I have been thinking about…

A PhD studentship up for offer!

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 17:16:09 +0100

I have a PhD studentship available to someone interested in doing interaction design work investigating the role for digital technologies in supporting play within a children's hospital. We have a hospital interested in collaborating with us, so this is a real opportunity to do some wonderfully applied work that could make a real difference to children's experiences of staying in hospital. Take a look at: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/postgraduate/funding/search/list/cs026 to find out how to apply. The deadline is May 8th 2012 so get in contact with me if you have any questions!

Research lockets

Fri, 20 May 2011 09:50:54 +0100

So, I'm back from CHI 2011 and an extended weekend in Vancouver. A very intense week divided between preparing and giving two presentations whilst also trying to attend panels and talks within the conference. The weekend before the main conference I attended the "HCI, Politics and the City" workshop. It was probably the most fun workshop I have ever attended, and I particularly enjoyed the effort made to get us HCI researchers out talking and working with activist groups around Vancouver. The group I was in went for a cycle ride around Vancouver whilst also getting to know members of the Velopalozza group. I think it was the perfect mixture of fun with work. We were tasked with exploring how technology might better help the group recruit people to both organise cycle rides, as well as participate in cycle rides. I'm not sure that we fully satisified the needs of our clients, but nevertheless it was certainly a thought-provoking couple of days.

Today is my second day back at work, and I'm surprised that I'm not more jetlagged. This was the first time I have returned from North America and not had to sleep during the day after the flight, so maybe this is the secret to not feeling tired for weeks after travelling. I think today has been a good research day. I feel as though I'm making progress on the project, thinking through how we can work with family tree historians to understand their experiences of research. I've been in contact with a number of potential participants for the first round of work on the PATINA project and its been interesting just having quick chats with people about the sort of research that they're engaged in as well as how they came to be doing such work. I now have a couple of interviews set up and so will need to spend some time next week pinning down exactly how these initial meeting should progress. I want to try and use some of the techniques discussed in Sarah Pink's "Sensory Ethnography" and particularly think about how people can prepare for the interview in the same way that I am prepapring so as to make the interview more of a collaboration and conversation.

I've also been playing around with the idea of a research locket, a probe-like object to support the exploration of the emotional labour of research. (Something that I've been exploring also through interviews with researchers.) I like the idea of someone wearing their research, or at least their feelings about the current state of their research. Now, on the one hand I could look to add some technology to a locket so that it can record audio which might represent someone's feelings about their work. But, maybe this is too complicated. Maybe the probe should be non-technological with individuals simply placing words or colours in the locket depending on their feelings? I'm not sure yet, but I've put a bid on a locket on ebay to have a play around with over the next couple of weeks. I wonder what I would put in a locket today to reflect my experience, I definitely feel that I am making progress on the project and I'm excited about being here in the Culture Lab, but I feel also a little torn between a number of different interesting possible research directions. I feel that I am in a struggle with myself to fully focus on one area of research. What I want to do is capture something of this experience but in a way that is tangible rather than written.

Field work in Rome - it's a hard life

Mon, 02 May 2011 02:44:05 +0100

Over the last few days myself and a PhD student from Southampton University have been in Rome and Portus doing fieldwork. Now, let me be clear, sacrifices have been made for us to be here. We had to take the 07:00 flight from Gatwick, and we have worked over two British bank holidays, so don't go thinking this is a jolly.

The fieldwork so far at Portus (the remains of a roman port about 30km to the west of Rome) has been incredibly interesting. My only other experience of archeology has come through watching Time Team with my Dad as a child, but seeing archeology in real life has made me re-think it as a discipline. Watching the team work on-site is tiring. Many of the "workers" spend their time outside in the hot Italian sun excavating a trench all day. In fact one of the workers there at the moment has been digging in the same trench for the last three weeks. I have tended not to think of research as being a terribly physical thing, but seeing archeologists as work has changed my view on this. I wonder how much their bodies change as a result of their obvious passion for archeology?

