Digital Patina - shaping user behavior with activity patterns

Bachelor Thesis

Mark Jensen &

Kristoffer Solberg Hansen

BA(im), CBSSupervisor: Mads Bødker

104725 STU

1 / 58

Abstract 5

Introduction 6

Thesis and Research Question 7

Relation to Information Management 8

Data 9

Information 9

Literature review 10

Method 11

Website 12

User observation 13

The tasks 14

Contextual Inquiry 14

Affinity Diagram 16

Interviews 16

Smaaland Kindergarten 17

Empirical Material 18

Expectations to findings 18

Findings 19

Physical Interaction 20

Patina 21

Desire Path 21

2 / 58

Motive 23

Rationality 24

Social Proof 24

Wall of Decision 28

Intuition 29

Activity analysis 30

The theoretical framework 30

Empirical research 31

Analysis 33

Implications of Activity theory 35

Analysis - Digital Interaction 35

Theoretical framework 36

Analysis 38

User Interfaces 40

Mental Models 40

Metaphors 41

Experience 42

Defining Digital Patina 44

Starting point 44

What is Patina? 44

Digital 46

Social Activity 473 / 58

Social Navigation 47

A Working Definition of Digital Patina 49

Conclusion 50

Method Critique 50

Applying the theories 51

Analytical findings 51

Recommendations for Further Research 53

Acknowledgements 54

Bibliography 55

4 / 58

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to give a qualified answer to how the principle of patina can be

applied to a digital setting, and how it can shape user behavior. To define digital patina we

include material from Human-Computer Interaction as well as supplementary theories

from other disciplines to give a satisfactory answer to our research question. Theories on

Activity, Ubiquitous Computing and Mental Models are applied to user tests as they go

beyond the idea of patina as limited to perishability and signs of wear. User tests

confirmed this and led us to conclude that illustrating the activity users engage in with

information creates structures for others to perceive as points of navigation and act upon.

5 / 58

IntroductionThis paper serves the purpose of examining how the concept of Patina can be brought

meaningfully into a digital context. In the physical world patina is seen in use patterns

where surfaces has been worn. Can we transfer that metaphor to a digital environment or

do we need to rethink what patina is a representation of?

The underlying reason for addressing a topic like patina is expressed very well in the words

of renowned blogger Jason Kottke:

One might argue that patina is a type of filter we unconsciously put on top of objects in

order to better understand what to do with them. If we do not understand the context in

which we interact, we can not navigate optimally or achieve what we want to. Therefore,

we observe what others do around us to get guidelines on what to do. Some actions might

be silent and we are perhaps unaware of our observation, but we act according to others

none the less.

Before conducting any research our understanding of the issue at hand took offset in the

idea that it would be characterized as a design task. Design in the sense that it would

involve designing a test environment on how our users perceive information and a change

in navigation, but our approach to the analytical work as well. We believe that the term

Design is very descriptive - not just in relation to creating test sites, but also in its

relevance to Information Architecture. Jason Fried from the company 37 Signals expresses

this in a somewhat directly manner:

6 / 58

We agree with this because in many ways it sums up the understanding of how our

analyses approaches activity and interaction, and the relation it has to the discipline of

information management.

The research we have conducted will be of interest to people that look into how interaction

and activity are engaged in a digital setting. Especially how analogue principles are

perceived when transfered to a digital setting and the implications it can have on user

navigation.

Thesis and Research Question

As we approached this work we had many thoughts as to which direction to go. One

method could be to take offset in the theory we knew and try to let that shape our image of

the research in mind. Another was to take offset in our interests and how they keep

blending into our perception of things - theory, web services, daily life etc. One could then

argue that regardless of how we read and interpret modern theory it will always be our own

formulation.

But one thing caught our interest when discussing own-perception and interests. That was

how could one research the traces we all leave behind that others use - consciously or not.

It can be the physical things that we do in our everyday life that leaves traces, e.g. putting

up a poster in a public place, or just taking a walk in the nearby park. Most of our everyday

actions leave traces behind that others might adopt just like we might have done. If we

unconsciously act upon the traces of others are we then doing this as an assessment of best

practice in the given situation or is it a sign of accepted rules or norms that must be

followed in the society? It is difficult to answer but it is certain that in many cases people

7 / 58

will adopt the behavioral patterns of others regardless of the incentive. And equally

important will these patterns and structures also be present in the digital world?

We found that it is in the real world these patterns are meaningful, so would even it be

possible to transfer these into a digital context and how would that be expressed? This

question began the actual formulation of our thesis and was used in the beginning as a

working title but we needed to be even more specific. The first aim of research was to find a

proper term for these user patterns and for that purpose we adopted the term Patina.

Patina meaning a trace of something influenced over a long period of time but also being

“an appearance or aura that is derived from association, habit, or established

character“ (Merriam-Webster dictionary, 2009 ed.). Nevertheless patina was only

interesting if we were able to import into a digital setting so that our main research point

would be built around the term Digital Patina, something that we discovered few others so

far have tried to examine. Furthermore we wanted to examine the activity that digital

patina occurred around and how the users react when they experience it. This lead us to

the formulation of our main research question:

How can user behavior be shaped by digital patina?

