At the Unstable Design Lab we interweave anthropology, art, design, and engineering to imagine the future of human-technology relationships. Specifically, we explore how instability, the idea that technology may challenge humans, or not work as humans expect, is a quality we should embrace in design in order to live more humanely, creatively, and sustainably with technology. The Unstable Design Lab is directed by Laura Devendorf and is currently accepting research students. For inquiries, email unstabledesignlab@gmail.com.

Unstable Design Lab website

Updates

➜Artist and weaver Sandra Wirtanen joins the Unstable Design Lab for July & August as a practice-based researcher-in-residence.
➜Undergraduate researcher Josephine Klefeker presents paper at DIS '19 conference.
➜Lea Albaugh, a textile researcher at Carnegie Mellon, will work with the Unstable Design Lab during Summer 2019.
➜Mikhaila Friske, Shanel Wu and Nathalia Capreuguer França organize Antiuniversity Now: (re)claimed workshop series.
➜Laura Devendorf gives keynote presentation at the Symposium of Computational Fabrication at Carnegie Mellon University, June 16

In the news

Clement presenting his research at the DIS '19 conference.
ATLAS makes its mark at DIS'19

July 10, 2019

Researchers from ATLAS Institute's THING, ACME and Unstable Design labs took home "Best Paper" and "Best Pictorial" awards as well as contributed four research presentations at the 2019 Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '19) conference, held in San Diego June 23-28.

Sandra Wirtanen at Aalto University Department of Applied Physics laboratory measuring performance of textile prototypes.
Unstable Design Lab announces researcher-in-residence for summer weaving residency

May 13, 2019

After reviewing more than 200 applications from around the globe, the Unstable Design Lab at CU Boulder's ATLAS Institute selected Sandra Wirtanen as its first researcher-in-residence for the 2019 Experimental Weaving Residency to Bridge Art and Engineering, which aims to promote collaboration between fiber-artists and CU Boulder scientists and engineers...

Nicole Johnson and Abigail Zimmermann-Niefeld
ATLAS PhD students honored by National Science Foundation

April 10, 2019

ATLAS PhD student Nicole Johnson and affiliated ATLAS PhD student Abby Zimmerman-Niefield have been selected as 2019 National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) fellows.

Lab Director

Laura Devendorf
Laura Devendorf
Assistant Professor • Unstable Design Lab • SMART TEXTILES, HCI, DESIGN RESEARCH • INFORMATION SCIENCE

Associated Researchers

Mikhaila Friske
Mikhaila Friske
PhD Student
Information Science
Jolie Klefeker
Jolie Klefeker
Undergraduate Student
ATLAS Institute
Shanel Wu
Shanel Wu
PhD Student
ATLAS Institute

Publications

  • Josephine Klefeker and Laura Devendorf. 2019. Envisioning Reflective and Relaxing Design with ASMR. In Companion Publication of the 2019 on Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2019 Companion (DIS '19 Companion). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 225-229. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3301019.3323903. (San Diego, CA, USA — June 23 - 28, 2019). 
  • Kristina Andersen, Andy Boucher, David Chatting, Audrey Desjardins, Laura Devendorf, William Gaver, Tom Jenkins, William Odom, James Pierce, and Anna Vallgårda. 2019. Doing Things with Research through Design: With What, with Whom, and Towards What Ends?. In Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA '19). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Paper W13, 8 pages. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3290607.3299011 (Glagow, UK – May 4-9, 2019)​.
  • Laura Devendorf, Kristina Andersen, Daniela K. Rosner, Ron Wakkary, and James Pierce. 2019. From HCI to HCI-Amusement: Strategies for Engaging what New Technology Makes Old. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '19). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Paper 35, 12 pages. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300265(Glagow, UK – May 4-9, 2019).
  • Mikhaila Friske, Shanel Wu and Laura Devendorf. 2019. AdaCAD: Crafting Software For Smart Textiles Design. In Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '19). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Paper 345, 13 pages. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3290605.3300575 (Glagow, UK – May 4-9, 2019). Best Paper Honorable Mention.
  • Laura Devendorf and Chad Di Lauro. 2019. Adapting Double Weaving and Yarn Plying Techniques for Smart Textiles Applications. In Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Tangible and Embodied/Embedded Interaction (TEI ’19), p. 77-85  https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3295625 (Tempe, Arizona, USA — March 17 - 20, 2019).
  • Austin Toombs, Laura Devendorf, Patrick Shih, Elizabeth Kaziunas, David Nemer, Helena Mentis, and Laura Forlano. 2018. Sociotechnical Systems of Care. In Companion of the 2018 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW '18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 479-485. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3272973.3273010 (Jersey City, NJ — Nov. 3 - 7, 2018).
  • Kristina Andersen, Laura Devendorf, James Pierce, Ron Wakkary, and Daniela K. Rosner. 2018. Disruptive Improvisations: Making Use of Non-Deterministic Art Practices in HCI. In Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA, '18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Paper W11, 8 pages. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3170427.3170630 (April 21-26, 2018, Montreal, Canada).
  • Jen Liu, Daragh Byrne, Laura Devendorf. 2018. Design for Collaborative Survival: An Inquiry into Human-Fungi Relationships. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Paper 40, 13 pages. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173614 (April 21-26, 2018, Montreal, Canada).
  • Josephine Klefeker and Laura Devendorf. 2018. String Figuring: A Story of Reflection, Material Inquiry, and a Novel Sensor. In Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA. '18). ACM, New York, NY, USA, Paper LBW086, 6 pages. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3170427.3188570 (April 21-26, 2018, Montreal, Canada).
  • Laura Devendorf and Daniela K. Rosner. 2017. Beyond Hybrids: Metaphors and Margins in Design. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS '17). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 995-1000. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3064663.3064705 (Edinburgh, United Kingdom, June 10-14, 2017).

Additional Publications