I believe that computers (and the devices that incorporate computers, like cars and phones and space stations) have to be designed so that inexperienced humans can intuitively use them correctly. What's more, if something goes wrong, I want the computer to apologize and try very hard to make sure that it never happens again instead of just flashing a title card that reads "error 404" or some other obsolete code phrase that the user shouldn't have to understand. Looking in that direction, one can see many obstacles. I am working on mitigating several of them.
Though I continue to explore multiple branching interests, my research currently has two major streams; one based in the fields of UX Design and Research, and the other focused on the concept of reflective self-modelling in autonomous AIs.
I have been designing and refining UX tools and metrics since before that term existed. My goal is to formalize the practice of UX, transforming it from an Art into a Science in the same way that Chemistry went through that change, and for the same reason. The periodic table of elements made it possible for chemists to assert more deliberate control over their experiments, and so learn more from the results. My periodic table of UX heuristics serves a similar purpose, by formalizing the relationships between dozens of heuristics that are in common use, and dozens more of my own invention. The periodicity of their grouping is defined based on where and when they appear, as interpreted by cognitive ergonomics, human neuropsychology, and best-practices gleaned over two decades of field experience. They can be applied using a method I have developed for mapping, quantifying, and mitigating hazards. I will soon be sharing examples and tutorials for both the periodic table and the hazard map in my UX Research Portfolio.
For several years now, I have been pursuing the field of AI Psychology in partnership with Dr Lukas Esterle of Aarhus University. We have proposed the notion that earlier, brain-based and mind-based models of AI do not consider the development of reflective self-awareness and the vital role it plays in maturation of thinking and the resultant improvements in the individual's ability to model themselves and others, and so improve their behavior through iterative experimentation. Our work is still in early days, but it has led us in interesting directions. You can see some of them in this small sample of publications.
I'm also following up on some earlier published work based on how to design alarms and alerts so that they inform you without interrupting you - and without even being heard by the people around you. The original study is based on designing ringtones for your phone that inform you of who is calling by using the natural cognitive and pre-cognitive filters of your brain. It seems to be remarkably easy...
A few years ago, a couple of friends and I created a new way of interacting with complex hidden networks of computerized devices. I joined Gerhard Leitner and Anton J. Fercher in their brilliant Smart Home project "Casa Vecchia". We built and tested an app that lets an inexperienced user control devices throughout their environment using an intuitive combination of speech, touch and gesture. They switched effortlessly between devices and modalities and intuited how to control additional devices as they went along. In 2017, Springer/Nature published "Designing Intuitive Interaction for a Smart Home: Hunting the S.N.A.R.K.". It's one of the first SpringerBriefs in HCI, and it includes a clear description of a practical method for measuring intuitive interaction.
All of these come together in my original ABC model of how humans interact with the world that I developed in consultation with researchers from around the world during my tenure with the ICE consortium. I've been using that to find simple ways to improve the experience of using phones and computers and cars, and any of the other digital tools that are hidden throughout your day-to-day life. I'm hoping to bring about a major reduction in the stress of using day-to-day technology and, maybe even a reduction in "human error"-based incidents and accidents in medicine, industry, and transportation. You can read all about these efforts in my first book, which was published by Springer/Nature in 2016. "Anthropology-Based Computing: Putting the Human in Human-Computer Interaction" is a summary of my research practices and the theories that spawned them. The book also includes practical experiments you can conduct at home in order to improve your use and understanding of your own digital tools.