As a tool we could use in conducting this research we divided our research question into

two sub-questions:

How do users behave based on previous activity and their own motive?

How do we understand digital environments?

From this thesis we began conducting research in order to be able to answer the questions

raised here to the fullest.

Relation to Information Management

Before we are be able to answer our research question in relation to Information

Management, a clear definition of and distinction between data and information would

8 / 58

need to be formulated. As a result of this, we use the following definitions of data and

information throughout this paper:

Data “Data is a set of discrete, objective facts about events” (Davenport & Prusak 1988:2-3), in

other words, it is the smallest set of building blocks around which you can create context

and meaning. It is purely objective facts, neither positive nor negative - they are simply

just there.

InformationOnce you start applying a meaningful context of any set of data, they become

information. The fact that today’s temperature is 25 degrees does not give me any

additional meaning, but if you are told it was 23 degrees yesterday and 21 the day before

that, a pattern arises.

The starting point for this paper is found in the change from data to information.

Whenever we interact with data and use it in a certain context, the information that erupts

is shaped by our activity. Our thesis on digital patina concerns principles of usage as they

are found in the physical world and how they can be applied to objects in a digital setting

to understand and manage the information. If the discipline of Information Management

is about “presenting the right information to the right people at the right time”, it is

essential that studies on how the information is presented are conducted.

Moreover, this kind of paper does not call for the organization to be the main focus of the

analyses, but rather as a part of the empirical studies. A large part of our empirical studies

is on how an organization - in our case the kindergarten “Smaaland” - have introduced new

and interesting ways of presenting information, not how interesting ways of presenting

information could be introduced to them.

Lastly, we find that our final recommendations are general enough to be applied to the

user interface of any kind of digital information system that is centered around multi-user

activity.

9 / 58

Literature review

For this work we have aimed at closely selecting the most applicable literature in order to

approach our research in a proper manner. To be able to restrict our selection to the most

applicable literature we have structured 3 main areas of research. These will not, however,

reflect the way that we structure the actual analysis but only serve as a means to isolate the

single element of research.

First area is centered around Activity Theory with the purpose of being able to research

deeply into the single action, in a particular context and situation. We will address activity

analysis in order to gain an understanding of the cultural and technical mediation of

human activity. So that the focus is not only on the artifact but the mediation through the

artifact as well as the socio-technical environment (Suchman 2006). This way we do not

solely rely on the intent behind an action but also the context it is carried out in and the

action that follows. Activity theory aims at analyzing exactly this. The activity theorists

used in this work will be, Engeström (1999), Nardi (1996) and Suchman (2006).

In close relation to activity theory we will draw on theories from Interaction Theory and

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Since our type of research requires users testing in

different environments with different structures and to be able to analyze on the

interaction between user and artifact. From the well-established interaction field we will

use Winograd & Flores (1986) and Leont’ev (1974).

As additional literature in this area of our work we will address issues that will relate to

experience and motivation behind their actions through the theory of Tacit Knowledge

Davenport & Prusak (1988). This part will aim at how some of the things we know is rooted

in the process of what we are doing which also relates to Suchmann’s (2006) idea on in

situation interaction. We will be using theory from the CSCW framework (Grudin 1989 and

Bødker 1989) - however it will not have a main focus in this work.

Another main area of this work we will take into account is the past development of

technologies evolving more and more as a natural part of our everyday life and how this

10 / 58

impose certain challenges. If technology is everywhere, information must be present

everywhere (Greenfield 2006) and how do we then address this? This question and several

more are all part of the framework on Ubiquitous Computing (Weiser 2006) and

Everyware (Greenfield 2006). This framework of ideas crosses the line of how users

perceive when we act in “real” life or in the “virtual” A barrier that gradually becomes more

and more difficult to distinguish between. The supplementary used in this line of analysis

will focus on metaphors and intuition and how these are carried in the mind of the user

when approaching new territory. Moreover, in conjunction with these theories, Craik (1943

in Johnson-Laird 2005) and Blackwell (2006) will be used to describe the theory of Mental

Models and how they can be applied to the work with digital user interfaces, with a clear

focus on the GUI.

Lastly we will try and define Digital Patina, a topic approached by others but none has

succeeded in reaching consensus. Besides basing our definition on the tests and research

done by ourselves we will also approach the theory that has been conducted by others in

the field - in particular Jessen (2009). He tried to conduct his own studies in the field and

therefore it makes good sense to rely on his thoughts and see if their is something we can

learn before formulating our own definition. Some of the areas that we will address in this

part of the work are centered around the structures that we have in both the physical world

and the digital counterpart, and if these will clash when brought together? Complementary

theory will be Social Proof (Cialdini 1993) and Desire Paths (Bachelard 1958) that will both

provide input on how the users adopt behavior from other contexts and the behavior of

others. An essential angle to the definition which will be deeply rooted in our empirical

data on user behavior and logics.

