Understanding User's Work Ethnography The systematic study and documentation of human activity without imposing a prior interpretation on it via immersion in the environment of it and observation of the routine tasks that comprise it “Make the implicit explicit”

Understanding User's Work Ethnography & Design Ethnography of design Studies of developers and their environments Ethnography for design Use of ethnography results to inform the development of designs (e.g., ethnomethodology, technomethodology) Ethnography within design Integration of ethnographic techniques into the development process itself

Understanding User's Work Advantages Describes how work is accomplished, in practice, rather than how it is planned or how individuals report the accomplishment of their work Recognizes the importance of the context and environment on activities Recognizes that, although situations may have superficial similarities, they are actually unique

Understanding User's Work Disadvantages Time-consuming Difficult to translate between the language of sociology and the language of technology Results depend critically on the skill of the ethnographic observer, as well as the analytic methodology

Understanding User's Work Using Ethnographies in Design Framework (Hughes et al., 1997) Characterize ethnographic results in a way amenable to designer’s needs Dimensions –Distributed coordination –Plans and procedures –Awareness of work Methods Designers use ethnographer’s documented results Designers learn ethnographer’s methods

Understanding User's Work Methods Applying ethnography to design Coherence Method tries to facilitate the identification of a product’s most important use cases by structuring the analysis of data Contextual Design tries to facilitate the application of fieldwork results to product design by structuring the data for analysis

Understanding User's Work Coherence Viewpoints Derived from dimensions identified –Distributed Coordination –Plans and Procedures –Awareness of Work Guides the observer to particular aspects of the workplace Allows several perspectives on a particular design to be investigated and reconciled Intended for the early stages of design process to inform the models underlying the eventual design

Understanding User's Work Coherence Concerns Paper/computer work Skill and local knowledge Spatio-temporal organization Organizational Memory Derived from prior experience in ethnographically informed design Each addressed within different Viewpoints

Understanding User's Work Coherence Matrix Paperwork & Computer Work Skill & Use of Local Knowledge Spatial & Temporal Organization Organizational Memory Distributed Coordination Plans and Procedures Awareness of Work

Understanding User's Work Contextual Design Contextual Inquiry Work Modeling Consolidation Work Redesign User Environment Design Mockup/Test with Customers Putting It into Practice

Understanding User's Work Contextual Inquiry Approach Apprentice Model: the designer works as an “apprentice” to the user Underlying Principles Context Partnership Interpretation Focus Method Contextual interview

Understanding User's Work Work Modeling Aspects to be modeled Work Flow Sequence Artifact Cultural Physical

Understanding User's Work Developing Work Models Each analyst has a different understanding of the session and they have to be reconciled into a common view of the work Interpretive Roles Interviewer Modelers Recorder Moderator/Facilitator Rat-Hole watcher

Understanding User's Work Consolidation Affinity diagram Organize individual notes from interpretation discussion Groups of notes, similar in some way, emerge from the data (induction) Work Models Consolidate a model that’s valid across individuals Aim is to identify key roles, common ways of doing work, and adaptations to specific contexts Design Room