Am Montag, den 19. Januar 2026, um 16:15 Uhr hält

Mikołaj Woźniak
Universität Oldenburg

im Rahmen seiner beabsichtigten Dissertation einen Vortrag mit dem Titel

Mental Floorplans: Fostering Diagnostic Reasoning and User Agency in Smart Home Ecosystems

Der Vortrag findet im OFFIS, Escherweg 2, Raum F02 und

online unter : https://meeting.uol.de/rooms/wvl-v7f-1tx-fn4/join statt.

Der Vortrag erfolgt in englischer Sprache.

Abstract:
This dissertation examines the design of smart home interfaces that enhance user agency by rendering diagnostic and troubleshooting processes more intelligible and learnable. While domestic IoT platforms promise seamless automation, they frequently leave household members uncertain about system operations and failure management. Grounded in mental model theory, this research investigates how users conceptualize smart home ecosystems, reason about failures, and how interface design might cultivate sophisticated structural models that reach beyond simple functional mappings to encompass device dependencies, information flows, and system topologies.
Through exploratory studies and controlled experiments, this dissertation develops conceptual framing and applied strategies for supporting diagnostic reasoning in smart home contexts. Initial in-situ ethnographic work, comprising household visits and interviews, characterizes smart homes as complex sociotechnical ecologies with distinct user roles and heterogeneous mental models that vary within households. Building on these insights, constructive interaction studies yield taxonomies of users' spatial representations of home-IoT ecosystems and diagnostic strategies. Subsequent experimental inquiry reveals the dynamic interplay among spatial models, diagnostic strategies, and the objective complexity of smart home configurations.
An experimental study conducted in a living lab environment with custom fault simulation infrastructure compares three interface paradigms: visualising structural-spatial dependencies, highlighting relational ecologies, and a functional baseline. Both structural and relational approaches enhance diagnostic effectiveness and enable users to resolve issues of increasing complexity without proportional cognitive load increases. A concluding study explores hybrid interfaces integrating graphical visualizations with conversational agents.
Collectively, these studies articulate taxonomies of spatial mental structures and diagnostic strategies, translating them into evidence-based design principles for smart home interfaces. These principles foster user agency by promoting deeper system comprehension, supporting flexible diagnostic reasoning, and enhancing users' sense of control over domestic technologies.
Betreuerin: Prof. Dr. Susanne Boll