Besides the theory proposed above we will also apply complementary theory from

frameworks closely related to this work. However it will be sparse and with no central role

in the research. The only theory used in this paper which is not described here is the theory

used in the Methodology paragraph.

Method

11 / 58

It can be an overwhelming task to examine how principles from one discipline applies and

works in another, and in the interim between physical and digital it is no less of a daunting

task.

Bardzell (2009) defines the twin anchors of Interaction Design (IxD) as the user and the

artifact, so when we set about examining how we could transfer physical interaction

principles to a digital setting, we looked closely at what we could and should study about

user behavior and interaction with the artifact. Before we started, we divided the study into

two tasks - developing a prototype website that would act as an artifact and observation of

users interacting with the website.

WebsiteThe website is fairly simple in nature and provides nothing more than content anyone can

find at the product website for a Nilfisk vacuum cleaner model Extreme X100. We chose to

make the website center around a vacuum cleaner because it is a very arbitrary product

most people buy rarely and thus might be less likely to have gathered extensive knowledge

of.

Building the website was done using HTML, CSS and a bit of Javascript for which we

received help from a friend. The Javascript would enable us to make any object change

whenever clicked by the user, thus making way for a gradual change of the object which

was essential for us to be able to test how the users perceived the change.

The navigation menu is located on the left side of the page with the following items:

• About Us

• Features

• Mail

• Support

• Company

• Help

• Specifications

• Contact

12 / 58

To make sure the user had to think about their choices, it is basically four areas of

information that is presented; About Us and Company provides information about the

company behind the site, Mail and Contact are ways to contact the company, Features and

Specifications details what the vacuum cleaner can do and Support and Help aids the user

when they want look for assistance.

User observationAfter building the website, we tested the system on 12 users - 6 men and 6 women with

varying technical capabilities and of varying age. They were split into three categories with

four people in each; four users saw a menu that had black, same-sized links that would go

from full black to white in max. 10 clicks - four others saw a menu that changed from

bright orange to dark orange in max. 10 clicks and the last four users saw a menu with

black links that changed size from 1em to 2em.

13 / 58

We chose to conduct studies on three different menus for two reasons. It would make it

possible for us to check if the users noticed a change in the menu in general (fading,

darkening, increasing) and/or if there was a difference in how the first impression of the

menu shaped their behavior when presented with a set of tasks.

The tasksTo make sure that the user clicked around the site purposefully, we created four tasks for

the user to solve:

1) How many years of guarantee does the cleaner qualify for?

2) How much does it weigh in kilos?

3) What are the last four digits of the phone number for the support hotline?

4) Find the user manual.

Contextual InquiryAfter the user completed the tasks, we asked four followup questions:

1) Did you use any points to navigate after?

2) Why did you choose X instead of Y?

3) Did you experience any changes in the menu as you clicked the items?

4) Did the change support or prevent your navigation in any way?

14 / 58

This is perhaps the most interesting part of the test as it allowed us to go into depth with

the users’ behavior based on the theory of Contextual Inquiry. Seeing that we had limited

resources and time, we tested a limited amount of users which made the test act more as a

discovery method than an evaluation method (Wixon, Hackos, Ramey, Rosenbaum,

Holtzblatt, Meyer, Page, Laakso & Laakso, 2002).

Contextual Inquiry acts within a “synthesis of ethnographic, field research and

participatory design methods that provide detailed knowledge of user work” (Wixon,

Flanders & Beabes 1996:354). Therefore a dialogue is required in order for us to uncover a

user’s understanding of their work as it preserves the integrity of the material as opposed

to stand-alone data collection. Moreover, Keinonen, Jääksö & Mattelmäki (2008)

describes “contextual performance data” as a way to uncover issues the users did not see

themselves - a subject that will be thoroughly presented in the findings-section of this

paper.

Keinonen, Jääksö & Mattelmäki (2008) goes on to describe three ground pillars of user

observation - Context, Partnership and Focus - that are critical when learning about the

interplay between actors, products and environments. The pillars are described as follows:

- Partnership: Refers to trust between the designers and the users

- Context: Conduct the studies in the actual physical and social context where the

behavior takes place

- Focus: Reminds the designers to take notice of problematic situations.

In our test, this meant that we wanted to make a website that did not “scare” the user, but

present information in a manner that is as natural as possible while examining their use of

the website without obtrusive cameras etc. A piece of software called “Silverback” allowed

us to do screen capture and simultaneous webcam-recording while the user clicked around

the site, allowing for a setting as natural as possible. Furthermore, it allowed us to

concentrate on conduction the studies on-site and then analyze them at a later time.

The goal was to get the user in a self-reflecting mode - or what Bødker, Knudsen, Kyng,

Ehn & Madsen (1988:382) call “detached reflection” - where they rationalized their

behavior and answered questions from us regarding patterns that they might not have 15 / 58

discovered themselves (“Why did you choose X instead of Y?” and “Did you notice any

changes in the menu?”).

