Adaptive Path Blog

Evangeline Haughney from Adobe Systems gave a great talk on using comics to communicate qualitative research findings. She noticed that readers of research reports are usually skimmers and get bogged down with traditional research reports. She wanted to find compelling way to communicate findings and was inspired by Kevin Cheng’s work on creating comics as a design tool. She figured if comics could communicate design, they might also be able to communicate research findings.

Evangeline admitted that like many of us, she is not a skilled drawer. But a $20 software tool, Comic Book Creator and the help of a graphic designer allowed her to overcome what she lacked of drawing skills.

Some of the structural attributes of comics proved helpful:

Evangeline took cues from Manga comics and included reading directions in the comic.

Comics generally start with some context setting — “It was a dark and stormy night…” this narrative device proved helpful in setting the context for the research findings.

The design language of comics expresses emotions of joy, anger, frustration — communicating the emotions of users from research is part of what gives research reports their power.

Comics also provide a format for layering complex data — which is something that is often the output of research studies.

The result:
Evangeline hand delivered all the comics to stakeholders within Adobe and a typical response was, “Wow! This is really cool.” Not something most researchers are accustomed to hearing after presenting research findings.

Initially Evangeline thought the research comic books would be viral and people would pass them around. Instead, like the comics we know and love, people tended to hoard them. As a result, she wished she had printed more.

Comics as a research report format probably aren’t the best choice for every culture, but it’s definitely a creative format idea for communicating research.

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Elaine Huang of Motorola Labs presented my favorite paper at CHI so far — Breaking down the Disposable Technology Paradigm for Sustainable Interaction Design for Mobile Phones. She vividly illustrated the built in life cycle of mobile devices by walking the audience through a scenario where a user bought a new phone whenever their contract with a carrier expired or a new stylish phone was released. One of the research participants from Elaine’s research study said it best, “I didn’t really want a new phone, but I got one anyway.”

Why are we disposing mobile phones so quickly? Elaine pointed out this is a growing sentiment around all personal electronic devices, not just phones. She referenced the work of Mark Weisser, whose research supports the idea that that devices that don’t have a strong sense of ownership get left around.

The result:

A disposable culture around mobile phones
We perceive mobile phones (as well as many personal consumer electronic devices) as disposable and don’t understand the impact of our decisions on the environment.

We don’t know how to dispose of mobile phones
We know what to do with a car when we are done with it (sell it), but we don’t know what to do with a mobile device. Most of the participants in Elaine’s study kept their old phones — some with as many as five.

426,000 mobile phones are decommissioned daily in the United States, which is a truly astonishing number. Elaine shared some interesting design ideas for both helping users understand how to dispose of their phones and designing phones to be more reconfigurable so that users would keep their mobile devices longer.

Elaine added that mobile business models reinforce this disposable perception.

The real challenge is business reform. Volume allows mobile handset manufacturers and carriers to remain profitable. While horrible for the environment, the built-in replacement life cycle drives handset sales. Although almost all handset manufacturers are making moves to be more reliant on software and services for profit, whether or not those strategies will lead to profitability remains to be seen.

Elaine believes there is a market for high-quality phones that will last exists, and I certainly think that markets like India reinforce her idea. However, it is clear that business reform and the creation of new business models will be necessary to help solve this problem.

In the meantime, if you are like me and have 1, 2, or even five “decommissioned” mobile phones lying around in drawers at home, here are some ways you can dispose of them:

Contact the Manufacturer
Nokia
Motorola
Samsung
LG
Palm

Re-sell on eBay or Craiglist

Donate
Collective Good
Charity Guide for Donating Mobile phones

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Susan P Wyche of Georgia Institute of Technology presented a paper Re-Placing Faith: Reconsidering the Secular-Religious Use Divide in the United States and Kenya. The presentation focused on a study she conducted in Nairobi, Kenya. She referenced compelling statistics about the growth of Pentecostal Christian faith in Africa. Using compelling growth statistics, she made the case that in order to understand emerging markets, it is necessary to understand the role faith and spirituality play in the lives of people in these markets.

She also shared how the use of sketching in her fieldwork proved helpful in the questioning process. One audience member explained it best in that we often view design as a method or a process to inform system building. However, in this case, design proved a useful method in deciding what should and should not be designed.

The sketches Susan used in the field opened up a dialogue with the the research participants. They provided an opportunity for participants to reflect and discuss how the depicted ideas would fit into their world view.

I’ve heard of sketches being used in the field to provide insight into acceptance or perceived usefulness of a concept. Susan’s paper provides evidence of another use: sketching as a method for gaining cultural understanding.

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Allison Woodruff of Intel Research presented the findings of an extensive contextual research study of people throughout the US who had made significant changes to their home in order to support a green lifestyle. She noticed most research to date focused on activism so the goal of her study was to understand the daily practices of individuals committed to green living in order to understand how HCI could help promote positive personal behavior. Her presentation contained compelling video clips of participants from the study who relayed the “why” of their daily practices in relationship to their home and their desire to be more green.

Some of her findings were:

Living in a green home is like living on a ship
People in this study developed an immediate and physical relationship with their home. The green friendly homes were like a ships — participants needed to remain aware, make constant minor adjustments in order to maximize efficiency. While at times burdensome, participants in Allison’s study also spoke a kind of fulfillment this consciousness provided.

Continuous Computation
Participants in the study enjoyed the modest mental challenges that result from their lifestyle choice. They felt that green was about being mindful — and engaged. This engagement wasn’t viewed as a burden, but a pleasurable puzzle that engaged their mind.

