An experiment in digital media and museums and a how to guide.

Post from: Tom Satwicz

QR codes at the Mattress Factory

Christian Heath and Dirk vom Lehn argue for distinguishing between interactivity and social interaction, particularly with respect to exhibit design.

Indeed, underlying the design and deployment of many computer- based exhibits is the idea that in developing new forms of ‘interactivity’ the installations facilitate social interaction and co-participation. Unfortunately, however, while creating innovative, and in some cases engaging, activities with a particular system, it is not clear that ‘interactive’ exhibits facilitate or even encourage social interaction; that is, interaction between people.

The implications for museums and informal learning in general:

In this way, we suggest that the design and deployment of many computer-based exhibits in science museums and centres conflates ‘interactivity’ with social interaction and thereby undermines the informal educational contribution that such exhibits are thought to achieve.

There is also an embedded critique of standard audience evaluation practices or at the very least it is a recognition of their limits. They are pushing for an interaction analysis approach.

Indeed, the studies reveal how designers and members of design teams have little access or opportunity to learn from their successes and mistakes, since evaluation is severely limited and there is little opportunity to share or accumulate knowledge.

Heath, C. and vom Lehn, D. 2008. Construing interactivity: enhancing engagement with new technologies in science centres and museums. Social Studies of Science. 38:63-96.

Post from: Tom Satwicz

Conflating interactivity and social interaction

I tend to think that  mobile technologies are making salient the importance of attending to the pervasive aspects of any technology. In the long run I suspect that conversations about immersion (i.e., the potential for Second Life, etc.) will be replaced by discussions about pervasive technologies (mobile devices, game consoles, etc.) in fields like the Learning Sciences. However, we are still very much in the infancy stages of developing methods for studying mobile devices in use. Here are some useful tips from AnswerLab on how to collect data on mobile device use in the lab and “in the wild.”

Post from: Tom Satwicz

The challenges of studying mobile devices

Photo by joi on Flickr

A 13 year old tries out the Walkman for a week.

On the form factor:

From a practical point of view, the Walkman is rather cumbersome, and it is certainly not pocket-sized, unless you have large pockets. It comes with a handy belt clip screwed on to the back, yet the weight of the unit is enough to haul down a low-slung pair of combats.

On learning to use the antique:

It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.

Another notable feature that the iPod has and the Walkman doesn’t is “shuffle”, where the player selects random tracks to play. Its a function that, on the face of it, the Walkman lacks. But I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down “rewind” and releasing it randomly – effective, if a little laboured.

I told my dad about my clever idea. His words of warning brought home the difference between the portable music players of today, which don’t have moving parts, and the mechanical playback of old. In his words, “Walkmans eat tapes”. So my clumsy clicking could have ended up ruining my favourite tape, leaving me music-less for the rest of the day.

Post from: Tom Satwicz

Sony Walkman: Review of an “antique technology”

Adrian Chan has a nice response to Josh Porter’s post on hard-wired behavior. They are trying to understand why people collect followers on Twitter or engage in similar kinds of behavior using social networking sites, games, etc. Josh asks:

How would twitter change if you didn’t know how many followers you have?

Josh’s position is that humans are hardwired for collecting (amongst other things), a behavior that designers should embrace. It seems his conclusion then is that twitter would be quite different if it did not display how many followers you have.

So, back to behavior. Some behaviors that drive us nuts are core to the human experience:

1. We want attention.
2. We collect things.
3. We want status.
4. We are vain.
5. We make judgments accordingly.

These behaviors aren’t going away anytime soon. So instead of decrying such behavior, we need to embrace it! We need to figure out how it fits within the context of what we’re building. Sometimes it won’t. But we can’t dismiss it. If we are really serious about designing great software then we have to at least give this type of behavior some thought, considering whether we should or whether we can damp it or amplify it.

Adrian’s response is that origins of human behavior are far to complex and varied to relay on the “hardwired” explanation.