Affinity DiagramBecause of this test method, we ended up with a lot of a lot of qualitative data. We chose to

break it down by applying a method called Affinity Diagrams (Holtzblatt & Beyer, 1999).

Usually you will use affinity diagrams after a team brainstorm-session where a lot of ideas

have come forth and they need to be grouped. We used it to watch the videos and write

down themes that came up when talking to the test users rather than writing down their

every move and transcribing the dialogues extensively. The reason for using the affinity

method is that thematic problems will arise when gathering the post-its in connected

groups and as such problematic issues with the site will be evident.

We split the process into a series of tasks for us to do:

1) While watching the video, write down any issue that comes up on a post-it

2) Gather the post-its related to a user on a piece of A3-paper (and write the user’s

initials on the post-it)

3) Once every video has been seen and themes written down, place all related post-

its on a whiteboard in 5-10 clusters

4) Refine the placing of the post-its until satisfied

5) Name the clusters

The results are described extensively elsewhere in the paper, but we found the affinity

Diagram-method to be very applicable to this type of extraction of rich data. Because we

used a rich test-method as Contextual Inquiry it would be problematic to extract raw data

in the same way as you would from a questionnaire.

InterviewsBesides testing three version of the same website to 12 users, we chose to interview a

variety of people that could shed some light on the different aspects of user behavior in

social situations, user experience methods and the digital architecture that goes on behind

the scenes.

16 / 58

First we interviewed Anders Pollas, co-founder and partner in Hoist, a Danish company

developing online learning environments for enterprise and educational use. He gave

insights on the thoughts they had made on creating “virtual rooms” in the form of team-

based project-sites in their system. This have us an understanding on the aspects of

creating a digital space for learning-based activities.

The next interview was with Jane Mejdahl, an anthropologist working in Creuna, an

agency focusing on delivering digital solutions. She is conducting user tests and based on

her anthropological background we learned about user behavior in online as well as offline

settings - and the similarities between the two.

Morten Just, a User Experience Designer from the telecommunications company

Vodafone, talked about how we shape the digital world to fit the way users think it should

execute the input they give.

Lastly, Steffen T. Christensen from the “visual sharing company”, 23, answered a couple of

questions regarding how he thinks structure into the digital architecture he creates when

developing new services. Being a student of Political Science as well, he gives an interesting

insight into the problems of online services acting as “silos” because of the closed

structures they are built upon.

These four interviews were conducted to give us a variety of views on the way users act

with digital services besides only studying them in a closed environment as we did with our

test website.

Smaaland KindergartenTo gain a perspective on organization structures and dynamics, we conducted an interview

with the leader of a kindergarten called “Smaaland”, placed in Ørestad near Copenhagen.

We discussed the kindergarten’s untraditional approach to displaying information and

communicating with the parents of the children as well as documenting the processes in

the everyday life. Especially their reluctance to having a whiteboard or message board of

any kind is interesting, seeing that it is the usual approach in institutions of this kind that

communication visually with the parents.

17 / 58

Our approach to the interview was to get concrete examples from the everyday life of an

organization that has an innovative view of managing and presenting information.

Empirical Material

As described in the section on methodology, we have conducted user tests and interviews

in gathering data to examine. It was a deliberate decision to focus on collecting qualitative

data as the resources we had at hand were limited and we resonated it would provide a

deeper understanding of the issues we wish to examine. Having only quantitative data, it

would be hard to collect a reasonable amount of data from user testing seeing the website

was specifically made for test purposes that would qualify for contextual inquiry to follow

up on the tracking of user activity.

Expectations to findingsWith this we will outline what our expectations to our findings were. Hence our main

empirical collection of data is gathered from our user tests these will be the aim of this

paragraph.

As we approached our user tests we tried and develop websites that facilitated the

opportunity for the user to generate patina in the context given to them. However we

would have to test if at all the would notice the changes they would transfer to the website.

Would the patina-effect have any influence to the user and will the user notice the changes

happening?

As we tried to make the patina-effect as an organic part of the site we would make the

gradual change relatively noticeable as a starting point. Therefore the expectation was that

half of the users would not notice any changes to the site whereas the other half would. We

knew that some of our test persons would have rather intensive knowledge to websites and

therefore we would expect these to notice color and size changes.

The next thing was whether or not our test users would conscious or unconsciously react to

the changes they caused on the site. We had built the structure of the test sites around a

menu where two of the menu points, out of a total of eight, would have great similarity. By

imposing a change in size or color through interactivity with the site, we expected at least

18 / 58

some of the test users would in one way or the other respond to the “patina-effects”. If they

would respond consciously or not is difficult to assess before the actual user testing, but

the fact that there were close to no response was not something we had thought of before.

Especially not in the case of the patina-effect that made the menu fade away.

FindingsTo structure our evaluation of the empirical findings our user tests lead to we chose, as

explained in the method paragraph, to make an affinity diagram (Beyer & Holtzblatt 1998).

After going through the different steps of the affinity diagram we ended up with four main

headlines - Nomenclature, Design, Experience & Critique.

