Jenna Burrell

Vineyard computing: sensor networks in agricultural production

Using ethnographic research methods, the authors studied the structure of the needs and priorities of people working in a vineyard to gain a better understanding of the potential for sensor networks in agriculture. We discuss an extended study of vineyard workers and their work practices to assess the potential for sensor network systems to aid work in this environment. The major purpose is to find new directions and new topics that pervasive computing and sensor networks might address in designing technologies to support a broader range of users and activities.

E-graffiti: evaluating real-world use of a context-aware system

Abstract Much of the previous research in context-aware computing has sought to find a workable definition of context and to develop systems that could detect and interpret contextual characteristics of an user environment. However, less time has been spent studying the usability of these types of systems. This was the goal of our project. E-graffiti is a context-aware application that detects the users location on a college campus and displays text notes to the user based on their location. Additionally, it allows them to create notes that they can associate with a specific location. We released E-graffiti to 57 students who were using laptops that could access the campus wireless network. Their use of E-graffiti was logged in a remote database and they were also required to fill out a questionnaire towards the end of the semester. The lessons learned from the evaluation of E-graffiti point to themes other designers of ubiquitous and context-aware applications may need to address in designing their own systems. Some of the issues that emerged in the evaluation stage included difficulties with a misleading conceptual model, lack of use due to the reliance on explicit user input, the need for a highly relevant contextual focus, and the potential benefits of rapid, ongoing prototype development in tandem with user evaluation.

Evaluating Shared Access: social equality and the circulation of mobile phones in rural Uganda

This article examines forms of shared access to technology where some privileges of ownership are retained. Sharing is defined as informal, non-remunerative resource distributing activities where multiple individuals have a relationship to a single device as purchaser, owner, possessor, operator and/or user. In the specific case of mobile phones in rural Uganda, dynamics of social policing and social obligation were mediated and concretized by these devices. Patterns of sharing mobile phones in rural Uganda led to preferential access for needy groups (such as those in ill health) while systematically and disproportionately excluding others (women in particular). The framework for sharing proposed in this article will be useful for structuring comparisons of technology adoption and access across cultural contexts.

How the machine ‘thinks’: Understanding opacity in machine learning algorithms

This article considers the issue of opacity as a problem for socially consequential mechanisms of classification and ranking, such as spam filters, credit card fraud detection, search engines, news trends, market segmentation and advertising, insurance or loan qualification, and credit scoring. These mechanisms of classification all frequently rely on computational algorithms, and in many cases on machine learning algorithms to do this work. In this article, I draw a distinction between three forms of opacity: (1) opacity as intentional corporate or state secrecy, (2) opacity as technical illiteracy, and (3) an opacity that arises from the characteristics of machine learning algorithms and the scale required to apply them usefully. The analysis in this article gets inside the algorithms themselves. I cite existing literatures in computer science, known industry practices (as they are publicly presented), and do some testing and manipulation of code as a form of lightweight code audit. I argue that recognizing the distinct forms of opacity that may be coming into play in a given application is a key to determining which of a variety of technical and non-technical solutions could help to prevent harm.

Context-Aware Computing: A Test Case

Through an iterative design approach, we have proposed and evaluated ways of incorporating user-created information into context-aware systems. We implemented and tested a location-sensitive college campus tour guide called Campus Aware that allows users to annotate physical spaces with text notes. The goal was to provide visitors to the campus with a sense of the activities going on in the environment. Our evaluation of Campus Aware revealed that users provided unique content that was interesting and useful to others. They also served as moderators posting corrections to inaccurate notes and answering questions posed by other users. We discovered that our system easily became a distraction and was not able to detect location precisely enough to prevent user confusion. Our findings suggest new ways to make contextaware systems easier for users to comprehend and enjoy.

The Field Site as a Network: A Strategy for Locating Ethnographic Research

Through the work of constructing a field site, researchers define the objects and subjects of their research. This article explores a variety of strategies devised by researchers to map social research onto spatial terrain. Virtual networked field sites are among the recent approaches that are challenging conventional thinking about field-based research. The benefits and consequences of one particular configuration, the field site as a network that incorporates physical, virtual, and imagined spaces, will be explored in detail through a case study. The author focuses in particular on the logistical issues involved and practical steps to constructing such a field site. This article includes suggestions for ways of studying social phenomena that take place on a vast terrain from a stationary position.

Collectively defining context in a mobile, networked computing environment

Mobile and wireless computers are rapidly becoming popular with the general public. In our research we design and evaluate new types of applications that take advantage of the unique characteristics of these devices in novel ways. One of these applications is Graffiti, a context-aware device designed using ideas from social navigation research. This system allows users to collectively define whats relevant and interesting about a location by posting electronic notes. Users encountered a variety of benefits and problems in using Graffiti primarily related to the reliance of the system on user contributions.

From ethnography to design in a vineyard

This paper summarizes the process from ethnographic study of a vineyard to concept development and interaction design for a ubiquitous computing solution. It provides examples of vineyard interfaces and the lessons learned that could be generally applied to the interaction design of ubiquitous systems. These are: design for multiple perspectives on data, design for multiple access points, and design for varying levels of attention.

Refusing, limiting, departing: why we should study technology non-use

In contrast to most research in HCI, this workshop focuses on non-use, that is, situations where people do not use computing technology. Using a reflexive pre-workshop activity and discussion-oriented sessions, we will consider the theories, methods, foundational texts, and central research questions in the study of non-use. In addition to a special issue proposal, we expect the research thread brought to the fore in this workshop will speak to foundational questions of use and the user in HCI.

Designing for context: usability in a ubiquitous environment

Freeing users from the desktop is now a practical reality in many environments. The implications for mobility are both far-reaching and under-realized in many of the current scenarios we have seen. Our work has focused on the integration of user input into the iterative design process used to develop a contextually aware application for use in an educational environment. We discuss the design and development of Semaphore, a contextually aware tool for use in wireless networked environments, and the unique opportunities an iterative design process presents for our work.