Template for report

For your report, please use the template (Word .dot format) that I've placed on the course website here. The template includes a number of styles for headings, paragraphs, etc. Please email me if you have any problems with this.

Multi Touch Table, by Microsoft

Microsoft Surface, looks neat

Will probably cost just under USD 10,000 when its out. Though it seems to be also tangible as well as just touch. Hence the name, "Surface".

Swales Introduction

Briefly Defined


Move 1. Establish field
– Assert centrality
– State current knowledge
Move 2. Summarise previous research
– Outline issues in literature
Move 3. Prepare for present research
– Indicate a gap
– Raise a question
Move 4. Introduce present research
– State purpose
– Outline present research





More Detailed

1. Understand the wider context and importance of the project


• State the general topic and make a claim about why it is important.


• Describe what is generally known about this topic.






2. Summarize previous research


• State the core ideas in the literature and structure them in a logical sequence.


• Draw conclusions from the literature review by summing up the relevance of the literature review for the project and listing the informed decisions that need to be made.






3. Prepare for the current research




• List the gaps. That is, given all the research reviewed in Step 2, what is left to be done? An accurate summary of this situation is one of the critical aspects of a project. Are there gaps related to an area that has not been studied, or to a new method that needs developing?


• List possible methods for addressing the gaps. For a large project, usually at least five different approaches are possible. Understanding the breath of questions that could be addressed is a major step in understanding why your project is addressing the gap that it is.


• Select a gap and a methodology for addressing it. A gap can be selected because new technology, theoretical tools or methods have recently become available. It can be constrained by length of time available for the project or by resources available.
  The gap is frequently large. By appreciating that many approaches would be valid, you can see what aspects you will be able to address with your chosen methodology, and what will be outside the scope of the project. Don’t confuse the gap with your research plan (which is the next Step). It is conceivable that someone else could address the same gap using the same general methodology but design a different specific plan.






4. Research plan


• State the overall goals and the specific aims of the research. In an empirical study, the hypothesis is stated here. Make the aims as specific as possible.


• Outline the methods to be followed. A timeline is frequently useful in this section.

Implications for Design

Implications for Design
Paul Dourish

In the article Dourish is discussing the balance between theory and practice and how the implications that this has on the design.
Although HCI has been merged out of psychology and IT over the years it has created its on identity, conventions and conduct to describe the research that is undertaken within this field.
Historical Context
• Ethnographic studies originated in the area of anthropology
• Dourish states that “ethnography advocates long-term, immersive field work combining observation with participation.”
• Two trends of ethnographic studies
o Computer-supported Cooperative Work as the area of inquiry
 Emphasis on the social organisation of the activity
o Participatory Design (PD)
 “For PD, ethnography may have been an expedient tool rather than an intellectually motivated approach.”

Marginalisation of Theory
• Ethnography is often used as term to mean an investigation that is open ended or qualitative
• Generally can answer questions about how technology is used in the field
• Dourish suggests that by viewing ethnography as a method it supports implication for design. As it will generate a different understanding then if you to do the test in a laboratory
• Anderson’s exploration of the relationship between ethnography and requirements
o 3 considerations
 1st – form of reporting
 2nd – particular rhetorical strategies
• Reveals conceptual organisation of cultural settings
 3rd – reflective character of ethnographic analysis
The study not only reflects the culture being study but also the culture in which it is being written for

Power Relations
• As the aim of ethnographic study is to have implications for the design
• This therefore suggests that there is a ‘end-point’ for the research
• UCD and HCI are the domains of the study
• The main information gained from ethnographic studies is what not to build.

Technology and Practice
• Ackerman suggests that there is a “social –technical gap” which is suggesting that ethnographic studies look at where the technology is not in practice.

Summary Paper by Dourish

During the development of different intellectual disciplines there has been a certain way in which they conform to some kind of similar approach. The same goes for the scientific discipline and HCI in particular; conventions exist in the way in which we conduct and document research. When it comes to ethnographical studies meeting HCI it is very common for the ethnographical field results to be solely used as a way for finding “implications for design”. This is a misperception of the value of ethnographical studies, since it misses where ethnographic inquiry can provide major insight and benefit for HCI research (p. 542).

Ethnography is a sub discipline of anthropology, which itself arose during the colonial era of the Western civilization during the nineteenth century. Anthropology was mainly concerned with the activities of the cultures it studied, while ethnography focused on what the members of the culture actually experienced while acting the way they did. This was accomplished through daily participation in everyday life [p. 542]. Over the years ethnography proved to be useful to a number of different disciplines. For HCI it provided insight into the real-world, offering a description to the way in which technology was actually being used, through a number of different field techniques for collecting and organizing data (p. 543).

The thing is that ethnographic methods are purely seen as a methodological approach from which designers can deduct “implications for design”. By doing this, the actual theoretical and analytic value of ethnographic analysis is blocked and the way it provides benefit for HCI research is missed. The ethnographer is seen as a channel which conveys the observations to how they can be used in design, while it is so much more that has to be taken into account. It must be recognized that the gathered ethnographic data is a result of an encounter of the ethnographer with the subject under a specific setting and an analysis of the data with this in mind is what ethnography actually is.
Seeing the social discipline of ethnography merely as a way to pave a path towards design puts it away as less important and secondary to the scientific disciplines it is used for. Also, since the users of the eventual technologies are the actual creators of the meaning the technologies will have in practice, ethnography can be seen as a way to research how those technologies take on specific social meanings through their embedding within systems of practice (p. 546).