Our first finding was categorized as Nomenclature where especially one factor stood out

from the rest. As our test users approached the site they tried to form an overview of the

site and where they would expect to find the information required from the tasks. At the

beginning most of the test users navigated according to the name of each menu point. Due

to the fact that two of the menus had great similarities in meaning we thought there would

be a more even division between the different menu points selected. This did not seem to

be the case as many of the test users chose the menu ‘specification’ as their first click. It is

not certain why they chose this menu point in the first place; one idea could be that it just

fitted the users’ logic sense - another that their experience from other websites influenced

their choice here. Also related to the Nomenclature category was a tendency among a small

number of users to carefully read the content of the site. We believe that this was

influenced by the nature of the assignment and the fact that the user knew they were being

studied. All other tendencies in this study showed a much more casual and random

browsing among our test individuals.

The next area is the Design Issues that we found in the tests. This is where we found the

main part of the user patterns. The biggest factor was that almost all users did not notice

the changes that happened in the menu. Neither change of colors nor the size of the text.

As an example of this , one of the users clicked a menu point that was faded away to a point

where it was not visible any longer. But the user somehow had stored the memory of the

menu being there which made the user completely ignore the lack of visibility. The next

major issue was that a rather large number of the users were, as they got deeper and

deeper into the test, unconsciously clicking some of the darker menu points on the test site

where the color darkened. The same happened when testing the site where the text in the 19 / 58

menu intensified. There were no signs of users reasoning before clicking the darkest or

largest menu, along with almost no users noticing the changes, which lead us to believe

that they were unconsciously guided by the intensified menu points. A side note was that

only one or two users actually noticed changes on the site but argued that they saw the

change as a guidance for navigation.

Another area is the way users were able to gain experience of the site and how they would

use this later on. Two things were very apparent here - one being that users were very

quick to form an overview of the site and use that actively in their search for our case

answers. This caught us by surprise and will play a significant role in design issues. The

second thing is that a significant amount of users quickly adopted a behavior of clicking

randomly in order to find content and form an overview of the site. This tendency of course

influenced some of the effects in the menu. The most surprising discovery was when two

users unmotivated said that the faded or bright colors was an evidence that other users had

been there. Something that by far was the biggest surprise of the whole test phase.

Lastly we discovered a few critique points in the way we conducted our tests. One

regarding the task questions that seem both a bit too specific in some cases along with the

risk of asking the question in a leading manner. The last finding and critique point of our

research is that there were some cases where it was difficult to separate whether users,

midway in the test, were driven by their knowledge of the site structure or by the effects we

had designed for the menu. This stressed the significance of our follow up questions in

order to properly analyze the motivations behind the actions of each user.

Physical Interaction

Analyses of physical interactions are common and have been conducted for many years,

but for us to be able to apply them to a digital setting we must first look at the principles

and theories and figure out their core idea. Many of the theories are about human

interaction with the city and nature that surrounds us and how we perceive and act upon

the feedback we are given.

20 / 58

PatinaRelated to how we as users of our surrounding environment act according to visible use is

the concept of patina. Patina is the word for continuous use that shapes the coating or form

of the objects. On copper and bronze, a layer of copper carbonate known as verdigris

forms after prolonged exposure to air and water (as seen on e.g. Statue of Liberty in New

York), whereas non-metals react differently (Hughes & Rowe 1991). Degeneration as a

result of continuous use is particularly visible with Desire Paths that involve grass fields as

the dirt becomes more and more visible. The same is visible on the terrazzo floor in the

picture below from a café in Copenhagen. Everybody who enters the shop steps in the same

place on their way in which results in the degeneration of the floor.

Basically, patina refers to the wearing that is a result of continuous and extensive use of

physical objects.

Desire PathOne of the most interesting shapings of the city and nature is Desire Paths. The term is

coined by Gaston Bachelard in his book “The Poetics of Space” published in 1958 and

covers the idea of human or animal foot trail shaping an unintended path in a landscape.

Typically it is because it is the shortest distance form one point to another and no

21 / 58

purposefully path being given, so people will start shaping a path of their own based on the

wearing of the grass or similar (Bachelard 1958).

In 1987 Elizabeth Rogers wrote a book describing how the recreation of paths in Central

Park were shaped by the desire paths the users had already created. Instead of applying

paths that were perhaps easier or more convenient to create, they followed what people

had already done.

Our field study showed interesting desire paths being shaped in the park “Søndermarken”

in Copenhagen. One person eventually started taking a certain path and others followed

until a dirt track is revealed:

Another interesting desire path is seen in this picture taken by The Lakes in Copenhagen

(Just 2009 - used with permission). It is not necessarily easier to walk besides the paved

path, but one could imagine runners wanting to thread on easier ground than the hard

concrete or dogs walking beside their owners:

22 / 58

Desire paths are relevant to us because it shows that intended paths are not necessarily the

easiest or most convenient route, and thus people (or users of digital services) will start

shaping their own paths. Carl Myhill (2004) talks about studying users of software based

on their natural interaction with the program as a means of externalizing the actual use of

the software as opposed to the originally intended.

