Researcher in Interaction Design and Children

The Department of Digital Design and Information Studies within the School of Communication and Culture at Aarhus University invites applications for the position of researcher in interaction design and children. The position is affiliated with the research project COMPILE – Collaboration in Special Education funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark. 

The filled position will be a full-time, 24-month fixed-term position and begins on 1 June 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The School of Communication and Culture is committed to diversity and encourages all qualified applicants to apply regardless of their personal background.

Research context

Special education schools lack effective means to train the collaboration skills of children with special needs. Educational digital games have the potential to motivate and scaffold collaboration, but there is a lack of frameworks for designers to effectively design such games for the needs of children in special schools. While most children acquire collaborative skills quite easily, others potentially need more training, such as children with autism, ADHD, or other disabilities. Consequently, there is a need to develop tools that facilitate children’s interactions with their peers and provide support for their collaboration processes and communication abilities. The project aims to investigate how to design educational technologies to train collaboration skills in children in special education using digital games as a motivational tool that effectively fosters collaboration, empowering children with special needs to acquire essential 21st-century competencies. 

By combining design, game design, learning, and psychological perspectives from developmental psychology in participatory design with special education stakeholders and with design-based research, the COMPILE project aims to develop a generative taxonomy of design principles and game mechanics that can scaffold collaborative interactions in children in special education.

The project is part of a suite of several research projects exploring interaction design and children at the Center for Computational Thinking and Design (CCTD) and in the Interaction Design research program.

Researcher position

The position will focus on conducting in-depth participatory design and evaluation studies using principles and methodologies from interaction design and developmental psychology. Moreover, the researcher is expected to partake in the development of theoretical concepts and frameworks to understand the interplay between game mechanics and collaborative interaction, as well as research-based project activities, seminars and workshops. 

The successful applicant can expect to work in a strong and focused research group of 15-20 colleagues, including PhDs and postdocs, with an ambition to be at the forefront internationally in the field of interaction design. Moreover, the successful applicant will become part of the highly ranked HCI research group at Aarhus University and the Centre for Advanced Visualisation and Interaction. 

The successful applicant will collaborate closely with the project manager, Associate Professor Eva Eriksson, and game developers from CAVI. 

Read the full job description and apply by clicking the 'Apply' button