I just clicked to say I love you : Rich Evaluations of Minimal Communication

1. I just clicked to say I love you:Rich Evaluations of Minimal Communication alt.chi 27 September 2006 Joseph ‘Jofish’ Kaye Culturally Embedded Computing Group Cornell University, Information Science jofish@cornell.edu

2. Intimacy in HCI History of elegantly designed but ad-hoc interfaces for communicating intimacy in HCI; hard to evaluate • Fields & Thresholds (Dunne & Raby DoP2 '94) • Feather, Scent & Shaker (Strong & Gaver CSCW'96) • The Bed (Dodge CHI'97) • UbiComp'03 Workshop on Intimacy • Digital Family Portrait (Mynatt et. al. CHI'01) • inTouch (Brave, Ishii, Dahley CSCW'98) • inStink, Honey I’m Home (Kaye interactions '04) • … the rest of this alt.chi session… and more.

3. Virtual Intimate Object (VIO) • A small red circle in Windows’ taskbar, or in a Mac window. • When circle is clicked, partner’s circle glows bright red, then fades over time. http://io.infosci.cornell.edu

4. Evaluating intimacy: How much does Ariel love Eric? Count the hearts! Disney (1997) The Special Edition Little Mermaid Coloring Book. Golden Books Publishing. Answer: 19

5. 1. Thick Description (Geertz, on Ryle) • Winking • HCI has excellent winking-analysis tools… • Thick description of the context and culture lets us understand the role of the wink in sharing a conspiracy, or even parodying another sharing conspiracy. Geertz, C. (1973) Interpretation of Cultures Ch. 1

6. 2. Defamiliarization • Changing categories for novel understandings: • Lewis 1942: anachronistic descriptions of daily life • Minor 1956: Body Rituals Amongst the Nacirema • Norman 1988: Door handles, glass (“glass is for seeing through and breaking” • ‘How do you feel about your relationship today?’ vs. • ‘What colour is your relationship today?’ Bell, Blythe & Sengers. Making by making strange. ToCHI’05

7. 3. Cultural Probes • Gives context around a situation • Originally for inspiring the design part of the design  build  evaluate  iterative design cycle • Repurposed here for inspiring the evaluation part of the cycle Gaver et. al. Cultural Probes, interactions 6(1) 1999

8. Inspiring Evaluation of experience-focused HCI • Evaluation is not merely reactive, but creative. It requires inspiration • It fulfills different functions… • seeing if you met your goals or values or criteria • understanding the experience of using your technology • telling you what to do next • getting published • ..for different stakeholders with different values & goals

9. Two VIO Studies • Study I • 10 couples in existing long-distance relationships (n=20) • 5 couples assigned to VIO (n=10) • 5 couples assigned to MinIO (n=10) • Paper logbooks; pre, post-tests, daily questions • Study II • 80+ subjects recruited through long distance relationship communities on LiveJournal • All subjects took pre-survey; all were asked to take post-survey • Four groups: VIO, VIO + daily survey, daily survey alone, nothing • All surveys online - Currently being analyzed

10. Logbook Entries • Modeled after cultural probes • Questions about relationship: • The color/song/TV show/season that currently best represents my relationship is… • If I were to do a dance about my relationship today, it would be a • Rumba Samba Tango Waltz Swing

11. Rich Stories from Minimal Data • Did it make you feel closer to your partner? • I was surprised to see one morning that my partner had actually turned on his computer just to push VIO and then turned it off again • YES - We share this experience together, and we use VIO aware that from another part of the world someone was thinking to each other! When VIO became red I feel very happy, because I knew that my boyfriend was clicking on it. So this communication was in a instant.

12. Logbook Entries: Relationship • The color that currently best represents my relationship is… • Amber/yellow --> do I proceed w/ caution or speed up to beat the red or slow down anticipating a step • Purple - we have a more matured, aged relationship rather than a new, boundless one which would best be described by red. Purple is the more aged, ripened form of red. • Yellow! Like a sun, like a summer. I often laugh with Sven especially in those days. Using Vio is really funny and interesting.

13. Numerical Results • Participants used it: on average a total of 14 to 168 times a day (average 35, SD 27, max > 700) • 75% reported VIO made them feel closer to their partner during the study. • 88% stated it became a regular part of their daily routine.

14. Observations • Clicks are situated in a deep understanding of the couples’ shared relationship… we need thick description • The first click of the morning • I’m awake! • Call me! • vs. Clickwars • No! I love you more!

15. Thanks to Phoebe Sengers & the Cultural Embedded Computing GroupKia Höök, her research group & the HUMAINE networkMaria Håkansson Lars Eric Holmquist & his research group, Microsoft Research UK, The Center for the Study of Long Distance RelationshipsBill Gaver, Katherine Isbister, Paul Dourish, my subjects and coauthors. jofish@cornell.edu This talk at jofish.com/talks. VIO at http://io.infosci.cornell.edu