20:20 Vision

Last night I went along to view a discussion being held at Sensation in Dundee as part of the Dundee Science Festival taking place this week.

It included a series of talks from a number of researchers who had come from all over the UK, who each had 20 slides, and 20 seconds per slide, to present their thoughts on the role that technology will have on our digital future.

Some speakers chose to pick a single project whereas others gave a quick overview of their background and research focus using highlights from a number of projects. There were some really great ideas being brought forward, particularly in regards to how technology can create relationships and act as a bridge between people and communities.

Often in the media we see a vision that depicts digital technology creating a divide and alienating people from society, and so it was invigorating to see a group that were on the whole using technology to bring people together and solve these issues.

Lalya Gaye and Joëlle Bitton, both from the Culture Lab at Newcastle University, illustrated the work that they had partaken within the SiDE project. It was interesting to see how they were using craft and creativity to tackle social exclusion by teaching people about digital technology and the benefits that it can bring.

It was also fascinating to see the work from Chris Speed and Simone O'Callaghan, who were applying stories through QR codes to traditional artifacts, which in it's own way was also connecting people and places.

Lastly, I found the talk from Mike Chantler to be particularly engaging. Although he was talking about textures and their visual attributes, which had the potential to be a fairly mundane topic, the passion and enthusiasm he showed for the topic grabbed everyone's attention and made it just as appealing. Hopefully I can take this into all the presentations I do in the future.

Project sketching

This week in DIR we have been working on our project platforms, and mapping out some project sketches for possible ideas. 

On Tuesday Tom Inns had given an overview of the research study journey. Similarly to others he mentioned the need to know the network around, and what else is going on in your field. I feel this is really relevant to what we are doing in design ethnography as we are currently trying to build up a network in relation to our projects. I'm trying to include a variety of sources including people that I may use as contacts, various literature materials, companies that I have looked and what they are doing that relates. I'm hoping to map out the connections between them all as well, so I'm playing around with a few ideas about how to do this at the moment.

The project in DIR revolves around the theme of Connected Communities, and we have come up with a few ideas for a research proposal. I think the section that I am most interested in is how to engage the community itself within the process. I'm keen to look into methods such as participatory design and workshops which use the community to help generate ideas and give them a sense of ownership in regards to the final outcome.

A day in the life of a mobile phone

Over the last week or so we have been working on a mini project where we have had to develop an account of a day in the life of a mobile phone. As I would be away for a large proportion of the project I really had to manage the project to a fairly strict time schedule.

I decided to attempt a cultural probe, where I gave two participants a notebook and pen and asked them to record their mobile phone usage. I also conducted some observations, primarily in pubic spaces. I also set the research aims, although on reflection I maybe didn't specify these well enough and they could have been more precise.

Once I had collected all the data I used a grounded theory approach to analyse the data, where I went through the information and picked out various concepts. I then grouped these into categories, which I gave titles, and then based my ideas on them. 

For my poster I presented the outcomes through the following narrative account from the perspective of a phone. It was interesting to try and write this way, as usually I would illustrate it through a different means, and I'm not too sure how successful it is. 

This morning I started the day with my alarm. My owner silenced me several times before getting up. I’ve been on all night incase someone wants to get in contact. The first thing my owner does is send a text message to their partner to say good morning. Later they look at my clock and realise how late they are for work. Quickly they put me into my pouch to protect me, and then into their bag for the journey. Once on the train they take me out and check through the messages. They realise they haven't replied to a friend and send an apology. They agree to meet later this evening. They then plug in some earphones and listen to my music for the rest of the journey. At the 11am meeting at work they realise they forgot to put me on silent. Slight embarrassment as their mum phones and the ringtone is loud. During the meeting they text their mum to say they will phone back later. At lunchtime they show a work colleague one of the photos in my albums. It will probably never be seen again. They phone their mum and realise the call was about a trivial matter. They don't reply to the message from their partner, they are annoyed about something. I sit in their bag the rest of the afternoon, they are unaware of the messages I receive. I will let them know the next time they pick me up. It's time to leave work and my owner looks at me and realises the missed correspondences. They get back in touch with them all on the train ride home. I spend the rest of the evening in their pocket. They go out to meet friends. They use me at various times to find out where other people are. On the walk home they check their pocket to make sure I'm there. The alleyway is dark and they're glad I'm there in case anything happens. I do know a taxi number but they don't use it tonight. Back at home they phone their partner. They're no longer annoyed. They say goodnight, and I go back on charge.