Ethnography has two ways of contributing; on an empirical level and on an analytic level. The empirical level describes the actual happenings while the analytic level encompasses the way in which something useful can be said about these happenings. The key is to find a connection to design at the analytic level instead of the empirical one. That is, to be able to appropriately compare methods and assess results (p. 548). As ethnography may play a large part in uncovering constraints and implications for design, it has an evenly great role in the way it shapes research and strategy. It provides a way of thinking.

Why Heideggerian AI Failed

On a bit of a tangent, but related to the phenomenological theories covered in Dourish's book, this paper isn't intended as a set reading, but rather as an interesting read for you (and something that should now be an easier read following what we've covered so far).

Dreyfus paper for presentation at KTH

Reading: Norman Chapter 3

The ways in which humans respond to the world are influenced by a number of different factors. In a commercial sense designers try to play a role in this, by designing products that appeal to people on a number of different levels that make up human user experience.

The first is visceral design. This level of perception has its roots in nature and the way in which we humans are biological beings. Over the years humans have evolved to pick up emotional impulses from the biological environment they live in. Bigger and more colorful are some features that get perceived as more appealing. Even now, we still look at products in a visceral, perhaps without even noticing it. The judgment of a product at the visceral level are made regarding physical features; the look, feel and sound a product has. It is up to the designer to make a product as appealing as possible by controlling these features.

Then we have behavioral design. The four components of good behavioral design are function, understandability, usability and physical feel. A product has to have a certain function and perform well according to what it's supposed to do. In this case it is important to understand how people will use a product. This can be quite difficult from a designer's perspective. When enhancing an existing product observing users could do the trick, but if the design is an innovative this can be tricky.
The design has to make the user understand how to use the product. This can be obtained by connecting the designer's intention of use to the user's understanding through the system image; the way the product actually communicates its way of use by its physical presence. Feedback giving the user information about the effect of his/her actions is of importance in making the product understandable.
The usability of a product is the ease of which it can be put to use. A well functioning and understandable product doesn't necessarily imply that it is has a high usability. It is how well the product performs when it is actually put to use.
The physical feel of a product is important because it connects with our inner world of emotion, how we experience things. Well designed touch and feel of a product can make it more appealing.

Reflective design covers the personal meaning a user will give a certain object due to cultural aspects or the message it sends out to other people. It is not about functionality, but about satisfying the emotional need people have; one of them being the establishment of one's self-image and one's place in the world (p.87).

Norman: Chapt 3 - 3 Levels of Design

Visceral, Behavioral, Reflective

The chapter starts by comparing water bottles: The Premium, The Practical and The Perrier (instantly recognisable). It stated that design of these bottles reflect the brand and it does not matter on what the H2O actually is.

Visceral:
A design that focuses on perceived visual beauty and has to look nice despite functionality.

Behavioral:
The result of practical use, the feeling or function that a product delivers. UCD: catering different functions to the application by the user. The design activities includes multiple continuous prototyping and revisions.

Example: In-car Airflow Control

Reflective:
Rethinking of how a functioning design can be portrayed in a different way. The message or basic functionality has to be delivered to the use, but in a different fashion. In a fashion that will most cater for the context in which it is designed for.

Chapter Three - Emotional Design

Chapter three of Don Norman's book, Emotional Design: Why we love (or hate) everyday things, focuses on different levels of design. Visceral, making things look good or 'pretty'. Behavioural, what the product does and reflective, meaning of things or memories that are invoked.

To begin the chapter Norman discuss the bottled water industry. Through the design of the bottle people will choose a brand of water, because in reality all water is pretty much the same. It is through this it can be seen that people choose items based on how pretty things are.


Visceral Design
In nature it can be seen that animals and plants have evolved to make themselves more attractive. For example the male peacock or flowers. Flowers generally have a sweet smell to attract attention as well as vibrant colours and a nice texture. Because of this it can be seen that human's have also evolved in this same format and this is why we perceive this as 'pretty'. A principle for visceral design tends to be that you design for things to be attractive.

Visceral Design can often be seen in the area of marketing. The iMac is a good example of how visceral design is applied. The iMac offered people a colourful package or container on an everyday product. When people see the iMac there first thoughts are not about what does the computer do, it is 'It looks nice'. Norman states that "visceral design is all about immediate emotional impact"

Behavioural Design
Behavioural Design focuses on how the item is used. Norman suggests that "four components of good behavioural design (are) function, understandability, usability and physical feel.“ The first step of a good behavioural design is to discover how people actually use/or will use the product.

History has shown as that people do not always use items how the designer attended. The telephone is an example of the users taking control, originally the telephone was meant for office use and telephone companies even discouraged users from using it for conversations.

However when testing programs to discover what is not working people have difficulties articulating what is wrong with the product. Generally people don't see problems when they occur but blame themselves. For example locking your keys in the car, this can be avoided by having a lock that needs to be locked by the keys only. Norman believes that the only way to discover if a product will work is through constant prototyping and then watch as people try and use the product.

Another aspect of behavioural design is that it should always be user-centred. The designer has to be aware of who is actually using the device.


