Robert Douglas Ferguson PhD

Postdocs Spotlights Seminar 3:  “Data, data everywhere…” But what to do with it? May 30 2025 12:30 - 13:30 UCD Club, Cedar and Cypress Suite Join us in this even more interdisciplinary event, with postdocs from the Queen’s University Belfast! Make sure to register before May 29th at 1pm , using the following link , to hear about our amazing speakers: Dr Sabah Suhail (QUB SPRITE+ Hub, Digital Twin Hub)  Digital Twins: A Security-Enhancing Enabler for Cyber-Physical Systems! Dr Emma Humphries (QUB School of Arts, English and Languages, Leverhulme Trust) "This boy doesn't even know the difference between 'there', 'their' and 'they are'" (Sabrina Carpenter 2024): The role of popular culture in enforcing language rules. Dr Mike Hardy (QUB Centre for Quantum Materials and Technologies, School of Mathematics and Physics)  Smart Nano NI: Lighting up Irish Photonics! Their discussant will be Dr Robert Ferguson (UCD School of Information and Communication...

Slides from the presentation will be available shortly at  https://lida.ffos.hr/ .  

Background:   Limited work explores digital technology adoption (e.g., internet of things devices, wearables, and smart devices) by informal dementia caregivers to document the needs and activities of people with dementia (e.g., activity levels, sleep, nutrition, medication, affect, etc.). Deployment of digital technologies by caregivers to support people with dementia also raises unaddressed ethical issues around digital surveillance and informed consent.  Aims:  The  overarching aim of  the  Dementia Data Reciprocity Project (DDRP)  is to reduce recordkeeping burdens experienced by informal dementia caregivers. It also seeks to find solutions to ethical challenges associated with the use of digital technologies by people with dementia and caregivers. Ethical Considerations:  To ensure safety of vulnerable participants,   future data collection activities involving people with dementia will be conducted with caregiver-patient dyads. Future W...

I'll be presenting a work in progress entitled "De Facto Personal Financial Archives: Rethinking the Design of Banking Apps and Websites to Support Long-term Financial Memory and Care of Self and Others" at the Workshop on the Future of Money and HCI at CHI 2025 in Yokohama, Japan on April 27th, 2025. See my paper here: https://hci.money/assets/files/2-Ferguson.pdf

Abstract: This research explored how young adults (ages 18–25) learn to use financial records and the roles financial records play in their experiences in coming to see themselves as financially mature social actors. The contribution of this paper is a revised model of transitions theory that includes personal information management (PIM) as an information behavior that helps people navigate life changes. Data collected during 23 guided tours was analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis, guided by transitions theory. The unifying theme was acting and becoming a “financially responsible” adult. Four themes captured different elements of this process: (1) changes generate financial identity exploration and awareness of new information needs and responsibilities; (2) young adults use financial recordkeeping to see, evaluate, modify, and therefore know the financial self; (3) human and societal factors as mediators and initiators of financial recordkeeping; and (4) construction of provis...