I have sat and talked to the archeologists as they have worked, and even helped mark some roman shards of pottery. I have watched Roman pieces of glass being photographed and seen the top layer flaking away, leaving something even more delicate. Talking to the archeologists as they do their work has made me realise that there is really only a very limited time to catalogue what is found in the ground, because the act of removing artefacts results in their decay. This is why it is so important that the archelogists work together to ensure as much is collected about the objects as possible and as accurately as possible to aid researchers' interpretation of the site, and the roman people.

Back to the Archives

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 08:53:13 +0100

It's a bit of a funny time at the moment. I've recently had some sad family news and I can't help but feel a little distracted from work. Memories of my Grandparents, who both died in the last week, pop into my mind at inopportune moments. Occasionally tears prick my eyes. Work beckons.

I take the metro into work today which means I can read a little of "Doing Sensory Ethnography" by Sarah Pink on my way in. I'm enjoying the book so far, but rather desperate to find some solutions to problems I'm having thinking through how probes can capture the sensory elements of experience. After re-organising some of my travel plans for CHI 2011 with the help of one of the research secretaries, I pick up a set of 100 beautifully designed leaflets to hopefully promote the PATINA project to users of the Tyne and Wear archives. I'm interested in understand the motivations and experiences of family tree historians as a contrast to the experiences of trained researchers, and academics. Part of understanding these experiences will be derived through my own research around my family tree, and today I visit the archives to both drop in the leaflets and also to research a little bit of my own family tree. Luckily although I haven't booked a microfilm reader there are several free so I'm able to get straight down to the business of looking for my Granny's baptism record, alongwith my Great Granny and Granddad's marriage certificate and my Great Granny's burial record. There's a particular buzz in finding the marriage certificate, seeing the handwriting of my Great Grandparents, alongwith my Great, Great Grandparents. The tentative hand of my Great Granmother, and the strong and slightly irregular signature of my Great Grandfather. It makes me feel closer to them, like somehow seeing their handwriting makes them seem more real. I would like to be able to touch their signatures, pull my fingertips over the top of where their fingers once were, but alas this is not possible through a microfilm reader. Their condition is marked as "Bachelor" and "Spinster". My Great Grandmother was a spinster at the age of 26. I chuckle at this. I decide to print the marriage certificate out, but the printout loses even more of the detail, looks even more abstracted and impersonal than the microfilm version.

Probes and leaflets

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:30:02 +0100

I've not got too much time today, as I'm off to see a talk at Northumbria University. Today has been a bit choppy. I started the day as usual with a cycle ride dodging cows, and then checking through email. One email caused me a little excitment, and forked my day a little.

I've been asked to help out with a conference that will be hosted by the Culture Lab next year, which led me to spend some time coordinating web design and branding efforts with a graphic designer. After this another email impacted on my day. This time the email told me that a proof of the leaflet I've been working on to recruit participants to the first round of PATINA work has been printed. I pottered over to the library to take a look at the second proof and finally happy with the design and text, I've signed it off. Just a short wait now for the 100 leaflets to be printed and then they'll be left in Tyne and Wear Archives to tempt family tree historians to work with me… On this line, I've been reading through some of the vast amount of HCI literature on probes, with the back of mind wondering what sort of probes I am going to make to understand people's motivations and experiences of geneaology research.

A new blogging dawn

Mon, 11 Apr 2011 11:34:47 +0100

So, today sees a new dawn in my blogging behaviour - or it should if I actually stick to it. Last week we had two very productive meetings for the PATINA project. The more we talked about the experience of doing research, the more I started to think that it would be useful to keep some sort of diary tracking my experience of doing academic research on a daily basis. I'm going to try and be honest about life as an academic researcher. I'm going to try and focus on more than what I have done in a day, looking to also reflect on my experiences of doing research at a British university. Here goes!

