Human-Computer Interaction G52HCI Andy Crabtree [email protected] Fieldwork Understanding Users.

Human-Computer InteractionG52HCI

Andy Crabtree [email protected]

FieldworkUnderstanding Users



Learning outcomes

• A basic understanding of the practicalities of fieldwork

• The analytic perspective associated with fieldwork in systems design - “ethnography”

- And more specifically, ethnomethodology (with its distinctive focus on the naturally accountable organisation of human action)

• What you have to do for your Coursework 1 Individual Report- 2500 word report on a field study of your own- 30% of overall course mark- Due Friday 15th February, 15.00 WebCT



Design scenario

• First, a quick exercise, part one of a thought experiment:- In groups of 3 or 4 sketch out a design for an email system for the 21st

Century networked home; you have 5 minutes



What is fieldwork?

• At its most basic, a matter of going and looking at what people do so that you better understand the situation you are designing for

- Direct observation, asking questions, engaging in conversation, so that you can develop an appreciation of action from the perspective of those who do it; from “the members’ perspective”

• At a higher level, it is also a matter of adopting an analytic perspective on what people do so that you better understand the situation

- Not simply about “going native”

• “Ethnography” is an analytic perspective that is closely associated with fieldwork-in-design

- The term was coined or invented by anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski circa 1922 to describe his approach towards understanding other people’s cultures through fieldwork (instead of traveller’s tales)

- The term “ethnography” is often used to describe fieldwork in systems design- However, and perhaps confusingly, it usually doesn’t refer to an anthropological perspective

but to an ethnomethodological point of view



An analytic perspective

• Ethnomethodology (EM)

- Focuses on the naturally accountable organisation of human action • i.e., focuses on how action is made observable and reportable (or accountable) by a

setting’s members, for a setting’s members, in their performance of it

- Seeks to unpack how people organise particular phenomenon (e.g., the use of digital media in the home) in the course of doing the activities that are constitutive of it

• So the point of fieldwork is to uncover the activities that are observably and reportably implicated or involved in the phenomenon’s production and how they are done

- EM marries the members’ perspective (what is done) with the analytic perspective (how what is done is naturally and accountably organised by members in the course of doing it)



An example

• Handling mail in the home

- Letterbox, pigeon hole, porch, front door … … …

- Where does mail arrive?

- In other words a known in common delivery / collection point

Known in common collection point

- Contingent • But known in common by household

members nonetheless



What happens next?

• Mail arrives then what?- Someone collects it. Who?

- But can anybody open it?

• No

- So it gets put some place where members can see that new mail has arrived

- A known in common place where members can sort through it to see if any mail has arrived for them

Known in common sorting point

• Just about anyone (even the dog :-)



Who is it for?

• Specifically, how do we determine who is entitled to open particular mail items?- Name

• Anything else?

- Logos, handwriting, postmarks, senders’ address, etc.

• All articulate entitlement to open (not necessarily name)

Sorting the mail: members can see at-a-glance who it is for

- Visible features of envelopes enable members to determine at-a-glance who an item is for and what to do with it: junk it, leave it, open it



What if it is for someone else?

• What happens then? Do we leave the mail at the sorting point?- Members usually put mail for

others in places that are relevant to them

Relevant recipient point

• Places the recipient usually sits – At the kitchen table, on their

favourite chair, on the arm of the sofa, or nest of tables next to it, etc.

• Or places where the recipient cannot miss it (e.g., outside the bedroom door of your teenage son)

• Mail items that are not for but may be of interest to other members are also placed in this way (postcards, letters, leaflets, etc.)



What do we do with it?

• Lots of mail requires that we do something with it (e.g., pay a bill). Members place mail to reflect its action status.

- Mail requiring immediate action is placed such that members can see that at-a-glance

• By the mobile phone charger, or by the car keys, or in porch next to the front door, etc., if it’s has to be taken out of the home and dealt with

• Or by a computer if its to be dealt with online

Immediate action point



What if a response isn’t needed?

• Not all mail requiring action requires that we respond to it

- e.g., bank statements, insurance certificates, mortgage payment records, etc.

- We may still need to take action on it though (e.g., checking and archiving).

- Mail where action may need to be taken is placed to show that action is pending.

Pending action point



What if a response will wait?

• Other mail items require action but not until a later date

- e.g., appointments, invitations, promotional offers, etc.

- They are placed to display their relevance to up and coming events

- e.g., on notice boards next to calendars, shopping lists, takeaway menus, etc.

Pending event points



What if it’s special?

• Not all of the mail we receive is utilitarian (bills, bank statements, appointments, etc.). We also receive “special” mail items: birthday cards, thank you cards, congratulations, etc.

