Research operations
ProtocolDock
Live platform · active development
A research workspace joining study setup, participant routes, consent records, academic writing and structured exports.
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ESRC PhD Researcher, Vision and Time Lab
Liam Jordan
Social timing, gaze perception, and individual differences
University of Leicester
I study how brief temporal intervals shape perception and behaviour, with a particular focus on gaze duration, individual differences, and whether socially meaningful timing is supported by one general clock or a structured set of duration-sensitive processes.
Alongside my doctoral research, I develop research platforms, study tools, desktop utilities and simulation games, and write course materials and fiction.
Research
Psychophysics, eye-tracking and computational modelling of perception and socially relevant timing.
Explore my research →Software
Research infrastructure and independent products, from ProtocolDock to Keel Player, Degree Margins and AccessWhy.
Browse the portfolio →Writing
Degree Margins coursebooks and teaching resources, alongside The Departure fiction series.
Explore my writing →
Core idea
Gaze duration is not only a social judgement. It is a timing judgement with social meaning.
My PhD asks whether the timing structure recovered from gaze-duration judgements resembles a broad general timing source, a set of duration-sensitive channels, or a partly distinct social-timing architecture.
What changes?
In a gaze sequence, very small differences in how long direct gaze is held can alter whether the signal feels like a glance, an intentional look, or sustained attention.
What is measured?
Rather than only averaging accuracy, I examine how people vary across duration levels, and whether nearby durations share more variance than distant durations.
Why it matters
Individual differences are treated as evidence about the architecture of timing, not as statistical noise to be averaged away.
Research programme
Current doctoral work
Social timing
Psychophysical tasks test how people discriminate brief direct-gaze intervals in dynamic face sequences.
Latent structure
Covariance across duration levels is used to test whether performance looks like one general timing source or multiple duration-sensitive processes.
Benchmarking
Gaze-duration performance is compared with an existing non-social Gabor timing benchmark to ask what is shared and what is socially specific.
Progress
PhD timeline
ESRC Midlands Graduate School DTP, October 2025 to September 2029.
Calculating...
Research software
ProtocolDock as research infrastructure
ProtocolDock is a full-stack research operations platform with an integrated LaTeX writing environment, project and file management, participant and ethics workflows, version history, collaboration tools, analysis support, and administrative tooling. I am the sole developer, responsible for the architecture, database design, implementation, interface design, deployment planning, and ongoing development.
On this site, ProtocolDock is presented as part of my research profile: evidence of full-stack software development, workflow design, technical independence, and practical engagement with how research documents, protocols, version history, and governance records are managed.
Solo developed
React, Node, Express, Prisma, PostgreSQL, LaTeX compilation, authentication, admin tooling, UX, deployment planning and research workflow design.
Selected software
Tools built around real work
Research operations, media playback, university study and Windows diagnostics: different problems, with a shared need for clear interfaces and dependable behaviour.
Cross-platform media
Keel Player
Released · active development
A media player for Windows, Android TV, Raspberry Pi and Linux, with linked playlists and tools for everyday viewing.
Explore Keel PlayerEducation and study tools
Degree Margins
Live platform · active development
A subject-aware notebook connecting modules, reading, concepts, assignments, revision and dissertation work.
Explore Degree MarginsWindows diagnostics
AccessWhy
Released · free utility
A read-only utility explaining why Windows refused a file or folder operation, using plain-English findings and technical evidence.
Explore AccessWhyResearch, software and collaboration
I welcome enquiries about research collaborations, research software and the projects on this site.
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Updates
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Latest posts
03 Jun 2026
Fresh eyes wanted: help shape ProtocolDock
ProtocolDock has moved beyond alpha and beta, and I am now looking for fresh testers to scrutinise the platform properly. Selected testers will receive one year of Researcher-level access for free in exchange for honest, detailed feedback.
03 May 2026
ProtocolDock is now live
ProtocolDock is now live and available to use. It is still actively being developed, with new features, refinements, and improvements being added as the platform grows.