Continued Bonds: Towards the Design of Computationally Creative Bereavement Support

This doctoral thesis investigates the ways developers can create technology to support bereaved people express themselves and engage with their bereavement experience. This research project, through four empirical studies, has generated insights into what bereaved users would want or expect from such a system, and what experts would expect of it. These insights have been used to develop a series of design goals and objectives for developers of bereavement support technology. Foremost amongst these goals are that technology to support the bereaved should support self-expression and promote wellbeing. Design objectives intended to meet these goals have been tested with end users interacting with pre-existing technology that meets many of the objectives. These user tests show computational creativity (CC) systems can help people express themselves and how they are feeling, process their feelings, and continue bonds with the deceased, amongst other things. The results of the final study suggest that the use of computationally creative bereavement support tools can improve the wellbeing of its users, and that CC systems are more helpful for younger users.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

Doctor of Philosophy

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

Doctoral Thesis

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Dundee

Year dc:date.issued

2021

Author dc:creator

• Cheatley, Lee Edward

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Moncur, Wendy
• Pease, Alison
• Crabb, Michael

• Computational Creativity
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Bereavement

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

oai:discovery.dundee.ac.uk:studenttheses/338aff2f-7d79-4ac6-a3c9-bcf889ec0843

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:discovery.dundee.ac.uk:studenttheses/338aff2f-7d79-4ac6-a3c9-bcf889ec0843