- Special items are placed to display their essentially social character

• On window sills, mantelpieces, cupboards, dressers, etc.

Social display points



Naturally Accountable Organisation

• The organisation of mail handling in the home as made observable and reportable by members, for members

- 1. Collecting mail from a known in common delivery / collection point- 2. Placing mail at a known in common sorting point- 3. Sorting mail based on household member’s entitlement to do so, which is read off the

visible features of envelopes and not just the name- 4. Placing sorted mail items in places relevant to their recipients- 5. Placing mail to indicate its action status

• Immediate action• Pending action• Pending event

- 6. Placing mail to display its special social status

• It is an “incarnate” organisation - It is embodied, lived, done-in-action, and plain to see ‘at work’ in other settings if you look



The organisation-within-action

Finding the organisation-within-action is the point and purpose of fieldwork for design or “design ethnography”



Design scenario revisited

• What does the naturally accountable organisation of mail handling suggest about the design of email for the 21st Century networked home?

- How might the field study “inform” design?

• What are the main organisational features or “findings” of the study?

• Thought experiment part two: who factored the distribution of email across, and its display at, different locations into their design sketches?

- Can you see the value of looking at relevant activities in the real world?

- Mail is distributed around the home

- Mail is distributed through its physical placement and display

- The display of mail performs various functions:• At-a-glance it announces that new mail has arrived, that mail has arrived for you, that

immediate action needs taking, and so on



Doing It Yourself • Where do I start?

- Anywhere you can, except your own home, with anyone who is willing to let you in and to let look at the things they do

• What do I do?- Go and look at how they do calendaring or photo sharing how they or plan and do domestic

shopping- Ask the members you recruit to show you what they do and how they do it- Talk to them about what they do and how they do it so you can understand why they do

what they do in the ways that they do

• How do I do it?- Make a record of what you see

• Keep fieldnotes - i.e., write down what you see during and after seeing it• Take still photographs of the artefacts they use and the places they use them• Record what they show and tell you using audio or video recorders

– Tell your participants that audio or video recordings will help you understand what they do in more detail– Tell them that the audio and video recordings will be kept private and destroyed afterwards

- Use the record to describe the sequential order of action and, thereby, to find the organisation-within-action



Others that do it, and why• Ethnography a primary means of understanding users in industry

- Used by Xerox, IBM, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard … … …

• Why does industry use ethnography? - To understand its customers needs- And to support “requirements specification” (more on this shortly)

• Suffice to say it is an approach used to help systems designers work out what needs to be built and what services need to be delivered to customers

• Various configurations of ethnography in design- Quick and dirty (what we will be doing) - Concurrent - Evaluative - Re-examination of studies



Your task• To identify through fieldwork the naturally accountable organisation of:

- a) The distribution and use of music in the home- b) The distribution and use of video in the home- or c) The distribution and use of photos in the home- You will be assigned one of these topics by Steve

• Practicalities of fieldwork- You can go to any home you like, but do not study yourself- You can do fieldwork in more than one home- You should ask people to show you how they ordinarily distribute and use the media you

are interested in- You should take fieldnotes that describe what you see people doing and of what they say

about them- You may, with their permission, record what they do on audio or video tape and take

photos to document what people do- You must assure people that you will not make the recordings public, that they are for your

use only to enhance your notes, and that you will destroy them afterwards



Coursework 1

• Your Individual Report should:- Anonymize the participants in your study- Report how many settings and people were involved- When and for how long fieldwork was conducted- How it was conducted (observation, interview, fieldnotes, audio recording, etc.)

• Do not use questionnaires or statistical analysis- What was observed (what activities and interactions)- How the things observed are organised-in-action- A summary of your findings stating how media distribution and use is organized- Conclude by stating the key implications of your findings for design

• i.e., state the key things a new interface for handling the media distribution and use you observed should support

- You may use diagrams, photographs, and extracts of talk to elaborate your report

- A template is on WebCT; use it



Readings

• On WebCT

- Button, G. (2000) “The ethnographic tradition and design”, Design Studies, vol. 21, pp. 319-332.

- Hughes, J., Randall, D. and Shapiro, D. (1992) “Faltering from ethnography to design”, Proceedings of the 1992 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, pp. 115-122, Toronto: ACM Press.

- Rouncefield, M., Hughes, J. and O’Brien, J. (1997) “The practicalities of ethnographic analysis”, CSEG Technical Report, CSEG 27/1997



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Human-Computer Interaction G52HCI Andy Crabtree [email protected] Fieldwork Understanding Users.

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