Reflective Design
Reflective Design focuses on the message, meaning and culture of the product and its use. It is determined by the person's overall impression of a product. In terms of watches, a watch does not just tell the time, it also gives a description to what type of person they are, what their self-image is.

RE:Suggested Reading:

I don't know how but i managed to put the wrong title of the book up before. It is acutally called. Turn signals are the facial expressions of automobiles, by Don Norman

chapter 6

In Dourish's book ‘The foundations of Embodied Interaction’, chapter 6, moving toward design focuses on six design principles/guidelines that Dourish has developed.

Computation is a medium
I believe that the project i am working on is a medium for storing memories.


Meaning arises on multiple levels
This principle is split into two aspects iconic/symbolic.

When considering the iconic/symbolic dimension the project will use more symbolic images to show what has been discussed.



Users, not designers, create and communicate meaning and
Users, not designers, manage coupling

From this principle I can imagine that the way the device will be used as a journal for young children but as a way to help recall memories' for parents and the children when they are older. However there is a possibility that it could also be used as a way that parents find out about what is happing in their children's lives, new friends etc.


Embodied technologies participate in the world they represent




Embodied interaction turn action into meaning
This principle is about how meaning is created. I believe that my project relates to these concepts because its meaning will be interpreted by the user. If it is being used as a way to recall events then it will gain its meaning through this use.

Suggested Reading: Things that make us smart: defending human attributes in the age of the machine

I found this book "Things that make us smart: defending human attributes in the age of the machine", by D. Norman. I think it might be an interesting read. Especially for me as the first chapter discuss how technology has helped to recreate memories, through photos, film etc. however it also discusses its pitfalls.

Chapter 1 can be found at: http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/chapter_1_i_go_to_a.html

Tip for Reading

As a suggestion for the reading in the coming few weeks I have found a book I was tipped on by my supervisor, Charles van der Mast, back home in The Netherlands. It is called The Feeling of What Happens - Body and Emotion in the Making of Consiousness and is written by Antonio Damasio, a renowned neurologist. It is a about the separation of body and mind (if any) from a neurological perspective. The following is a review by for Nature on October 28 1999 by Raymond J. Dolan:

Antonio Damasio's stunning book provides us not only with an account of the embodiment of feeling states, but also with a related proposal for understanding two important questions in neuroscience, the nature of the self and the nature of consciousness. To think, imagine, and feel are the very stuff of mind and in Damasio's account they are deeply rooted in a sense of body. The exposition of this relatedness in The Feeling of What Happens constitutes a remarkable work of intellectual daring. The challenge posed is a radical redefinition of what constitutes the central concerns for a comprehensive account of consciousness. Indeed, by placing human emotion and feeling at center stage, Damasio ensures their rehabilitation into mainstream neuroscience... Any of the above achievements would make this book recommended reading; combined it becomes compulsive and compulsory.

This book could be a useful extension of the chapters we have read by Paul Dourish. While Dourish relates the mind and human action to technological objectives, Damasio takes a closer look at how this mind is actually connected to the body. The book is available at St. Lucia libraries.

Ubunto on Sony Ericsson Mobile

A Ubunto Linux on a mobile? Here it is, not too sure on its authenticity though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyVJgw-H5l8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eengadget%2Ecom%2F2007%2F04%2F16%2Fubuntu%2Drunning%2Don%2Dp990i%2F

Reading Chapter 6

Connecting the theories discussed so far with the design of interactive systems is not as easy as one would think. Because the research that has been done in the field by a certain kind of scientist has to be communicated to the designer who is responsible for the working of the system, it is hard to satisfy the interests and priorities of both parties. It must be recognized that linking the theory with design in a proper manner is very important and a descent way to do this is certainly valuable.

Although the basis of both tangible and social computing is theory, they both produce a different perspective when it comes to design. Tangible computing is concerned with the way the user’s action relates to where he/she is in space, while social computing argues that users constantly adjust their actions to the current circumstances and change them as new opportunities arise. The importance of setting in social computing has a lot in common with the link between action and environment in tangible computing.

The design issues are discussed according to six design principles; six things to pay attention to (p. 162):

Principle 1: Computation is a medium
In interactive technologies meaning has to be conveyed into digital encodings. Computation is the medium that makes this possible by giving the digital encodings semantics and effective power (p.163). For instance, computers are a medium for communication. Being able to modulate this communication i.e. code, transfer and decode the information in a way that represents something concrete to the user of the system is of great value. The actions of a user on the one end to the user on the other can be of importance in these cases. This visibility, or awareness, can be of great influence to the success of the communication. Providing users with information about (the effects of) their own action, can give them insight in how the system works and what the other end of the line is doing in the case that the system behaves in a certain way. This feedback loop is of importance for the sender of information to control the medium he is working with.

Principle 2: Meaning arises on multiple levels
Objects used in interactive systems can have meaning on different levels. For instance, they can be abstractions of actual entities or represent some social meaning. These levels have to be taken into account when designing the system. Regarding the way artifacts represent meaning, we can separate them into two dimensions: iconic/symbolic and object/action (p.167). An iconic artifact depicts the entity it wants to represent, while a symbolic one is an abstract of an entity. The object/action dimension is the difference of being solely an object representing an entity and being an event or operation on the other hand. The difficulty of designing a system that can work on different levels, according to the situation, is finding a suitable tradeoff between these dimensions.