MotiveThe theory of desire paths shows interesting things in human behavior. Using the shortest

distance possible to go form one place to another might seem obvious, but according to

Jane Mejdahl (2009) it is fairly complex to study: “People don’t always want to take

shortcuts - they want to feel safe.” Taking the idea of desire paths it could be interesting to

study if people would start taking a shorter route when they are unable to see the end of

the path. The examples above shows desire paths where the person can see both the start

and the end of the path, and thus feels “safe”.

The desire paths are a very physical solution to a physical problem, and according to

Mejdahl (2009) “users are rarely digitally motivated when they want to find a solution to

a problem”. Using a digital tool is merely a means to a problem they want to solve - e.g.

finding a timetable for busses leaving from Copenhagen Central Station might as well be

23 / 58

solved with a timetable in a book as on a website. The tool for solving the problem depends

on the context in which the problem presents itself rather than wanting deliberately to use

a digital tool for problem solving (Mejdahl 2009).

We will go more into depth with the motives behind activities relating to artifacts in the

analysis on activity theory, as it is an integral part of the understanding of the theory and

how it applies to user behavior.

RationalityDesire paths and problem solving both share some sort of Rationality behind them - that

people search for the shortest distance possible and solve problems with whatever tools

they have available to them. There is a problem in this thinking of people as purely rational

thinking: Some actions are socially motivated.

Social networking sites (SNS) like Facebook.com and MySpace.com have a fundamentally

different approach to content - it has sprung from an entirely physical and time-consuming

action that is “social grooming” (Dunbar 1998). Maintaining relationships to family and

friends have never been easier and with over 225,000,000 members on Facebook (http://

www.allfacebook.com/2009/05/facebook-user-count/) as the barrier for following a large

amount of people is lower when the information is pushed to you rather than pulling it by

calling or visiting every friend or acquaintance.

In the words of Mejdahl (2009) “Facebook and other SNS does not cover any needs as

such, but gives us what we want”. We do not need to use Facebook, but it is something we

want and have access to, so we do it in spite of its apparently limited use for direct problem

solving.

Social ProofThe thoughts behind the term rationality are important to understand the behavior

patterns in social situations. To further elaborate on the sociality behind physical

interaction the theory of Social Proof (Cialdini 1993) is applicable. Despite the thought

behind social proof is based in socially constructed situations, it is the individual actions

that are of interest in our line of work. However, we need to outline the social premise

behind the theory before we can uncover the individual choices that are made one the basis

of this sociality.24 / 58

When presented with an unfamiliar situation, according to the theory of Social Proof,

people will start analyzing the behavior and act according to the “norm” of that particular

situation. A famous example of social proof is an experiment from Washington DC where

the Washington Post convinced the famous violinist Joshua Bell to play on his Stradivarius

worth $3.5 million in the subway during rush hour. The thesis behind the experiment was

to see what would happen when a musician that normally attracts people from near and

far, willing to pay hundreds of dollars to hear him play, is taken out of context and playing

in an unfamiliar setting.

During the one-hour session he collected $52 in donations which includes a $20-bill from

one who recognized him. You could argue that the masses are not used to appreciate

classical music and other theories, but according to the theory of social proof, what

happens is that when (close to) no one stops to listen, nobody will. The norm is to just keep

walking as you - or the ones around you - do every day so that is what people who are

unfamiliar with the situation do.

In the world of web services, the term Critical Mass is closely related to social proof. As

Grudin (1989:96) puts it: “Even in an idealized situation in which every individual will

benefit once critical mass is achieved, the early adopters may well abandon it before the

critical mass of users is reached.” When you are an early adopter of new technology - and

in particular social networks that are based on users being active - according to the theory

of Critical Mass, the problem is that there are so few creating content you end up feeling

lonely. When a Critical Mass of users are achieved, something new might have shown up

and then the problem is restarted before it is being solved in the first place.

A service such as Twitter.com is at the time in a process where they see a dramatic increase

in users and page views on their website. They grew 1382% from February 2008 to

February 2009 according to a recent Nielsen study (http://news.cnet.com/

8301-13577_3-10200161-36.html) and had more page views than both the websites of New

York Times and Washington Post in April 2009 (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/

twitter_passes_nyt_wsj_in_unique_visitors.php).

The newly registered users of Twitter may not know what to do with the web service and

try to find high-profile users such as talk show host Oprah and actor Ashton Kutcher that 25 / 58

have 1 million and 1.7 million followers respectively (http://twitter.com/oprah and http://

twitter.com/aplusk). They see that others have followed these profiles and will do the same

based on a perceived norm that it is “what you do” when signing up for Twitter (who even

provides a list of potential users to follow when signing up so you see activity on the site

(http://twitter.com/invitations/suggestions)).

In our field study we took a picture that illustrates another form of Social Proof - the

posters telling citizens about cultural events and the like. As seen in the picture below, a

social norm of putting up the posters has erupted over the course of time. Besides using

cylindric information boards authorized by the municipal, the people that puts up the

posters have found certain spots where they, most likely silently, have agreed to put up the

posters.

