- Relation-Centred Inquiry: Designing for Position Exchange in Families (2021)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
- Understanding digital technology for active play during the covid-19 pandemic among families with young children (2023)
- Designing Interactive Technologies to Enhance Nature Engagement for Children in Urban Bhutan (2022)
- Designing Mobile and Tangible Interaction for Music Education with Young Children (2021)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.