Morgan G. Ames

Why we tag: motivations for annotation in mobile and online media

Why do people tag? Users have mostly avoided annotating media such as photos -- both in desktop and mobile environments -- despite the many potential uses for annotations, including recall and retrieval. We investigate the incentives for annotation in Flickr, a popular web-based photo-sharing system, and ZoneTag, a cameraphone photo capture and annotation tool that uploads images to Flickr. In Flickr, annotation (as textual tags) serves both personal and social purposes, increasing incentives for tagging and resulting in a relatively high number of annotations. ZoneTag, in turn, makes it easier to tag cameraphone photos that are uploaded to Flickr by allowing annotation and suggesting relevant tags immediately after capture. A qualitative study of ZoneTag/Flickr users exposed various tagging patterns and emerging motivations for photo annotation. We offer a taxonomy of motivations for annotation in this system along two dimensions (sociality and function), and explore the various factors that people consider when tagging their photos. Our findings suggest implications for the design of digital photo organization and sharing applications, as well as other applications that incorporate user-based annotation.

Heuristic evaluation of ambient displays

We present a technique for evaluating the usability and effectiveness of ambient displays. Ambient displays are abstract and aesthetic peripheral displays portraying non-critical information on the periphery of a users attention. Although many innovative displays have been published, little existing work has focused on their evaluation, in part because evaluation of ambient displays is difficult and costly. We adapted a low-cost evaluation technique, heuristic evaluation, for use with ambient displays. With the help of ambient display designers, we defined a modified set of heuristics. We compared the performance of Nielsens heuristics and our heuristics on two ambient displays. Evaluators using our heuristics found more, severe problems than evaluators using Nielsens heuristics. Additionally, when using our heuristics, 3-5 evaluators were able to identify 40--60% of known usability issues. This implies that heuristic evaluation is an effective technique for identifying usability issues with ambient displays.

The uses of personal networked digital imaging: an empirical study of cameraphone photos and sharing

Developments in networked digital imaging promise to substantially affect the near-universal experience of personal photography. Designing technology for image capture and sharing requires an understanding of how people use photos as well as how they adapt emerging technology to their photographic practices, and vice versa. In this paper, we report on an empirical study of the uses made of a prototype context-aware cameraphone application for mobile media sharing, and relate them to prior work on photographic practices. By reducing many of the barriers to cameraphone use and image sharing (including increasing image quality, easing the sharing process, and removing cost barriers), we find that users quickly develop new uses for imaging. Their innovative communicative uses of imaging are understandable in terms of the social uses identified from prior photographic activity; new functional uses are developing as well.

Making love in the network closet: the benefits and work of family videochat

In this paper, we explore the benefits of videochat for families and the corresponding work that home users engage in to make a video call run smoothly. We explore the varieties of social work required, including coordination work, presentation work, behavioral work, and scaffolding work, as well as the technical work necessary. We outline the benefits families enjoy for doing this work and discuss the ways in which families use videochat to reinforce their identity as a family and reinforce their family values, in effect making - as in creating - love. We conclude with recommendations for improving videochat and for designing with family values in mind more generally.

Making cultures: empowerment, participation, and democracy - or not?

Making has transformed from a fringe and hobbyist practice into a professionalizing field and an emerging industry. Enthusiasts laud its potential to democratize technology, improve the workforce, empower consumers, encourage citizen science, and contribute to the global economy. Yet critics counter that in the West, making often remains a hobby for the privileged and seems to be increasingly co-opted by corporate interests. This panel brings together HCI scholars and practitioners active in making, handwork, DIY, crafts, and tool design to examine and debate the visions that come from maker cultures.

A comparison of synchronous remote and local usability studies for an expert interface

Synchronous remote usability studies can be a convenient and cost-effective alternative to conventional local usability studies. Although they are common in the field, there has been little research comparing synchronous remote usability studies with local studies. In our comparison of remote and local studies of an expert interface, the primary differences were in the participants and facilitators qualitative experience. The remote and local studies agreed closely (with no significant differences) in terms of the number of usability issues found, their type, and their severity. While our comparison focuses on an expert interface and more work is needed to understand remote studies in general, our experience suggests that evaluators of expert interfaces will have comparable success identifying usability issues with either remote or local studies.

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.

PhotoArcs: a tool for creating and sharing photo-narratives

The PhotoArcs interface aims to enable easy and fun creation and manipulation of photo-narratives to encourage sharing and interaction. PhotoArcs leverages the benefits of existing sharing habits both online and face-to-face. We describe our design of the PhotoArcs interface, report on the results of an exploratory low-fidelity usability study with five participants, and outline future directions.

Story Time for the 21st Century

Family Story Play is an interactive book-reading system designed for two-to-four-year-olds that couples videoconferencing with paper books and interactive content to support grandparents reading together with their grandchildren over the Internet. The Story Play system is designed to improve the amount and quality of interaction between children and distant grandparents by shifting interactions from conversation to shared activities. Ethnographic methods provide a rich understanding of current family practices. Findings from this research help the authors articulate the design rationale behind Story Play and express opportunities in a broader design space for family communication.

From drills to laptops: designing modern childhood imaginaries

We introduce two case studies that illuminate a particular way of conceptualizing childhood and technology: the East Bay Fixit Clinic and the One Laptop Per Child project. Both cases borrow ideologies of childhood from contemporary American culture and ideas of technological potential from computer cultures. The developers and organizers in these two groups ground the resulting narrative in their own childhood experiences and their desire to provide the same kinds of experiences to children today. We highlight some of the dimensions of this narrative as well as some of its limitations in appealing to, and re-creating, a particular kind of child that resembles the organizers themselves: technically inclined, often oppositional, and often male. These cases highlight both the prevalence and limitations of using childhood ideologies in the design process by showing how these particular versions of childhood are enlisted to frame technological development and the social programs that promote it.