The people who put up the posters do not cover the wall in different places, but stick to the

same spot as they can see that somebody else has done it before them - in this case it is a

very popular place to put up a poster and anybody who has a job of putting up the posters

can quickly determine this is a place for posters to be displayed.

Another example is from the kindergarten where we interviewed the leader, Britta

Staugaard Mortensen (2009), about their use of posters, whiteboards and electronic tools

26 / 58

for messages and notices. They have an alternative approach to communication with the

parents of the children enrolled in the kindergarten as they do not use a whiteboard or

message board in the traditional sense, but sends out email newsletters and print out

photos taken during their field trips etc. One way of giving notices, however, is by posting a

piece of paper on the back of the front door for the parents to see on their way out after

picking up their children.

At the moment of the interview, a drawing of a boy with lice was posted on the door to

inform the parents that some of the children had lice. Furthermore, one of the other

employes had posted six pages of relatively text-dense information about food that had

high levels of sugar. According to Mortensen (2009) this was problematic as it sends out

mixed signals about which kind of information the wall should contain, but with the theory

of Social Proof in mind, it is safe to conclude that the employee figured that the door was

the appropriate place to post such information.

27 / 58

Wall of DecisionIn the example above, the employees in the kindergarten navigate their environment based

on what they can see others have done before them. They put up the information on the

door because they believe that it is the appropriate place based on what is there already. It

is the same principle in User Experience work where the designers aim at making the

interaction as easy and simple to use as possible. They remove all obstacles that might

confuse the user while still maintaining the possibility to go beyond the contextually

obvious path (Mejdahl 2009).

What is interesting in anthropology, however, is when the user is forced into a situation

where they have to make a decision because the object they interact with has an

unexpected outcome. Hooker & Kitchen (2001) created a project named “Hard Shoulders

Soft Verges” that allowed them to examine how digital interactions in the urban

environment enhanced the users’ perception of their surroundings. By making the users

aware of the decisions they had to make, they introduced what we - based on the thoughts

put forth by Mejdahl (2009) have named “Wall of Decision”.

A Wall of Decision is “when a user has to stop the interaction and think about their next

action because of a deliberate decision made by the designer” (Mejdahl 2009). An

intended breaking point, so to speak.

28 / 58

Human beings often find ways of eliminating breaking points in situations where they are

unfamiliar with the setting and the reigning norms they emit. They do this by following

what others do as the theory of Social Proof describes. Instead of having to stop at every

point of interest, they follow what the majority of people does - e.g. walking past the

violinist in the subway. In other words, other people’s behavior helps shape our own

navigation and ability to make a decision quickly based on their current activity. This will

be more thoroughly analyzed with the activity theory.

IntuitionOne could argue that Intuition is another way of determining how to act in unfamiliar

situations, and it is a part of everyday expressions to use your instinct, “follow your gut

feeling” or “trust your heart”. Basically, friends and family can encourage you to go with

what you feel is natural. These feelings often arise before any motive is formulated and is

as such the absolute individual decision.

Philosophers, however, describe Intuition as something more than just - figuratively

speaking - going with the flow. Especially Immanuel Kant (1781) and the subsequent

response form Henri Bergson (1934) aid in the understanding of Intuition and what is the

Absolute truth.

They disagree heavily on whether or not it is possible for human beings to understand

what the two philosophers define as the Absolute. According to Kant, it is impossible for us

to understand the world in itself as we will always perceive it as it appears to us, not in its

absolutely objective state (Kant 1781). In other words, that we will always analyze what we

are presented with and can thus never be truly objective. Bergson argued that as long as we

are not envisioning the Absolute through representations (e.g. a complete photographic

documentation of a city as opposed to being physically present in the city) we are able to

create symbols that are strong enough to accurately represent the Absolute.

In Bergson’s theory these symbols were more than just thoughts and deserved a category

for itself - Intuition. The later theories of Intuition base themselves upon this definition -

that it is more than thoughts and Eugene Sadler-Smith (2008) argues that more

experience gives a better Intuition as there are more points of reference to base one’s

conclusion on.29 / 58

In relation to theory on Social Proof, Intuition tells us that in a situation where we are

unaware of what is the norm, we follow the majority of people as it is rare that most are

wrong in such a non-complex task as walking from one point to another. Typing a PIN

code in a credit card terminal is also a non-complex task and it is only when the numbers

are deliberately switched into random places we are presented with a breaking point - a

Wall of Decision (Mejdahl 2009). This awareness of how we interact with objects and our

motives for doing so will be analyzed extensively in the next part of this paper.

Activity analysis

As we continue our analysis of physical interaction we will now direct our understanding

towards the motives of our actions, and how these spring to new actions that follow. When

we approach our analysis on physical interaction we aim at understanding the motive that

and the level of consciousness of their actions that our users bring to the table. In the

previous analyses we went deeper into how the user might do or react to certain things

without being aware of it, which leads us to studying the conscious parts of user behavior.

