What's Acceptable?Understanding opinions, attitudes, and behaviors of situated technology use

INF 232 3/12/2012

Welcome

William LawrenceBenjamin (Kal) McDowd

Xin (Jason) Wang

Feedback is Welcome!

Has this ever happened to you?

Have you ever seen this?

Outline

● Project evolution● Framing our study

○ specific scenarios & examples○ research questions

● Study methodology○ rationale - how did we make design decisions

● Mechanics○ what we did & how we did it

Outline● Data / thought analysis● Interview highlights

● Thoughts on Siri● Thoughts on Kinect

● Future work● Lessons learned

Project Beginnings● Original idea: "something" with Kinect

○ Maybe interface related, or social interactions

● Devices beyond the Kinect: iPhone 4S (Siri)

● How people choose between one of several interaction modes○ Do I talk to my phone? Use the touchscreen?○ Do I wave at my Xbox? Shout at it? Use a controller?

Possible Topics of Interest● Collaborative vs. Competitive games (social

component)

● Voice communication in collaborative games

● Activity-driven games & activity coordination

● Engaging & encouraging long-term involvement

● What is unique about the Kinect? (hands-free, no-controller... what are the implications of this?)

Project Evolution● Use of technology:

○ Driven by utility ○ Related to activity going on in the space○ May be bounded by physical space

● Contradictions○ Based on role○ Based on activity○ Based on perceptions

Framing our Study1. Physical vs social space

● Is there any difference how people perceive them?

● How do they define?2. Choice of devices

● Screen size, keyboard/touch screen, gestures, dictation, etc

● goals● embodiment

Framing our Study3. Appropriateness

● What is appropriateness● What's not

4. Perception of other people using technology● What is appropriate● Any difference of rules for self and

others?

Methodology - RationaleSemi-structured interview technique

● Highly contextualized area(s) of interest● Not sure what we will find out● Limited initial understanding● Multiple hypotheses● Elicit creative, open-ended responses

Selection Criteria● Very open-ended

● Didn't want to limit prematurely

● People with high exposure to the settings / environments of interest

Places / Settings of Interest

1. Classroom - lecture environment2. Airport3. Coffee shop4. Church / religious building5. Movie theater6. Library

Place Dimensions● Small vs. large

● Public vs. private

● Focus of attention

● Cooperation level

● Visibility

Demographic / Background Data● Could become relevant, based on what we

find● Could help refine future groups of interest● Specific device usage / familiarity

● Will talk to users about w/e they have experience with

● Ideal candidates familiar with a majority of settings / devices

Example Questions / Scenarios● "Bluetooth headset guy" at the coffee shop

Wired magazine, August 2009

Example Questions / Scenarios● iPads in Church

rightreactions.blogspot.com

Study Mechanics● 2 "pilot test interviews"

● Refinements to interview questions & approach

● 4 additional interviews

Data Collection● Demographic data

○ Age○ Gender○ Occupation

● Background questionnaire○ Devices○ Places

● Audio recordings of interviews● Hand-written notes by interviewers

Background Questionnaire sample questions

Interview Highlights● Barista: Pete's Coffee (SF Financial District)

○ Business people tip well○ BlueTooth less annoying for business

■ "BlueTooth people still pay attention to other things, its like they have evolved"

● Cell phones at the concert (instead of cameras)○ The lone iPad○ Light and Sound Pollution: Movie theater vs Concert

● Technology and God○ The book, like the e-reader or the iPad, is

technology

Interview Highlights● Office worker: Toshiba

● Privacy Concerns

● "Tunnel vision"

● Technology can create "social strain"● Devices are too portable - you can't get away from

them!

Interview Highlights● Banker: U.S. Bank● Doesn't have a smartphone - but soon!

○ iPhone: "it's replaced most of the electronics that you need"

● Doesn't like the phone - but with video calls, you can't "blame the technology"

● Generational differences● On Kinect:

○ pretty expensive for just one game you want to play○ "I don't want to 'Just Dance'"

Bluetooth: Headphones: Coffee ShopCrew:

Interview Highlights1. How participants differentiate places● "Libraries are supposed to be more quiet,

while coffee shop can be noisy"● "Coffee shop is casual, so series business

are not appropriate, library is for studying, it would be awkward to play games, airport has no focus at all, so you can do whatever"

● "In the airport, the first thing is to find a 'safe' place, as I always have expensive belongings with me in the airport"

Interview Highlights2. Self and others● "I won't let myself play games in the library,

but I don't care if others are playing"● "I won't make any video calls at the coffee

shop, others can do, but I found myself always distracted by them"

● "It's cool to read Bible on Kindle, I saw such cases and it's totally fine, I have Kindle, but I won't do this"

Interview Highlights3. Perceived privacy● "In the library, I like the place where you

know others are there, but you can't see them"

● "Don't really care if it's a corner in the airport, people come and people go, it doesn't make a difference"

● "In a place where I am not familiar with, I will use less complicated apps"

Thoughts on Siri

Thoughts on Siri

Thoughts on Siri● Only used when not accompanied

● Experience is severely limited by functionality

● Helpful when can't look at the screen, or with sight impair

Thoughts on Kinect● Why we wanted to study the Kinect

○ Offers new interaction styles with devices○ Brings the virtual environment into the spacial

● Why it didn't really work○ The Kinect is not widespread○ It is used primarily in the home

● What this meant for our study○ Interest in broader range of interaction○ Spatial relation being key in Kinect○ Kinect questions became hypothetical

Kinect Caveat● One interviewee did have interesting ideas

about future applications of Kinect technology○ Artificial creation of concise keyword structured

language○ Reduction of sense of touch

■ Reduced physical closeness with others■ Desensitization to tactile stimulus■ Disallow keyed movements in 'watched' areas

○ Possible benefit of increased ability for disabled

Initial Analysis● Brainstorming

○ Initial analysis based on our own understanding○ Comparison of interview notes and ideas

● Interviews○ Rough notes○ Important ideas

Future Work● Analyze Data

○ Collect all similarities and attempt to rationalize them in a meaningful way

○ Brainstorm to evolve ideas further○ Reconsider audiences to target in the future

● Record Data○ Create logs of our interesting findings to facilitate

future work

Lessons learned● Designing the study is HARD!

● So many good & interesting ideas

● Difficult to narrow down what is one "unit" of focused, measurable work

● It's tricky to help people summarize their opinions while not biasing them

Lessons learned● Transcribing audio / video recordings is time-

consuming

● Knowing what to code for is challenging

● Consolidating ideas uncovered & deciding what to do next is hard

Thank You