Principle 3: Users, not designers, create and communicate meaning &
Principle 4: Users, not designers, manage coupling.
Although a designer’s primary responsibility is the implementation of a system; its form and function, the way it is put in to use is that of the user. The meaning and coupling to the system’s artifacts are done while the system is in use and so are on the account of the user. So the designer has to have a look into how he can make it apparent to the user what the intentions of the system are i.e. how to use and apply the tools in the system instead of determining the precise way in which the system will work. It is up to the designer to implement certain resources that provide the user insight in the way the system should work and make it easy to get familiar with. The first of these resources is the “concreteness” of the user interface i.e. the ability to operate on entities at different levels – both acting with them and acting through them. (p.173). The second resource is the visibility, the awareness of the actions of other users in collaborative systems. This can be by seeing the actual actions of another user or just by seeing the effects of his/her actions.

Principle 5: Embodied technologies participate in the world they represent.
It must be noted that embodiment doesn’t refer to a system that exactly imitate entities in the physical world, but rather the way that the system participates in the same world it represents. The entities and what these represent both exist in the same world, instead of the system merely being a representation of some world. The relation between the representation and participation is something to be considered during the design of work practice. Disregarding the fact that a system is participating as well as representing can cause a system to work inefficient.

Principle 6: Embodied interaction turns action into meaning.
Because meaning is constructed by the way we act in this world, embodied interaction turns action into meaning; it does not merely represent a meaning. Different aspects of meaning have different consequences for design and technology. Intentionality, the meaning that we link to a certain entity, should not be determined only by the representation of the entity but also by the context and actions that surround the entity. Ontology, the way in which people see/understand the world and relate the objects in this world to each other, should be considered during the design as well. Because the way we interact with the world lets us discover its structure, the same should go for a system; through acting the meaning becomes clear. Intersubjectivity, the way users communicate amongst communities and share their information, is important in the way that not only the actions but the assumptions and practices in a certain community have to be considered during the design. A tool for a certain job should, except from being straightforward about its use, implicate these already existing assumptions. Also the different levels on which a tool is used within a community and the changeability of the working of the tool should be taken into account by the designer.

Chapter 6: Binding theory with design

Theory & Design - HCI & CSCW
Difficulty in articulating the relationship between theory & design as the goals and criteria for both differ greatly.

Social & Technical
CSCW research - marry sociological investigations of work settings with technological design and interventions. However, combining the two always seem problematic.

Communication between fieldworkers and designers may not transfer the subtlety and nuance of the setting. The information communicated may seem obvious but insignificant to designers.

Hughes et al.(1995) presents a framework that translates analytic materials of social science to specific design proposals.

Theoretical framework are sometimes too heavy for practical design, however, theory provides a basis for design activities to further understand how and why design elements work.

CHAPTER 5: FOUNDATIONS

CHAPTER 5: FOUNDATIONS
Dourish, P. (2001) Where the Action Is. The Foundations of Embodied Interaction. MIT Press, Cambridge MA.

THREE ASPECTS OF MEANING

ONTOLOG

• Branch of metaphysics
  
• Focus on
  
  • “How the world is separated into a collection of entities whose meanings can be established, separated and identified” (Dourish 2001)
    
  • How relate to each other
    
  • How we describe the objects in the world
    
• It is an aspect of meaning
  
  • “Provides structure from which meaning can be constructed” (Dourish 2001)
    
• In Technology
  
  • “Internal representational structure of a software system – what elements are present, how they are distinguished etc.” (Dourish 2001)
    



INTERSUBJECTIVITY

Main point in Schutz’s work
“How the meaning can be shared”(Dourish 2001)

PROBLEMS

• How two people have a shared understanding?
  
• With no access to each other’s mental states
  
• Common ground is considered to be the answer
  

In Technology

• Communication between the designer and the user through the interface
  
• Communication between users – through the system
  
• Eg. E-mail
  
  
  INTENTIONALITY
  
  

Aspect of phenomenology

"is the term philosphers use to refer to "directedness" of meaning" (Dourish 2001)

In Embodied Interaction

• representation - in software everything is a representation
• elements contain intentional connotations

COUPLING
• "Is how an intentional reference is made effective." (Dourish 2001)
• Things are 'invisible' if they are not an object of attention
• For example:
• Heidegger's example of the hammer
• When using the hammer it is an extention of your arm
• You don't see the hammer as a hammr (it becomes invisibe)
• When you are looking for the hammer it is visible

EMBODIMENT

• emboided interaction can be used in two ways
1. Basis for an appoach to design
2. Uncover issues in the design and use of exisiting technology

Chapter 5

Aspects of Meaning: Ontology, Inter-subjectivity, Intentionality

Ontology is a perspective of the elements surrounding our environment and how we structure them in ways that seems logical to ourselves.

Inter-subjectivity is vastly discussed in previous chapters, but this part extends the emphasis of technology being a tool to establish common grounds for people to communicate and collaborate.

Intentionality in relation to consequences for design of embodied systems are discussed more thoroughly in this chapter. The design of computations and computer software are to perform a task by referring to elements or models that are familiar with. Hence, the nature of computation is, by itself, intentional.