Cycling into work I planned my day, and for the most part my week. This is quite a common thing for me to do on my cycle ride in the morning, but I can't claim to spend the whole journey thinking solely about research. My thoughts are intermingled with wondering about what pedestrians are about to do, whether a driver has seen me, and increasingly whether a cow is going to try and ram me as I cycle through the town moor. This morning I came in quite determined to read an analysis of research written by one of the PIs on the PATINA project, as well as reading over the growing body of literature looking at design probes, and particularly the beautiful work done by Jayne Wallace, who until recently worked in the Culture Lab, but is now over in Northumbria University. It is Monday however, so I actually started the week gently by cleaning my desk, filing away research papers I might want to re-read in the future, recycling those that have served their purpose, and generally clearing off some of the muck that accumulates when you eat your lunch too often at your desk. Once the desk felt clean again I logged on and began my day in earnest. First port of call is my email - and as usual what I receive in my inbox completely changes the course of my day. I am reminded that the company transcribing some recent interviews need me to re-send a file, as well as complete a formal contract. In addition to this, my manager has a few tasks he would like me to complete based on last week's meetings. It is not until lunchtime that I get the chance to really concentrate on the analysis of research provided by one of the PATINA PIs, and it is only after lunch that I start thinking about the Probes literature.

As I sit at my desk and read through some of the literature in HCI on probes, my attention is drawn to the book "Learning to Ask" by Charles L Briggs. This book has been sitting on my desk for a number of weeks, and I have been meaning to start reading it for quite some time, particularly as we're about to start recruiting participants to the first studies in the PATINA project. It's a book that I felt I needed to read based on my reading of the Ethnographic I (the book I blogged about a few months back) which seemed to resonate with the Interactive Interviewing technique described by Ellis in Ethnographic I. For some reason, now feels like the right time to start reading it. I take myself to a nearby coffee shop armed with only with my iPhone, the book, a pen and a set of post-it notes settle down hoping to make some head-way into the book. Sitting with a cappucino, and surrounded by a range of other people, I quietly read the book. I find as I read that my concentration fades in and out from what it written as elements of the book ping off different thoughts. When I find points of the book that I think are important I make a quick note onto a post-it note and stick it into the book. I've started doing this recently, hoping that it might take in more of what I read, as well as help me find parts of books that I may need later. In Brigg's account of the interviewing methodology I am struck by his emphasis on the "indexical function of language" as the notion that the meaning of what is said is found at least in part in the context where it was expressed. This reminds me of a conversation I recently had with a colleague where she was questioning the prevalence of text as a means of understanding the world. If we end up transcribing verbal conversations in order to analyse them do we lose some of the indexical function of language? It certainly will become harder to remember the pitch, the exaggeration, and the emphasis of a conversation.

Adventures in Autoethnography

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 15:15:21 +0000

I’ve been reading “The Ethnographic 1: A Methodological Novel about Autoenthnography” by Carolyn Ellis, and it has on some levels really resonated with me, and the way I feel about research, particularly with regard to the project I am currently working on.

The book itself is written like a fiction, giving an account of Carolyn as she teaches a set of students about doing autoenthnography - and it makes for a really enjoyable, and insightful read. What makes the book useful is the way Carolyn uses a cast of students, who each take differing angles on the autoethnographic approach, to examine autoenthnography and challenges to the approach from a range of viewpoints. And by vividly describing these students and the problems they have understanding, and implementing this type of research (why it is research at all, how it can be valid when so subjective, how to write about the self within research), I begin to feel that I am in the class, and Carolyn is addressing some of the questions that I am pondering as I join them on their journey. The book evokes a sense of vicarious learning - or, observing others as they learn and perform new skills. What I find myself liking considerably about this approach is the way in which it questions truth and objectivity. It accepts and even encourages that the researcher - participant relationship will have an impact on the stories that get told by a participant, and therefore what data a researcher ends up having in their analysis.

The book itself is very much grounded in understanding the experiences of others, through understanding the experiences of the self - and vice versa. The subject matter covers the social, emotional, moral, and political, with the aim to deeply engage with, understand and describe experience, such that others can engage with and understand their own experiences. A lot of the students projects, and the work that Carolyn talks about herself, has to do with pain, or with coming to terms with an life changing event, or an epiphany. But, often in HCI we are not dealing with these sorts of life changing events, and sometimes we are dealing with the mundane, the everyday event. So, is it possible to use autoethnography within HCI? I'd like to think so, and particularly if we consider how a researcher might understand the experience of others, in order to design for those experiences.

