Survey of Papers Using Ethnographic Methods at UIST／CHI, etc.

To start with, I will list and organize the things that I learned from Nakajo-san while writing my CHI paper:

• Qualitative Evaluation

  • “Synlogue with Aizuchi-bot: Investigating the Co-Adaptive and Open-Ended Interaction Paradigm”
  • “Morse Things: A Design Inquiry into the Gap Between Things and Us”

• Ethnography through Long-Term Use

  • “Do You Think What I Think: Perceptions of Delayed Instant”
  • “Messages in Computer-Mediated Communication of Romantic Relations”
  • “From Text to Self: Users’ Perception of AIMC Tools on Interpersonal Communication and Self”
    • This one was quite influential as a role model

• Autoethnography/Autobiography through Long-Term Use

  • “Living In A Prototype: A Reconfigured Space”
  • “More Samples of One: Weaving First-Person Perspectives into Mainstream HCI Research”
  • “Self-Tracking to Do Less: An Autoethnography of Long COVID That Informs the Design of Pacing Technologies”
  • “Playing with Perspectives and Unveiling the Autoethnographic Kaleidoscope in HCI – A Literature Review of Autoethnographies”
    • This one is a survey
  • “Living Without a Mobile Phone: An Autoethnography”
  • “Sharing Earthquake Narratives: Making Space for Others in our Autobiographical Design Process”

• Looking for at UIST

  • Qualitative research, interview-based
    • There are quite a few, like a mix of quantitative and interview feedback
    • Specifically focusing on those who seem to be putting a lot of effort into qualitative research
    • 2024
      • “Tyche: Making Sense of Property-Based Testing Effectiveness”
      • “Feminist Interaction Techniques: Social Consent Signals to Deter NCIM Screenshots”
      • “VizAbility: Enhancing Chart Accessibility with LLM-based Conversational Interaction”
        • Seems to describe the design process
  • Open-ended experiments
    • “DrawTalking: Building Interactive Worlds by Sketching and Speaking”
  • Real-world/Long-term experiments
    • “SERENUS: Alleviating Low-Battery Anxiety Through Real-time, Accurate, and User-Friendly Energy Consumption Prediction of Mobile Applications”
      • 7-day field study
    • “Story-Driven: Real-time Context-Synchronized Storytelling in Mobile Environments”
      • Testing in real-world settings like in a car
    • “AccessTeleopKit: A Toolkit for Creating Accessible Web-Based Interfaces for Tele-Operating an Assistive Robot”
      • Long-term use in users with limb paralysis + additional experiments with other participants
      • Around 2 months
    • “Mul-O: Encouraging Olfactory Innovation in Various Scenarios Through a Task-Oriented Development Platform”
      • 15-day workshop with 30 participants

• Past UIST Ethnographies and Long-term Experiments

  • “Homework: Putting Interaction into the Infrastructure”
    • Ethnography UIST2012
  • “Fuse: In-Situ Sensemaking Support in the Browser”
    • 22-month experiment
  • “ComPeer: A Generative Conversational Agent for Proactive Peer Support”
    • One-week experiment, this is from 2024
  • “SleepGuru: Personalized Sleep Planning System for Real-life Actionability and Negotiability”
    • Eight-week experiment

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Synlogue with Aizuchi-bot: Investigating the Co-Adaptive and Open-Ended Interaction Paradigm

• https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642046
• Authors: Kazumi Yoshimura, Dominique Chen, Olaf Witkowski
• Background
  • Unlike dialogue, “Synlogue” is characterized by a co-creative process that has the potential to alleviate social divisions.
• Purpose
  • Propose the design concept of “Synlogue” and explore interaction through computer-mediated interfaces.
• Proposal
  • Conduct an experiment to evaluate the features of “Synlogue” using a bot that dynamically responds with backchanneling elements called “Aizuchi.”
• Evaluation
  • Analyze the experimental results qualitatively and quantitatively, discussing implications for interaction design.

Sharing Earthquake Narratives: Making Space for Others in our Autobiographical Design Process

• https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580977
• Authors: Claudia Núñez-Pacheco, Emma Frid
• Background
  • When interaction designers design for others based on their own experiences, it is important to clearly distinguish between the designer’s voice and the experiences of others.
• Purpose
  • Clarify the interaction between self and others in the design process and explore how external evaluations can be incorporated.
• Proposal
  • Propose three strategies for designing and evaluating a prototype combining haptics and storytelling to maintain a first-person voice.
• Evaluation
  • Evaluate ways to share experiences of earthquakes while addressing design flaws and incorporating others into the autobiographical process.Morse Things: A Design Inquiry into the Gap Between Things and Us
• https://doi.org/10.1145/3064663.3064734
• Ron Wakkary, Doenja Oogjes, Sabrina Hauser, Henry Lin, Cheng Cao, Leo Ma, Tijs Duel
• Background
  • Morse Things is a set of ceramic bowls and cups designed to recognize and explore the gap between objects and us.
• Purpose
  • Through Morse Things, the aim is to investigate the relationship between objects and humans and propose new possibilities in IoT.
• Proposal
  • As a new type of object in IoT, Morse Things represent a new concept of home that is neither human-centered technology nor a non-digital artifact.
• Evaluation
  • After a 6-week deployment in households, insights on the role of Morse Things and the gap between objects and humans were obtained through workshops.