Action - Meaning - Coupling
Coupling: Intentional reference made effective.
Ready-to-hand, ready-at-hand - the relationship of an object changing according to its state.

The realisation of elements, of its intention, and of the overall goal in performing a task to achieve it.

Variable Coupling: Engagement Separation and Reengagement
The continuous process of embodied interaction and acting through it in order to achieve a task.

Chapter 4: “Being-in-the-world”: Embodied Interaction

Chapter 4: “Being-in-the-world”: Embodied Interaction
Dourish, P. (2001) Where the Action Is. The Foundations of Embodied Interaction. MIT Press, Cambridge MA.

Embodiment

Dourish suggests that there are two definitions of embodiment. The first definition focuses on the physical aspect of the world while the second definition is more board and encompasses more then just the physical aspects of the world.

Definition 1: “Embodiment means possessing and acting through a physical manifestation in the world”
Definition2: “Embodied phenomena are those that by their very nature occur in real time and real space.”

Embodiment tends to be closely linked to that of an interface metaphor eg. Desktops, but embodiment is not just a metaphor to be based on embodiment is actually using the ‘real world’ as a medium for interaction between the user and the computer. It is for this reason that tangible computing focuses on embodiment.

The Phenomenological Backdrop

Focuses on the human experiences

Central questions

• Ontology
  
  • “The study of nature of being and categorises of existence”
    
• Epistemology
  
  • “The study of knowledge”
  
  
• Husserl, Heidegger, Schultz and Merleanu-Poney are phenomenological theorists whose work has become of interesting when considering embodiment and interaction
  
  
  
  

  Husserl’s Transcendental Phenomenology

  
  

  1859-1938
  
  • Believed that “Phenomenology was a method for exploring the nature of human experience and perception.”
    
  • Believed the problem was that science and mathematics had separated itself from everyday world
    
  • He wanted to make it more based in experience
    
  • “Philosophy of experience as a rigorous science”
    
  • Used phenomenally as a method for examining the nature of intentionality
    
  • He aimed to uncover the relationships between people’s mental experience of objects (Noema) and people’s consciousness (Noesis)
    
  • Focused on analysing how people perceived their experiences with objects
  
  
  
  

  
  
  HEIDEGGER’S HERMENUTIC PHENOMENOLOGY

  
  

  1889-1976
  Student of Husserl’s
  
  • Focused on Husserl’s phenomenology as two separate entities
    
    • Cognitive, mental
      
    • Physical phenomena of the mundane existence
      
  • Used Descartes “cogito ergo sum” (I think therefore I am)
  
  • Believed we occupied two different realities
    
    • The physical
      
    • The mental
      
  • Heidegger believed that they mind and body could not be separated and were intertwined
    “He argued that thinking and being are fundamentally intertwined". Dourish 2001
    
    • Mind observed the world and then gives it meaning
      
    • The meaning is based upon the person’s understanding of their reality
      
    • Based on this meaning the person will then form a plan to complete an action
      
  • In terms of technology we are connected to the computer through the mouse.
    
    • Heidegger believed that the mouse when in use becomes an extension-of-the-hand
      
    • When the mouse reaches the end of the mouse pad it the users view of the mouse changes and it becomes present-at-hand
      
    • When the mouse is not in use withdraws from the person’s view
      
    
    
    

    
    SCHUTZ’S PHENOMENOLOGY OF SOCIAL WORLD

    
    

    1899-1959
    Worked with Husserl
    
    • Believed:
      
      • “That the actions of others seem to us to be the actions of reasonable social actors because we assume them, in the first instance to be so.”Dourish (2001)
        
    • People share a common reality
      
    • “It is the assumption of the reality that is part of the natural attitude” Dourish (2001)
      
    • Schutz’s work made phenomenological think in terms of sociology.
      
    
    
    

    
    MERLEAU-PONTY AND THE PHENOMENOLOGY OF PERCEPTION

    
    

    1908-1961
    

    • Focus was to merge Husserl’s “Philosophy of essences” with his pupil’s, Heidegger’s “Philosophy of being”.
      
    • Focused on the body
      
    • Believed the body was neither subject of object but the third party
      
    • Used embodiment to pay attention to the role of the body
      
      
      
      
      

Week 7: Reading Chapter 5

Phenomenologists describe meaning as implicit in the way in which we interact with each other and the world around us. This chapter goes into more depth on the concept of 'meaning' and tries to connect it to the design of software- and interactive systems. Until this point we have encountered a number of different aspects of the concept 'meaning'.

Ontology is a specialism that concentrates on the different objects and entities in our world and in what way they relate to each other. Ontology offers a way of defining the structure in our lives and extracts the meaning by the way we interact with it. Software engineers use the term ontology as a way to describe the structure of their program in a way that relates to and tries to understand the world of the user. It should be noted that it is not a good idea to presume a single ontology in the design though. This will cause the system to be specialized towards a single kind of user, whereas the ontology of one user to the next will differ.

Intersubjectivity is engaged in finding out in which way users share meaning, even though they can't take a quick look into each other’s minds. It takes a role in the design of software systems as that the designer will have to convey to the user what the goal of the system is and how it should be used.

Intentionality is the connection we make between a thought or memory, and the actual object it concerns (and vice versa). Every element in a software system is an abstraction of reality. It's not surprising then that, because of the real-life entities these elements represent, we have to consider the way in which we interact with these objects in the world when designing the system.

