In the field of Sustainable Human-Computer Interaction, there are many examples of research exploring how ICT can be used to influence people’s energy use. Typically, this research focuses on domestic electricity use and on how to persuade individuals to reduce or change their use of electricity. However, the effectiveness of such approaches has been questioned and it has been proposed to look beyond the individual to the communities, corporations and governments that affect people’s practices. In my PhD work I have studied roles and responsibilities that could influence energy related practices for the cases of personal transportation needs and energy use in apartment buildings. I have also analysed how ICT, together with other interventions, could support a more sustainable use of energy and identified important design aspects for such support. These initial findings are presented and discussed together with suggestions for directions of future work.
Doctoral consortium contribution. QC 20161219