Collecting is probably not the original or primary cause or motivation behind the follower behaviors seen on twitter. We may count things, but I don’t think that’s grounds to assume that we count people in the same way. Yes, we count the number of people, but that’s not quite the same. The number can represent and signify to others; our motives for signifying are not our motives for collecting.

I think it is probably more likely that the follower phenomenon on twitter can also be explained by means of interaction design. Twitter is a communication tool. Communication, as a system of action or interaction is contingent on the participation of another person. I can tweet, but I cannot do anything to make somebody else respond. This may be the single-most common reason that new users stop using twitter — they simply don’t get anything back. The only type of interaction that does work, independent of any other user’s attention, recognition, response (etc) is following.

I am going to put aside the question of why some people obsess over the number of friends/followers they have, though I tend to agree with Adrian that the reasons are varied and complex. What is at stake are the aspects of media that organize our activities. Starting with behaviors or activities, rather than relying on technology as an impetus for design, is a good thing. But looking for innate or universal behaviors is simply not enough because we are where we are. Meaning that our behaviors and activies are composed not only from what happens inside our heads, but also from the kinds of people and objects that we surround ourselves with.

Yes, FB and Twitter are communication tools but they are also representational devices. They represent to us what others have experienced and are thinking, primarily these people that we know in the real world. For many users online social networking is about real world connections. The pictures looked at, updates read, and the links followed are from people that they knew before Twitter or Facebook.  In other words Twitter and Facebook are functional mediums, they allow us to see what others have been up to and to represent to them what we have been doing. FB and Twitter are successful because they extend and make durable different kinds of interaction that people already engage in with non-digital media.

Post from: Tom Satwicz

designing (for) behavior and representations of activity

Start with the packaging.

Here’s a bit of good news for anyone who struggled with the cruel puzzle that was the Windows Vista retail packaging. Microsoft today released details and pictures of the upcoming Windows 7 packaging, promising a much more simple and streamlined experience.

“We’ve reduced the number of elements in the package down to three: the plastic case, the paper sleeve, and a simple Getting Started Guide,” writes Microsoft’s Brandon LeBlanc on the Windows 7 team blog. “The plastic case opens easily like a standard DVD case and it will have a single easy-to-remove seal at the top — and that’s it!”

Post from: Tom Satwicz

Improving OS usability

Jakob Nielsen has a posting that I think runs against the grain of what most security experts would say is necessary for protecting passwords. He argues that masking passwords, a practice left over from the web’s early days, does not really improve security and reduces usability.

Post from: Tom Satwicz

Making passwords visible

It works.

With some suggestions from the user:

I’d been amazed that the phone had enough battery life to make it through the night and still beam its location; the moment its battery was dead, then it would be game over for our little scavenger hunt. I unlocked my phone and saw almost 20 missed calls. And then, at that very moment, the iPhone shut down and displayed the “Connect to power” icon. My phone’s battery literally hung on until the second it was in my hand. I wuv you, iPhone.

…

- Even though iPhone’s alert notification plays whether it’s on vibrate or not, it still obeys the ringer volume – so you can still, regrettably, keep it from playing. Also it’s a lighter daintier sound effect than we’d prefer for locating something by sound. Hell, I’d prefer it if I could take pictures, play my iTunes library, and tase whoever was holding it.
- There’s no real reason MobileMe shouldn’t push the location to us; needing to refresh the location repeatedly on the webpage was silly.
- None of this would have been possible without Mark’s 3G USB dongle for his MacBook. The biggest single problem is that you can’t use me.com from the iPhone, meaning you can’t find one iPhone using another. Hopefully Apple realizes this.

Post from: Tom Satwicz

Testing Find My iPhone

Paul Sherman’s experience with the phone company reminds me of Lucy Suchman’s book, Plans and Situated Actions.

Post from: Tom Satwicz

The system cannot read your mind