This is where the term coupling comes in. Coupling is the concept that every intentional action has a direct consequence, or chain reaction of consequences. We use coupling to describe, build up and break down these action-reaction relationships. We can see a software system as a model with different layers of abstraction; from the input-output layer to the user interface. In terms of user interactivity we could look at coupling as the assigning of the interests of the user at a certain moment to one of these layers, but this wouldn't be correct. Through coupling a user can choose a certain object, from a variety of different objects, which is important for him at a certain moment. This is exactly where coupling can be related to the metaphors of our everyday lives that are used to build up user interfaces. Coupling is the way in which these metaphors are connected to the real world and the manner in which this is expressed in a software system.

Link for UbiComp2006 proceedings

I mentioned the other week in class about accessing the UbiComp2006 (and other Springer LNCS) proceedings away from UQ via the library's ezproxy setup. Here's a link for UbiComp2006. It will ask you to authenticate with your UQ username/password before taking you to the SpringerLink page for the conference proceedings. Note that the number at the end of the URL is the ISBN number for the collection, so if you later are browsing directly around SpringerLink and find a collection you are interested in, then you can substitute the ISBN and--provided UQ library has subscribed to the collection/series--you will be taken there. Alternatively, if you find yourself on a SpringerLink page for a collection which has a URL of the form http://www.springerlink.com/content/978-3-540-39634-5/, then you can simply insert .ezproxy.library.uq.edu.au to the end of the domain and the link should then work via the UQ library.

Smart Mirror

This idea seems pretty interesting.. worth a look.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hxlBO4Hn8Q

Week 5: Reading chapter 2, 3 & 4

Chapter 2
Over the years the performance of the personal computer has had some radical changes. However, the way we use and interact with them has changed remarkably little. Also the role they play in our everyday lives has not changed much. To escape this, a variety of alternatives have been explored in the research community. A vast number of examples can be given of projects that implement the computer in the world we operate, which can be referred to as ‘tangible computing’. The ubiquitous computing model, proposed by Mark Weiser by the start of the 1990s, distributes computation throughout the environment and embeds computational power in all sorts of objects. There are a few common issues that can be seen across a range of cases in tangible computing. First of all, there is no single point of control and interaction. Second, sequential ordering does not hold and finally, we use the physical properties of the interface to suggest its use.

Chapter 3
Social computing refers to the application of sociological understanding to the design of interactive systems which becomes significant when we look at the context in which computation is put to work. This context is as much social as technical; computation is part of a network of social relationships between people, institutions and practices that sociology can help us explore. There are a number of different sociological approaches, where the observational study of behaviour, originated from anthropology, is a common feature they share. Whereas sociology examines social relationships, anthropology studies the culture that gives those relationships meaning.

Ethnography, an aspect of anthropology, places an emphasis on the detailed understanding of culture, through intensive, long-term involvement. It represents the culture from the member’s point of view. In computing, the use of ethnographic methods can be helpful to relate the formalized work processes to how the work is actually carried out in practice.

The study of the commonsense methods by which people manage and organize their everyday behaviour is called ‘ethnomethodology’. It looks for the emergence of social order out of details of what people do rather than from abstract theory. ‘Technomethodology’ uses this approach in the design of not only a specific interactive system at a specific setting, but rather at the basic, fundamental principles around which software systems are developed.

Two fundamental features of the ethnomethodological perspective are accountability and abstraction. Acting rationally and perceiving action to be rational are reciprocal aspects, which constitute accountability. Where accountability describes the way actions are organized, abstraction does exactly the opposite. It hides information in order to isolate one piece of a system to all the rest. To bring these two aspects together in interface design the reflection technique has emerged. It states that it is a good idea to build systems that tell the user what they are doing, since humans have an interrogative nature. Another example is using space and place in the design process of interactive systems. Since we all share space in the everyday environment it provides a natural metaphor for collaborative system design. Using a view centred on “place” instead of “space” directs our attention towards the activities that take place in this “place” instead of the structure it has. It also reflects that the knowledge shared there is knowledge shared by a particular set of people based on their common experiences over time.

Chapter 4
In the previous chapters an outline was given concerning tangible and social computing. Although they seem as two totally different subjects, they actually are based on the same approaches. They are unified by an idea that is called embodiment. Embodiment is the common way in which we encounter physical and social reality in the everyday world. The embodied interaction with the world we live in is so natural to us, that it needs no thinking. Translating this interaction to an interactive system is a lot harder, though.

Embodiment has been explored most extensively within phenomenology, a branch of philosophy that is concerned with the elements of human experience. Especially the work of four phenomenological theorists – Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Alfred Schutz and Maurice Merleau-Ponty – have been relevant to questions of embodiment and interaction.

Husserl’s philosophy was a reaction to the objective formalization of the world that was taking course during his lifetime. He opposed to the distancing of science and mathematics from the everyday world and experiences. Husserl’s view constituted a separation between objects of perception and the perception themselves. In this view not only being should be recognized, but also the mental act of acknowledging this being.

Heidegger, although following Husserl in attempting to uncover the intentionality of experience, opposed to this separation as he proposed that one clearly needed to be in order to think. Instead of being two separate things he argued being comes first; thinking is derived from being. He stated that the objects we use and see in this world disappear from our immediate concerns while using and seeing them; while being. Only when we need to, we think about their actual use and see the technology behind them.