I’m beginning to embark on a new project (PATINA), where along with a group of interesting researchers from a range of disciplines we will explore how technology can redefine research, and the research space. Perhaps, this is where the autoethnographic approach can begin to align with my research? As a researcher I bring with me a range of stories and experiences about doing research, so could I use an autoethnographic approach to understand the research process of others, and through doing so begin to understand how technology might support facets of this process?

Shyness in Higher Education

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 11:06:42 +0100

Over the last few weeks I've been working up a study design to explore shyness in higher education. What I have found surprising is that it seems that very little research has looked at shyness in higher education learning interactions (with the exception of Psychologists like Ray Crozier). Yet, when I think about higher education, I think about the importance placed on students around constructing their own knowledge and contributing to discussion and debate, and therefore the extent to which students need to be comfortable to express opinions that others may not agree with, and sometimes be seen making mistakes. These sorts of interactions can be thought of as shyness invoking - they place students in a position where judgements can easily be made about themselves as individuals (i.e. their ability, their intelligence, their personality).

The study we will be undertaking from January aims to both understand students' experiences of shyness within a particular instance of higher education (a programming lab class), whilst also exploring how technology might help students' express their shyness, and perhaps even help students experiencing shyness feel more at ease in this setting. We hope to collect data relating to around 160 students' experiences of shyness over 10 weeks - the potential is there to really collect some very interesting data.

At the moment I'm designing a "shyness" interface that will run on students' desktop computers as they learn to program. The intention is to collect students' self reports of shyness (both behavioural and affective) in real time whilst they learn to program. I'm applying the guidelines for designing affective classroom technologies that I developed in a CHI paper this year - these technologies should be flexible, support agency and reflection, and provide privacy and student voice.

It begins

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:02:32 +0100

Just started working on a CHI paper for the 2011 conference in Vancouver. The paper is describing the results of a study that the Interact lab strand of the Shyness in Pervasive Computing project has been working on over the last year. The study explored whether ambient visualisations can support the development of rapport in interactants. The results are pretty interesting, suggesting that visualisations responding to mirroring behaviours, and back-channel responses can increase these types of behaviours in pairs of participants completing a planning task. This is especially interesting given the sub-conscious relationship between these types of body language and feelings such as rapport, and trust. I'm enjoying unpacking this analysis and its implications in the article.

Emotional competence in students with Special educational needs

Tue, 25 May 2010 15:17:19 +0100

From my reading around the subject and talking to experts in the area it seems that something like the Subtle Stone could have real promise for children with special educational needs.

If children with special educational needs have trouble expressing their emotions, could the Subtle Stone provide the means by which they can express their emotions to those around them more easily? Could the colour:emotion language be made less private so that children in a Special Educational Needs classroom can easily see how the other children in the classroom feel? Would any of these advantages translate into having a positive impact on these children's social interactions outside the classroom?

I Graduated

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:20:15 +0000

Well, I finally graduated. It was quite odd seeing as I didn't know too many of the others students who I graduated with, but it felt good. And, I didn't fall over, which is my main worry about this kind of events.

Ready, set, go!

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:01:16 +0100

Pretty excited at the moment because the research agenda for the shyness project is coming together nicely.

Very broadly we're exploring whether technologies can support social interactions, and in particular interaction opportunities that shy people might feel comfortable taking part in. We're currently developing a wearable technology with the Lilypad Arduino toolkit. The wearable is worn on the wrist monitoring the hand and arm movements of the wearer using accelerometers. A visual representation is then created based on the wearer's movements of his or her hand and arm and embellished when people wearing the device mimic (or mirror) one another's movmements.

What we're particularly interested in is whether this technology has any impact on the social interaction between wearers, and especially the level of rapport they experience with one another.

We're submitting a demo proposal to Ubicomp 2009 today, so fingers crossed we'll be in Florida in late September demonstrating the technology.

Augmenting face-to-face social interactions with technology.

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 17:55:26 +0100

I can't seem to stop thinking about how technologies might better support or augment face-to-face social interactions.

I think technology is doing a really good job at making information available at our fingertips, but what's really interesting me is the way that these technologies are changing our face-to-face interactions.

So, for example it seems increasingly that recieved text messages and mobile phone calls take precedence over the immediate interactions that surround us. How might technologies be designed that in fact support face-to-face communications?