I (heart) public space

After a discussion with Catriona today I feel a bit happier about the direction for my 3rd semester project. For a while it seemed to be moving towards an exploratory kind of research project, where I would open up a range of questions or issues. As we agreed I am a more problem solving oriented person, and so need a project which relates to this. We discussed the possibility of observing how crowds of people behave in somewhere like a train station and so the project summary would be something like:

"Provide train station designers with insights into how to design a station concourse" and these insights would be formed from the observations etc. from my research.

I had a little browse for ideas this evening and came across The Design Trust for Public Space, who are trying to improve the design of New York's public spaces i.e. streets, plazas, parks and buildings by working with a variety of people. Some of their stuff is really cool and they seem to appreciate the likes of sustainability, innovation and generally making the world a better place.

The project that resonated with me the most was Problems and Possibilities: Re-imagining the Pedestrian Environment in Times Square. The report illustrates the problems, some insights and ideas, and some solutions. It's the sort of project I could see myself working on, where I would be working with a variety of people from different communities and looking to solve problems and issues through design thinking.

Their blog, I (heart) Public Space, has even more information and other ideas around the theme of public space. And what's more they love a bit of ping pong! 

Case Studies: CIRCA

Yesterday we received a lecture from Norman Alm, who had been involved with the CIRCA project. The project consisted of the development of an interactive device, which could promote communication between carers and family members with elderly people with dementia.

The first insight was that they had chosen the project from a strategic perspective. They were aware of the ageing population, and increase in the number of elderly peoplein society, and so considered developing a project that dealt with computing and the elderly. I feel this would have given them leverage in their proposal as, as he mentioned, there's a lot of competition. If you can present something that covers new ground, it will catch people's attention, and give them reason to be interested.

I think Norman is the first speaker we have had that has mentioned the negative side of multidisciplinary teams. Apart from the usual reference to language barriers, he simply said that "you can't work with people you don't like". This is true, it can be difficult to work productively with someone you don't get on with. I've had other experiences in the past, and it doesn't have to be in a project environment, where I've not worked well with someone. It doesn't necessarily mean that you don't get on with them either, you might just not "click". Inevitably you will work better with someone that you are friends with, but I feel it is important to be able to work with people you are not as comfortable with as well. It's fairly likely that I'll have to work with a variety of people in the future, and not everyone is going to get on all the time, but as long as people are clear on the end goal, then surely it is a matter of finding a way of getting past any differences. I liked what he said about seeing team members "as a person, rather than a representation of their discipline" as people will always come from different backgrounds and have different motivations.

Another point that I will need to incorporate in projects is this concept of convincing people. This could be as Norman described by knowing the field e.g. the background and competitors, or by being able to argue the case. It seems that as ethnographers we will often have to convince people of our validity, and this will only be accomplished through knowing the area and being able to back ourselves up with evidence.

Lastly I thought a bit further about ideas for my 3rd semester project whilst Norman was talking. When he described how the people were communicating through the device rather than face to face, I thought about how this could be incorporated into insights for communication design. The areas I covered with joint attention last year could also be relevant, and the notion of collaboration in space as well. This is still a bit vague in my mind at them moment, but I was seeing images of people looking at screens in stations etc.

In the afternoon we also had a session with Kirsty Miller on CVs. I found this quite informative in the end, and realised the need to design it for the specific audience. I'm probably guilty myself of having a CV which is fairly general, although I haven't had much experience in applying for a "real" job. I think the point she made about researching the employer was useful, and although I've considered this in the past, I think that it is important to get a sense of how they work, and if the place you are going to is actually somewhere that you would want to work. It also gave me more ideas for creating a website for myself, as I think I want to document the projects I have done at Uni better, as most of them at the moment are hidden away in folders.