As where Husserl and Heidegger concentrated on the individual experience of the world, Schutz extended phenomenology to encompass the social world. His program centred on the problem of intersubjectivity: how can we achieve a common experience of the world between different individuals? He stated that our understanding of the world and the (in)animate things in it, and the way we interact with them, are based on our own lived experience. We can see the work of Heidegger in the approach to language of Ludwig Wittgenstein. His theory stated that the setting in which language is used, contributes to its meaning.

The goal of Merleau-Ponty’s work was to reconcile Husserl’s with Heidegger’s philosophy. He accomplished this by focusing on the role of the body in mediating between internal and external experience.

There are a number of theorists that acknowledge our physical embodiment as a central aspect to how we act and react. J.J. Gibson, for instance, linked visual perception and the way our perception changes by movement of our body with our acting in the world. It laid the foundation for “ecological psychology”, which is concerned with the organism living and acting in the world. One of Gibson’s constructs that has been useful for HCI is the concept of “affordance”. An affordance is a property of the environment that affords action to appropriately equipped organisms. Using this concept can help in interactive design, as it can make appropriate use of a device clear to a user. Michael Polanyi used the idea of “tacit knowledge” (things that we know, but unconsciously) to try and understand the world. In a lot of situations we know what to do without being able to express how to do them. We just do.

Week 5 Reading- Chapter 4

Chapter 4: “Being-in-the-World”: Embodied Interaction

Tangible and social computing reflects upon our familiarity with our interactions.
Focusing in the social and physical aspects
Tangible computing:
Attempts to capitalize on physical skills and the familiarity that people have with real
world objects

Embodiment:

• the common way that we encounter physical and social reality in everyday world
• Embodiment means possessing and acting through a physical manifestation in the world
• Embodied phenomena are those that by their very nature occur in real time and space

Husserl’s Transcendental Phenomenology

• criticised science and math and its removal from the everyday world
• phenomenology – uncover relationships between the objects and the consciousness
• analyse how to perceive and experience the phenomena of the everyday world
• rabbit example – when u see a rabbit u don’t just see a rabbit u recognise a rabbit and then you look at the rabbit

Heidegger’s Hermeneutic Phenomenology

• I think therefore I am – two different and separate worlds
• Reality and mental experience
• Focused on ontological
• Forms and categories of existence
• Thought that we act in a world that is already organised - in terms of meanings we know what the world means to us
• Ready to hand (zuhanden)
• Present at hand (vorhanden)
• Eg. A computer mouse
  Ready to hand – waiting for use
  Equipment fades into the background
  Present at hand – when using the mouse
  The mouse becomes an object of an activity

Schutz’s Phenomenology of the Social World

• Uses phenomenological tradition
• Intersubjectivity = mundane practical problem
• Solved through social actor in the course of their action and interaction
• Assumption of rationality is part of the natural attitude
  
  

Merleau-Ponty and the Phenomenology of Perception

• Wanted to reconcile Husserl’s philosophy of essences with Heidegger’s philosophy of being
• The body was a central theme
• Bridged the gap between the two theories
• Embodied nature of action split into 3
  1. physical embodiment of human
  2. bodily skills and situational responses that have been developed
  3. cultural skills – understanding of the cultural world in which we are embedded
• These combined influence our understanding of our own embodiment (phenomenological body and)
• How others understand it (objective body)

Week 5: Reading

Chapter 4: "Being-in-the-World": Embodied Interaction

The topic on Embodiment
Abstract Conceptions vs. Physical World

Embodiment: Phenomena encountered directly vs abstractly
- Posses & acting through a physical manifestation in the world
- By nature occur in real time & space

Tangible Computing: Capitalise our physical skills & familiarity with real world objects
Social Computing: Relationship between social action & settings in which it unfolds

Husserl's Transcendental Phenomenology
- Separates mental life and everyday experience
- Cartesian Dualism: mind & body
- Thinking derived from physical being thus inter-wined
Traditional: Our minds give meaning to the world
Husserl's: Meaning are embedded in the world

Mouse Example: Ready to hand (as a tool, an extension to the hand and used unconsciously)/ Present at hand (as an object)

Alfred Schutz Phenomenology
- Inter-subjectivity
Sharing of meaning & experience of the world (mutual understanding)
Through lived experience of our own
Rationality: Part of natural attitude
Assume: Others' experience is like our own

Gibson-HCI
Affordance of environmental objects: for "appropriately equipped" individuals

Activity -- Organism -- Environment (3 linking elements)

Gaver -> Virtual window: Extending Video Conferencing

Tacit Knowledge / Embodied Skills
Think Distal, act proximal
What/How things are to be done

Social World
The use of language & pictures representing relationships between entities in the world.

"Meaning of a word is its use in the language" -Wittgenstein
The language games perspective: language as a form of life.

Commonalities of all perspectives:
1. Embodiment: a way of being, participative, in the world.
2. Everyday engagement in accomplishing practical tasks.
3. Meaning from the way we act with this world, through embodied practical actions.

A few words on the review of this weeks reading:
All in all, this week's reading seems very relevant to all aspects of our everyday life. By using the Embodiment approach in HCI makes total sense in that things are based on how practical it performs, rather than how efficient it should perform theoretically in an ideal world, based on the designer's perspective.