Do You Think What I Think: Perceptions of Delayed Instant Messages in Computer-Mediated Communication of Romantic Relations

• https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173675
• Pei-Yun Tu, Chien Wen (Tina) Yuan, Hao-Chuan Wang
• Background
  • In romantic relationships, instant messaging (IM) serves as a means to maintain a sense of presence and intimacy when physically apart.
• Purpose
  • To understand how the asynchrony of IM affects romantic partners’ expectations and explore strategies to address delays.
• Proposal
  • Based on the growth, perception, and utilization of mutual knowledge in delayed IMs, theoretical and practical suggestions are made.
• Evaluation
  • Through a 7-day diary study involving 16 couples, the study revealed how information grounding strategies resolve delays.

From Text to Self: Users’ Perception of AIMC Tools on Interpersonal Communication and Self

• https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3641955
• Yue Fu, Sami Foell, Xuhai Xu, Alexis Hiniker
• Background
  • With the rapid evolution of AI-mediated communication (AIMC), tools utilizing Large Language Models (LLMs) play a significant role in interpersonal communication.
• Purpose
  • To explore users’ perception of AIMC tools and evaluate short-term support and long-term impact.
• Proposal
  • Identifying four key communication spaces to predict users’ attitudes based on communication interests and dynamics of relationships.
• Evaluation
  • Participants perceive support from AIMC tools positively, recognizing short-term benefits while also expressing concerns about current limitations.

Living In A Prototype: A Reconfigured Space

• https://doi.org/10.1145/2858036.2858261
• Audrey Desjardins, Ron Wakkary
• Background
  • This research explores the complexity of transforming a Mercedes Sprinter van into a camper van, delving into the transformation of living spaces.
• Purpose
  • To investigate how people transform living spaces and reconsider important concepts in HCI research.
• Proposal
  • Through six characteristics, it illustrates the evolving relationship between creators and their environment, discussing themes of reconfigured dwellings.
• Evaluation
  • Critically examines the characteristics of the prototype in the reconfigured space and the theme of perpetually unfinished dwellings.

More Samples of One: Weaving First-Person Perspectives into Mainstream HCI Research

• https://doi.org/10.1145/3656156.3658382- Mafalda Gamboa, Claudia Núñez-Pacheco, Sarah Homewood, Andrés Lucero, Janne Mascha Beuthel, Audrey Desjardins, Karey Helms, William Gaver, Kristina Höök, Laura Forlano
• Background
  • Interactive systems have become essential in our daily lives, influencing communication, work, and play.
• Purpose
  • The core of HCI research is to understand the complex relationship between humans and technology, with a focus on exploring first-person research methods.
• Proposal
  • Building on the DIS workshop from 5 years ago, the proposal suggests utilizing first-person methods to facilitate joint learning for HCI researchers and practitioners.
• Evaluation
  • The workshop aims to explore the impact of technology on daily life, taking into consideration subjectivity and location information.

Self-{Tracking} to {Do} {Less}： {An} {Autoethnography} of {Long} {COVID} {That} {Informs} the {Design} of {Pacing} {Technologies}

• https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581505
• Sarah Homewood
• Background
  • Long COVID refers to lingering symptoms lasting over 3 months after a COVID-19 infection, prompting research based on personal experiences.
• Purpose
  • Conducted an 18-month autoethnographic study using Fitbit fitness trackers to explore methods of managing Long COVID.
• Proposal
  • Proposes a new design space using fitness tracking technology to reduce activity and defines “pacing technologies” for chronic illness management.
• Evaluation
  • The autoethnography using Fitbit tracking technology presents three methods to reduce activity and emphasizes the need to support user decision-making.

Playing with {Perspectives} and {Unveiling} the {Autoethnographic} {Kaleidoscope} in {HCI} – {A} {Literature} {Review} of {Autoethnographies}

• https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642355
• Annika Kaltenhauser, Evropi Stefanidi, Johannes Schöning
• Background
  • Autoethnography is a useful methodology that bridges personal experiences and academic inquiry, providing deep insights into technology use and design.
• Purpose
  • Due to a lack of comprehensive research on the role and function of Autoethnography in HCI, the study aims to examine its evolution over the past 20 years.
• Proposal
  • Analyzes 31 HCI publications to identify universal themes, methodologies, and contributions from Autoethnography, detailing data collection techniques and analysis methods.
• Evaluation
  • This literature review aims to convey the potential of Autoethnography to HCI researchers, practitioners, and designers, providing examples to deepen the understanding of the relationship between technology and humans.

Living {Without} a {Mobile} {Phone}： {An} {Autoethnography}

• https://doi.org/10.1145/3196709.3196731
• Andrés Lucero
• Background
  • This paper is an autoethnography of my experience living without a mobile phone.
• Purpose
  • To evaluate the impact of an experiment that started from personal necessity to reduce stress.
• Proposal
  • Identifies and analyzes four themes: social relationships, daily tasks, research career, and place and safety.
• Evaluation
  • Evaluates the results of the autoethnography based on criteria for successful ethnographies and considers applicable factors.

Sharing {Earthquake} {Narratives}： {Making} {Space} for {Others} in our {Autobiographical} {Design} {Process}

• https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580977
• Claudia Núñez-Pacheco, Emma Frid
• Background
  • In designing for others based on personal experiences, it is important for interaction designers to clearly distinguish between the designer’s voice and others’ experiences.
• Purpose- Clarify how “self” and others mutually influence the design process and explore ways to incorporate external evaluations into the design.
• Proposal
  • Propose three strategies for sharing the experience of earthquakes through a prototype that combines haptics and storytelling.
• Evaluation
  • Evaluate the method of involving others in one’s own process without diluting the first-person voice critically addressing design flaws.