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Observation

Observation. Direct observation in the field Structuring frameworks Degree of participation (insider or outsider) Ethnography Direct observation in controlled environments Indirect observation: tracking users’ activities Diaries Interaction logging.

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Observation

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  1. Observation • Direct observation in the field • Structuring frameworks • Degree of participation (insider or outsider) • Ethnography • Direct observation in controlled environments • Indirect observation: tracking users’ activities • Diaries • Interaction logging

  2. Structuring frameworks to guide observation • - The person. Who? - The place. Where?- The thing. What? • The Goetz and LeCompte (1984) framework:- Who is present? - What is their role? - What is happening? - When does the activity occur?- Where is it happening? - Why is it happening? - How is the activity organized?

  3. Watching People • Contextual Inquiry (Beyer & Holtzblatt, 1995) • Apprentice-master relationship • Insights structured by context • Ethnographic techniques • Immersive, front-line, creating an account. • More structured approaches exist

  4. Ethnography (1) • A researcher’s degree of participation can vary along a scale from ‘outside’ to ‘inside’ • Analyzing video and data logs can be time-consuming • Collections of comments, incidents, and artifacts are made • Ethnography is a philosophy with a set of techniques that include participant observation and interviews • Debate about differences between participant observation and ethnography • Ethnographers immerse themselves in the culture that they study

  5. Ethnography (2) • Co-operation of people being observed is required • Informants are useful • Data analysis is continuous • Interpretivist technique • Questions get refined as understanding grows • Reports usually contain examples

  6. If you are interested in trying Ethnography try this…. • To use ActiveWorlds you will need to check the instructions that they provide and download the appropriate software to run on your computer • if you have a high speed Internet connection, join www.ActiveWorlds.com. Or go to another chat room of your choice • ActiveWorlds is a 3-D chatroom environment in which you can visit different environments and chat with the people that you meet there

  7. Yellowstone world

  8. Try out Ethnography…. • Use one of the frameworks discussed in the previous slides to guide you and write a one or two page report about your study. • Also notice and report on any usability issues you encounter and on user experiences in this environment. • Select one of the worlds to visit and choose an avatar (a graphical personification) to represent you. • Spend one to two hours doing an ethnographic study.

  9. Direct observation in a controlled setting Indirect observation • Think-aloud technique • Diaries • Interaction logs

  10. Self-reporting • Diary studies • Photo/video journals – participants given a camera and told to document activities relating to study focus • Using technology • Palen & Salzman (2002) asked mobile uses to regular phone a diary line • Record their feelings about service • Answer structured questions • Beeper studies – subjects wear a beeper which the designer sets of occasionally during the day. Subjects records in a journal what they are doing when the beeper goes

  11. More observation techniques • Fly on the wall • Go to a location and unobtrusively observe what goes on: eg shopping activity • Shadowing • Follow subjects as they go about their routines ( similary to ethnographic techniques) • Contextual Inquiry • going to a subjects location and asking questions about behaviours etc • Undercover agent • Observe people by interacting with them covertly ( could be unethical)

  12. Choosing and combining techniques • Depends on • The focus of the study • The participants involved • The nature of the technique • The resources available

  13. Focus of the study? Context of the study? Study methods used? What insights did these methods provide? What design solution was proposed? Access this case study in Links Skim read the article answering the questions oppposite Observation Case-Study: Quiet Calls Prototype : (Nelson et al, 2001) [http://www.fxpal.com/?p=QuietCalls]

  14. Observation Case-Study: Quiet Calls Prototype :(Nelson et al, 2001) [http://www.fxpal.com/?p=QuietCalls] • Focus/Context • Understand and design for private calls in public spaces • Methods • Field observations • Interview 16 frequent callers • Anecdotal evidence

  15. Observation Case-Study: Quiet Calls Prototype : • Insights • People are ‘on call’ • Not enough info to judge whether to answer or not • Need to move to private place to continue conversation • Design solution • Device with three extra buttons • Engage • Listen • Disengage

  16. Summary • Three main data gathering methods: interviews, questionnaires, observation • Observation may be direct or indirect, in the field or in controlled setting • Techniques can be combined depending on study focus, participants, nature of technique and available resources

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