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.