Richard Medland

BIT (Hons1) QUT, GradCert (Research Commercialisation) QUT

Connecting People to their Resource Consumption through Real-time Data Visualisation

My research informs the development of future generations of persuasive technologies helping individuals to conserve resources. I developed a new conceptual approach to providing resource consumption feedback to people, recognising that individuals are motivated by different attitudes, behaviours, and beliefs. This novel approach engendered lasting reduction in resource consumption and sustained interactions.

Currently, my research encompasses two case studies. The first case study seeks to engender an attitudinal shift towards more informed domestic energy conservation, achieved through the installation of, and development work centred on, real-time in-situ electricity monitors in Brisbane homes. As Fitzpatrick & Smith (2009) report, domestic energy consumption remains largely invisible and intangible to consumers, and there is scant evidence supporting the effectiveness of current implementations (Darby 2010, Pierce et. al. 2010). Challenging this perception, my research explores techniques to educate and interact with users, providing channels for personal expressions of creativity and methods to participate in and contribute to digital culture. Further, my study encourages users to conduct their own research, share, collaborate and compete naturally with others through their accrued energy data.

The second case study engenders a greater understanding among professional staff of the tangible and negative effects that printing can have. Using software to analyse the generated log files of selected printers, baseline measurements are determined and staff print usage is graded. Different grades result in the circulation of software generated emails. Staff are reminded of what their current usage equates to in different metrics, and additionally encouraged to conserve paper using descriptive and injunctive normative information. In a yearlong replication study in Ireland, a team focus was chosen with teams able to compare and compete amongst one another. A unique contribution of this study comes from the finding that despite the impact of printing mandated by business as usual practises in offices, and individuals who print more over the monitored period, teams print less when aided by weekly feedback accurately conveying their consumption using a range of metrics and persuasive methods.

Biography

Richard is currently an associate lecturer with the Information Systems School at QUT and is involved in curriculum design, first year experience research and teaching core IT units. Richard is also an experienced tutor having led the coordination of units with more than 600 students and co-chaired numerous unit conferences with up to five simultaneous streams and distinguished industry speakers.

Publication outlets over the past three years include, IEEE Pervasive Computing, CHI, Persuasive, and OZCHI. Richard’s research interests are energy demand management, HCI and first year higher education. During his PhD, Richard has attracted numerous competitive sources of funding for research projects and professional development, including a National ICT Australia Scholarship (2009), QUT Strategic Links with Industry grant (2009), a commercialisation training scheme scholarship (2010), and an Oxford Internet Institute summer doctoral program scholarship (2011).

Richard has demonstrated a deep understanding of the benefits of collaborations with industry and other academics during his PhD having collaborated with 2 Save Energy (the largest distributor of energy monitors in Australia and the United Kingdom) and CurrentCost, the Department of Energy and Resource Management of the Queensland State Government, the Apple University Consortium, the Center for Digital Technology Management at the Technical University of Munich, the Digital Enterprise Research Institute in Ireland, and Lancaster University.

Prior to returning to academia, Richard worked in Portugal (2008) as a photographer documenting cultural history, and in New Delhi, India as Chief Analyst and IT Consultant for BuzzDrivers (2007-2008). During this time he visited 37 locations across the subcontinent representing the company at the highest level. Richard was awarded a place on the Dean’s List for Academic Excellence of the QUT Faculty of Information Technology in 2006, and was the first undergraduate to conduct research within Boeing Australia Limited (2006), investigating the corporate implementation of large scale information systems and electronic knowledge repositories.

Richard is a well-versed AISEC (Association Internationale des Etudiants en Sciences Economiques) alumni and former QUT ESCAPE member having participated in different roles in both organisations within Australia and abroad.

Supervisors

• Assoc. Prof.  Marcus Foth (Principal)
• Prof. Paul Roe (Associate)
• Dr Ricky Robinson, NICTA Queensland (Industry Co-Supervisor)