This paper looks at an ethnographic field study that evaluates domestic usage of programmable devices within the home. The authors recruited nine families to participate in the study. The households were middle-aged, relatively prosperous, settled and well educated; an audience segment that is a primary target of programmable devices.
The authors employed household visits over dinner to conduct the study. They used felt boards as their primary data gathering tool. They designed icons to represent programmable devices within the home (VCRs, ovens, alarm clocks, computers, digital cameras, etc) and asked participants to use the felt board to describe their usage of each system. The felt board inspiration came from a study conducted by Mateas where the team was able to gather detailed feedback and develop a rich dialog with users.
Participants were asked to list all of the programmable devices within the home, categorize those devices in terms of functionality (ability to program ahead, ability to program to repeat tasks), describe the frequency of usage of the devices within the household, indicate the primary person responsible for programming each device and rate ease of use of each system.
The authors looked at the type of device and the effect of gender on the programming relationship. Men were primarily responsible for programming repeated functions and subsequently found these devices easier to use; while woman were primarily responsible for programming devices ahead of time and also found these devices easier to use.
The authors' future plans are to extend this ethnographic evaluation with a different set of ethnographic techniques, lab-based research and statistically significant surveys.
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