The Path
Allison spoke of how the participants in her study acknowledged the commitment required to being green — that it was not a single act but a lifelong relationship to change. Their relationship to the lifestyle had grown from an ardent hobby to an organizing principle for their life.

Individualism as a driver
Allison pointed out that the participants expressed a strong drive for uniqueness and a desire to differentiate themselves from the rest of society. These folks were proud and viewed themselves as independent thinkers.

Implications for the HCI community
- Provide people with tools for personal action.
- Provide focus. It’s easy for people to get overwhelmed with all the choices and often recommendations about how to be more green are confusing and/or conflicting. Provide people with the tools to focus on one or two things and provide depth — breadth will grow from a feeling of success.(depth vs. breadth learning)
- Engage people mentally. People like the modest mental challenges that come with the mindfulness of being green.
- Provide people with the tools to debate and decide for themselves. Support the complex decision-making process by helping people understand trade-offs.
- Change the circumstances. Directly target large-scale corporations and government.

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I’m attending CHI 2008 , the international HCI conference this week in Florence, Italy.

On Thursday morning, I will be presenting a case study I wrote with Mirjana Spasojevic, of the Nokia Research Lab and Pekka Isomursu of Nokia Design, They call it Surfing for a Reason: Identifying mobile Internet needs through PC Internet deprivation.

If you are attending the conference, please drop me a line at hinman at adaptivepath dot com.

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Yes, it’s short notice, but tomorrow night, we’re hosting UX Drinks and Snacks at the Japanese anime-inspired Hotel Tomo, after completion of our first day of the UX Intensive. The food and booze is on us!

When: February 19, 5:30-7:00pm
Where: Hotel Tomo, 1800 Sutter Street (at Buchanan)
Whatfor: Eating, drinking, and schmoozing

RSVP on Upcoming, or with Pam at pam AT adaptivepath DOT com.

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Andy, Dan, and I are in Cambridge next week for project work, and would love to connect with the local UX community. Rachel Jones of Instrata has graciously coordinated a meetup at the All Bar One at 7.30pm on Wednesday 30th Jan.

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I have been following the story of Carol Gotbaum, the 45-year mother of three who died in a Phoenix airport holding cell two weeks ago and feel both sadness and anger.

Sadness for Carol’s family and their senseless loss.

Anger at the people we become inside airports.

Sure, we all complain the experience of air travel can really suck. However, Carol’s story indicates there is something more amiss and sinister happening to us and the experience inside airports than basic human frustration at long lines and poor service.

I think back to a recent trip to Europe and recognize my own culpability - my annoyance at fellow travelers who stood too close to me in line and kept hitting me with their rolling suitcase, passing judgement at people who had the audacity to try and bring a bottle of water through the security checkpoint, contempt for the security guard who confiscated my expensive face moisturizer because it exceeded the 3oz limit for carry on luggage.

What has happened to us?

How is it that the social rules and expectations around air travel have plummeted to a place where someone like Carol, who was so clearly in need of help and compassion is instead arrested, locked up and, within a matter of minutes, dead?

Why has our fear of terrorism turned airports into some strange alternate universe where are willing to check our dignity at the door? How is it that we tolerate being herded through security gates like cattle in stocking feet, and are more interested in making sure our hair gel and hand lotion are in a zip-lock bag than showing patience and empathy for our fellow passengers?

If experiences are a reflection of what we value, what does Carol Gotbaum’s story have to teach us about ourselves and the people we become inside airports?

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I’m anxiously waiting for a package to be delivered by FedEx. Part of the fun of receiving a package from one of the major delivery services these days is the ability to track it. My new backpack began its journey in Enfield, Britain yesterday, passed through Stansted before making the hop across the pond to Memphis. At the moment it’s sitting in the back of some truck driving through the streets of San Francisco, on its way to me. It’s fascinating to watch the process of a global logistics company at work.

FedEx’s package tracking is only the tip of the iceberg. Last week’s New York Times business section rightly pointed out that most imnportant processes that make for a great user experience are hidden. These are the enabling technologies and processes that deliver great experience and incredible business value. Think of Google’s search algorithm and vast computing centers, or Intel’s chip manufacturing processes. You can bet that a lot of the processes that FedEx is using to deliver my order are secret.

Yet none of these companies tout process or technology when speaking to customers. Google delivers search results, Intel makes your computer faster and FedEx delivers your package on time. These companies are smart enough to know that what’s happening under the hood isn’t as important as the experience. Others aren’t. To channel James Carville: it’s the experience, stupid.

So leave the technology and process, no matter how dazzling, under the hood. By all means, work on it like mad. Plow resources into it. But on the surface, remove the underlying complexity and deliver the experience that people want. It’s good business strategy and it delivers the protectable IP that gives you a real edge.

Now if only FedEx could work on how they handle “delivery exceptions.”

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One of the things that’s fun about putting on events are the interesting little extracurricular activities that can shift a conference from being just a bunch of talking heads to something more of an experience. For MX East, we’re doing a couple things a little different that truly speak to the mission of the event — delivering great experiences that improve peoples lives.

After dinner the first night, we’ve invited the avant garde theatre collective Neo-Futurists to perform “Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind,” their delightfully chaotic production of a series of 30 plays in 60 minutes. The Neos are a remarkable model of creative production (and will have talked about their approach earlier that day, with Sarah Nelson).

I’ve already written about Best Cellars CEO Joshua Wesson, who is speaking on the second day. Well, considering Josh has won awards as a sommelier, and runs a wine retail business, it wouldn’t make sense for us to bring him out and not exploit his talents. So, during lunch on the second day, Josh will be leading us in a wine tasting with our meal.

When registering for MX East, use the promotional code BLOG to receive 10% off your final price.

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