Exploratory Design Research

Recently I have thinking about the nature of my 3rd semester project, and I now seem to be coming to a better understanding of what it is I will be studying. Initially I had skirted around mobile interaction and considered looking into future applications etc. After recent discussions, it seems that I will more likely be dealing with how people communicate in public space, and then seeing how this could inform/inspire design solutions.

I see this as a exploratory design research study, as I will be going out and looking at a situation and then analysing it with the hope of finding design insights.

We also discussed today the difference between our aims and our objectives. In the specific research study the aims and the objectives are very important. I consider the aim to be what I want to get of the project and the objectives as what I should be trying to deliver. I feel this is something which needs to be considered at the start of any research project, and will be how success is measured on completion.

Case Studies: Design Against Crime

Yesterday in the Designing Innovative Research module we were initially given a lecture by Mike Press and Lisa Cresswell, who is a research assistant on the Safer Spaces project. It was on the Design Against Crime project, which I have heard about previously on more than one occasion, so I was a little worried that it might be going over old ground. However I was pleased to discover that the emphasis of the lecture was on the process of conducting a research project.

Mike described how the whole project had evolved over the last decade, and gave examples of how they often had to adapt for various situations. He also illustrated a series of "tips" for research, some of the ones which resonated with me I have listed below:

• Say "yes we can" even if you think you can't
• Build tactical and strategical alliances
• Finish a report with "clearly more research is necessary" 

(I particularly liked this statement, Mike referred to it in the context of gaining further funding and more work. However I feel this will often be the statement required after a research study, as it's more than likely that you will not find all the right answers after conducting an investigation and will undoubtedly need to look further. I suppose in ethnographic research this will often be an issue, as there is always something else interesting to look at. It will be a matter of establishing what the designer is looking for and the boundaries of exploration).

• Work with the best people and give them their heads
• Innovate your methods
• Go for targeted audiences
• Keep evolving your research focus
• Interdisciplinary teams work best
• Versatility and adaptability is required.

One of the key principles from the talk, which was referenced in a few of the "tips", was this idea of choosing the right team, and having space to adapt. I am a firm believer in the concept of interdisciplinary teams, and I am always keen to see what different perspectives people from different backgrounds can bring to a team.

Mike also remarked on the subject of knowledge transfer, specifically in relation to the conversations between academics and the MI5 for the Design Against Crime project. Again it reiterated the need to be able to find a common language when communicating with people out-with your own domain.

Lisa made an interesting point in regards to the interview she had for her research assistant position. She said don't tell them people what you "do", but instead convey the skills you have such as communication, facilitation and critical thinking, which can be applied in a variety of contexts. 

We were also given talks from Jamie Henderson from the Innovation Portal and Ken Edwards from the Enterprise Gym. I do try and find the relevance in every lecture we have, and see how I can apply it to my own practice. I did struggle to engage with the content of these two talks, however I do see how they could be useful if I did want to set up a business on my own, and they did make me think about the fact that there is often a business model behind research and it is something to consider at all times.

The 11th Hour

In our current People and Design project we have been given the task of envisioning a future society in 2108. We also have to imagine a ritual that our society would partake in and then embody this through design.

We have had a series of lectures to get us thinking a lot about issues such as climate change, and how they will have a large effect on what the world will be like in a hundred years. My group have been doing a bit of research and we have set up a blog here to illustrate our process.

I've been doing a bit of my own research into the area, mainly by watching the two films An Inconvenient Truth and The 11th Hour.

Both of them bring up some pretty astonishing facts and statistics, and I'd say a lot of them are quite disturbing. We have been asked to consider what we think the main drivers of the issues that will affect the future of earth. Even though the glaring issues are global warming, soil erosion, fossil fuel depletion, population growth, from watching these films it is plain to see that the problem is humankind, and our disillusionment that we are separate from nature.  

I am interested to look at the positive side, in the 11th Hour it says that this could be the generation to turn things round and make a difference. I've been looking at sustainable design and how it could have a great impact. Bruce Mau's book Massive Change presents some really interesting thinking, and provides possible solutions for the future.

