Code Against the Machine: Design-based Research Towards More Equitable Computational Tools for Performing Artists

My research motivation is to empower performing artists, particularly women and non-binary adults, to have more equity in the technological implementations of computational systems used in their performances. Many women have missed out on current youth CS Education initiatives, requiring artists to frequently contract technical work to male engineers. To address this inequity, I am working on a design-based research project. My work involves understanding artists' technological needs and challenges they face working with DIY "beginner-friendly'' technologies, in order to iteratively develop design theories for more novice accessible and expressive tools develop interactive artistic systems. Currently, while novice-targeted beginner-friendly physical computing tools can simplify some aspects of learning programming and electronics, these tools are still limited in supporting novices who want to go beyond the creation of simple projects and create sophisticated artistic performance systems.