In relation to the previous readings, Dourish brings together perspectives of authors in the field of phenomenology. This sets a solid understanding on the basis of HCI approaches such as Ethnography and other on-site approaches to user requirement analysis and evaluation.

Week 3 Readings

Chapter 2: Getting in Touch

Dourish’s second chapter in his book, where the action is, is a description of the ever evolving desktop computer. Through the chapter we are able to discover how the computer has evolved and where it has remained stagnate. Dourish explains that although technology has advanced people are still using the computer in the same way, with the same devices to interact with it. This in turn makes the environment where the computer is, computer focused rather than human focused.

This is demonstrated through several examples including, the digital desk and the meeting live board. Both of these examples show how the industry should be evolving to make the environment more user orinated.



Chapter 3: Social Computing

The chapter entitled social computer is focused around the history of various studies that encompass the field of Sociology. Dourish describes the emergence of ethnography, in terms of its historical settings and this study allowed various other studies to emerge each encompassing its own aspect of sociology. For example ethnography is about what people do, what they experience, while completing the activity and how it fits into the person’s life.

Dourish also discusses Suchman’s book about plans and situated actions. Through this book it was discovered that the previous thoughts about how people acted towards a goal; in a step1, 2 and 3 situation eg. make a cup of coffee. Is not applicable in a social situation where people’s lives are constructed on a moment to moment basis. Ethnomethodology is then discussed as a way to deal with the people’s constantly changing ways to get to a goal. This study resolves around the context in which the person is in and how this aspect of a person usually can clarify aspect of what is happening.

Week 4: Readings

Dourish, P. (2001) Where the Action is.

Chapter 2: Getting in Touch
This chapter talks about the evolution of the Desktop PC into the Ubiquitous and Tangible Computing. More notably, it focuses on Weiser's work at Xerox Parc in moving about from the desktop paradigm and into embedding computers everywhere.

Although this book is published in 2001, it is evidently a bit dated, as technology in 2007 has already embedded into our surroundings. Such as RFID tags used in tracking most logistic items, smart cards used for security purposes as well as for e-payments. Tangible technologies embedding into the marketing and sales industry to provide a better experience for customers etc.

By going to the ITU conference last year, I saw many mobile technologies continuing to embed into our environment, and incorporating more interactive technologies. For example, RF-ID embedded into movie posters, so that when we get near a movie poster, we can see a movie trailer, as well as session times of that movie. Some 'gaming' phones also offer sensors that allows the player to play it in a similar way to a Wii.


Chapter 3: Social Computing
This chapter continues with the theme of Technology Evolvement and discusses computing in the sociological understanding to the design of interactive systems. It presents the historical background towards anthropology, and also how ethnography emerges. (Airport Traffic Control & Printing Shop)

Through Ethnography, social interactions and things that seem to be commonsense will be captured. This provides a whole new dimension of requirements for system designers to consider. The chapter continues in presenting the Locales Framework in that it captures the social interaction and relationships within the group of users and use this structure as a basis of system design. The emphasis of the Locales Framework is upon places rather than spaces, particularly in ways of exploring social settings, and uncover issues at work for the purpose of design.

Some Terms . ..

Sociology: The emergence and maintenance of social structures and patterns o social interaction.

Anthropology: Cultural webs of signification that give structures and interactions meaning.

Ethnography: Detailed understanding of culture, through intensive long term involvement.

Ethnomethodology: The understanding of the data collected by an ethnographic study. Different from Sociological perspective, ethnomethodology brings no pre-perceived knowledge.

Locales Framework 5 Components: Foundations, Civic Structure, Individual Views, Interaction Trajectory and Mutuality

A good example that I recently saw was the use of 'ordering machines' at the Queen Street Mall Subway. The deployment of these ordering systems has modified the interaction of the customer and the sandwich maker, in that they do not communicate anymore. This may indeed make the ordering process more efficient, yet it will also take out the social aspects in ordering a sub. Clearly, the system designers did not design the system with social interactions in mind.

On the other hand, in looking at CSCW applications, the recent launch of MS Windows Vista and Office 2007 seemed to have incorporated many collaborative features, such as Windows Meeting Space and a further integration of Sharepoint services. However, one may argue that according to the Locales Framework, these features may merely serve as 'spaces' rather than 'places' for people to collaborate. The customisability is a key issue to these rather generic software. Even current generations of SAP applications that are specifically deployed for an organisation may only be considered as "spaces" in which people collaborate, as they merely represent networked tools, rather than promoting presence and awareness within the different parts of their applications.

Some Interesting Links

Image Recognition for WebCam - EyeToy in VB
http://dftuz.unizar.es/~rivero/alumnos/vmouse.html

Hightech BMW Salestool
http://www.freshcreation.nl/comments.php?id=975_0_1_0_C

This includes a youtube video in how BMW is now using touch-screen plasma to as a sales tool for their cars.

iPhone - the death of product design

Interesting post on how the iPhone represents a move away from the design and manufacture of devices where product designers (read industrial designers) are 'in charge' to a world where interaction designers hold sway.

http://www.creativeslant.com/mt/archives/000055.html

Welcome

This blog will be the place for group discussion and comments on our readings throughout this semester. Click on the course code at the top to go to the course site at UQ.