Mobile Social Interaction

I've been having some further thoughts on my essay and third semester project. Generally still looking at possibilities for mobile interactions.

On the nytimes.com I found this article, in which Jan Chipchase discusses how mobile phones could aid in ending global poverty. In the article it explains how through human-centred research they are finding out insights, particularly in regards to how people are adapting phones to suit their needs. In response to the questioning of wide spread technology, he explains how communication is a right, and how some "people once believed that people in other cultures might not benefit from having books either."

I've also looked at Nokia Resarch Africa, or NoRA, the video showing the Music Project in Nairobi. It presents a way of helping to develop opportunities within a fairly disadvantaged community.

I feel Nokia's Data Gathering is a good example of a design solution created through mobile interaction technology. The mobile data collection "helps to improve the operations and service provided by public and private organisations." It appears to have a lot of benefits over other methods, such as laptops, PDA's and paper.

I also briefly looked at other examples of mobile phone projects having an impact on the Third World on textually.org. A particularly interesting piece, was how people in South Africa could use texting to find out information on AIDS, and it became advantageous as it was discreet.

I think what is most appealing to me, and what I hope to try and tackle in the essay, is how the findings and insights from these approaches are or might be considered by such a large company. I suppose this gets back to the idea of how the research could actually inform design.

Also, how a company can help with social and economic issues in a country, in a moral way, when they are predominantly driven by profit?

Nokia Open Studios

I've been doing some more research into my essay and ideas for the third semester project. On Jan Chipchase's blog I found the presentation entitled Nokia Open Studios.

It illustrates how they engaged a community in the design process. The broader study was the exploration of "the impact of mobile connectivity within the context of global urbanisation".

The research was done in partnership with Younghee Jung, and the full paper can be found here. I think it is particularly interesting to see the emotional links people have with mobile phones, often the participants wanted their mobile to symbolise something about their personality. Also there were examples of the people presenting a need for the phone to solve problems they have or include functions they desire.

 

The video above shows Younghee Jung talking about the Nokia Open Studios project at the Lift08 conference.

Mobile interaction

I've been looking into what I would like to cover for my essay in DE, as well as thinking about areas of interest for my third semester project.

Generally I have been looking at mobile interaction, and I've been trying to look at it from a variety of angles. Jan Chipchase's presentation Where's The Phone? for Nokia was quite useful, as it shows how the research methods produced specific observations. I found the conclusion notable;

"The last 10 years have been about converging more functionality onto a single device - instant messaging, radio, television, music, cameras and so on. Each feature creates new modalities of use and can subtly or drastically change carrying and interaction styles. How does having a camera change how a device is carried? Or access to mobile banking?

We are rapidly moving to the point where, due to miniaturization, flexible components and economies of scale, it maymake sense to de-converge functionality on the phone. Hypothetically, if you took all the features on a phone today and distributed them around the body, clothes and in other carried objects, where might these functions be carried, accessed? And why?"

This notion would seem to contrast to what Intel Research are suggesting with their Carry Small, Live Large Research Program. This says to me that they are proposing that phones will get smaller with more platforms converged within them.

I feel that it could go either way. What I think is important is that they are both looking at how people interact with the devices, as well as looking at contexts and environments.

Essay thoughts

For our first assessment we have the task of critically reviewing a fieldwork based user research, which has been published by a company or organisation.

I have not looked too thoroughly into the actual company yet, however by looking at the blog Putting People First for my blog review, I have been thinking about the area or theme to focus on.

I want to look into what it is that people actually want technology to do for them. I could explore this in relation to devices such as mobile phones, the Internet, interactive services and home entertainment etc.

I think sometimes there are so many applications and possibilities in today's society, that the genuine needs of people become lost in the design. Often people are often given too much information to handle, and in the end services and products become overcomplicated.

I am still looking at this very generally at the moment. I saw this book, The Inmates Are Running the Asylum the other day, which I am keen to get soon, as it looks quite relevant.