Jeffrey Heer · 23 April 2009

1. Fieldwork Jeffrey Heer · 23 April 2009

2. Hugh Dubberly’s 3x3

3. “The conceptual morass into which the Tylorean kind of pot-au-feu theorizing about culture can lead, is evident in what is still one of the better general introductions to anthropology, Clyde Kluckhohn Mirror for Man.” Class comments • “pontification and turgid prose” • “don't see how the paper contributes to the class”

4. “…if you want to understand what a science is, you should look in the first instance not at its theories or its findings, and certainly not at what its apologists say about it; you should look at what the practitioners of it do.” Class comments • “an excellent job outlining the interpretive nature of theory of culture” • “especially helpful and effective in projects involving cross-cultural design, customization, and localization”

5. Big Questions for Today • What knowledge does fieldwork produce? • How/what can/should I observe? • How should observation and design relate?

6. “You Are Not the User” Seems obvious, but… • Different experiences • Different terminology • Different ways of looking at the world Easy to think of self as typical user Easy to make mistaken assumptions

7. How do you know... What the important problems for users are? Whether an idea is a good idea? Why fieldwork? “Data is the only reliable outside arbiter”[Beyer and Holtzblatt]

8. What knowledge does fieldwork yield? A few candidates: • None at all – it’s anecdotal • The most authentic kind of knowledge, because that’s what people do • Fieldwork is a great tool for generating insight, but it’s not “science” • “to make available to us answers that others …have given, and thus to include them in the consultable record of what man has said”

9. Fieldwork methods in HCI Task analysis Contextual inquiry Cultural probes Diary studies Ethnography Pager studies (Experience sampling) Content analysis

10. What makes for a good interview? “Walk me through …” How/what vs. Yes/no The dangers of “why”? Identify salient elements • Conflict. Shame. Humor. Recall vs. recognition

11. Ethnography Ethno + graphy: the writing of culture Field notes are indispensible data

12. Observations Interpretations On the other side of the notebook you might document interpretations, questions, and possible theories of behavior. Right-away determined by velocity (urgency)? Fluid movement of ticket exchange signifies “expert” rider? On one side of your notebook you might document what you have observed. Attempt to avoid interpretation and speculation in these notes. W/M/brwn suit faster than W/F/pink top. F slows, M passes. M puts tick in machine, pulls out top, does not stop walking

13. Ethnography Ethno + graphy: the writing of culture Field notes are indispensible data Participant-Observation • “Natural settings” • Questions of trust and access? Informants… • What does this mean for online settings? Role of theory in interpretation? Reflexivity and bias: you are in your data

14. When to stop fieldwork? When you stop being surprised Coverage • Of respondents / stakeholders • Of activity of interest • Of periods (e.g., seasons) You run out of resources (time, money, …)