Through activity theory we are given the tools to do exactly that as activity is defined as

“...being composed of subject, object, actions, and operations” (Leont’ev 1974 in Nardi

1996:37).

The theoretical frameworkAs quoted above activity theory aims at the analyzing the motive a given user or person

formulate before initiating any activity. Any actor will not do anything without having a

certain goal, or as the theory calls it Object, in mind. With that being said, any object can

be of various character. Some things are done in order to meet objects of less importance

and others in order to reach more complex goals. I.e. we might read the newspaper every

morning in order to keep up with what is happening in the world around us or because we

want to grow an educated mind. Whereas we choose to attend a certain education program

due to future employment aspirations. Another perspective when referring to the object of

activity theory is that any activity might serve different objects as “... they are conscious

(because one holds a goal in mind), and different actions may be undertaken to meet the

same goal” (Nardi 1996:37). An important notion when it is time to draw our empirical

research into the analysis.

30 / 58

The actions we carry out repeatedly might become routinized and unconscious with

practice exemplified with the example of when learning to drive a car, shifting gears is an

action with an explicit goal that must be consciously attended to. Later, shifting gears

becomes operational and “can no longer be picked out as a special goal-directed process:

its goal is not picked out and discerned by the driver; and for the driver, gear shifting

psychologically ceases to exist'' (Leont'ev 1974 in Nardi 1996:37-38). This example is

found in the analyses of our empirical research.

The last part of our theoretical outline will address how the actor comes into the picture

when dealing with activity theory is about how activity theory emphasizes motivation and

purposefulness and is optimistic concerning human self-determination (Engeström 1999).

In other words activity highlights that whatever object there must be ahead for the actor it

is exactly this that fosters the motivation that drives the action. There must be a precise

purpose to the activity. Of course the purpose can variate from being helping others to self

satisfaction but nevertheless the motivated activity is prevailed in the self.

Empirical researchThe empirical material we have collected for this part of our analyses have mainly been

situated around interviews and a case study in a kindergarden. The kindergarden was

chosen as a situation of quick and practical contextual information-exchange between

employees and parents. The management in the kindergarden used past experiences from

other kindergartens to see where there could be barriers in delivering only relevant

information to the parents. Mortensen (2009) stressed that the circumstances that parents

had when dropping off their children and picking them up were rather intense. Often there

were not enough time and often these pick up settings were full of confusion. Therefore the

management of the kindergarden aimed at making the tools they wanted to give the

parents as simple as possible and vacant the right places at the most convenient time.

Mortensen (2009) used the example of one big bulletin board used by many other

kindergartens as an example of confusion for parents. Often these boards are quite messy

and have not undergone any structural strategy as how to best present the relevant

information. The effect of this was then that parents were forced to use a large amount of

time in order to form an overview of what information was relevant for them, which

possessed the risk of parents missing important information. To avoid these scenarios 31 / 58

Mortensen (2009) implemented different tools for different purposes. One being a

calendar for parents to write in when their child were to be picked up by another beside its

parents, i.e. go home with a friend or picked up by a grandparent. Another tool was created

so the parents could gain full insight in the child's experiences and development. The

employees have made a book for each child with pictures and text which the parents can

take home during the weekend. That way the parents were given an opportunity to follow

its child’s development when they have time and in more depth than 15 minutes at pick up

and drop off would allow.

Another distinct case of confusion was that many parents as well as new employees had

troubles in understanding the difference in the purpose of each tool. Mortensen (2009)

tried to “teach” parents that most of the information would be available through the

website and as such the website would primarily be a one way communication tool. Its

primary focus was for the kindergarden to give information to the parents - not the other

way around. If the parents wanted to contact the employees there were very specific tools

for that. One being the calender mentioned earlier, another a booking calender on the

website for parents to book when they had planned vacation for their family. If the parents

wanted more direct contact there were regularly parents-meetings and they can send an

email or make a phone call.

32 / 58

AnalysisNow that we have our framework in place we can begin our analysis in order to understand

the elements of action within a physical setting. These elements are essential as the

structures and patterns in the physical setting will be part of our aim of this work to see if

the patterns repeats itself in the digital world. As our thesis is investigating whether or not

these pattern can be transformed into the digital environment and if so, will they be

meaningful?

We start by taking offset in the case that Mortensen (2009) highlighted - the fact that

many parents and employees had difficulties in telling the tools apart. An example of this

was that one of the doors pointing to the entrance hall was used for quick and practical

information that the kindergarden felt obligated in informing new visitors. An example of

this was that often it was the case that some of the children in the kindergarden had the

case of lice. On the other side of the door small paintings with the names of the newest

children committed to the kindergarden. A sign of welcome for the new children and their

parents. As an individual initiative one of the employees had put up information regarding

healthy lunch tips in order for the parents to be aware of what is good for the children. This

information was displayed as 4 pages of A4 paper with mostly text and a couple of pictures

(shown in the section on social proof).

This information is rather intensive to read in the way it is displayed but helps us prove an

important point about how the operation in which we act in order to reach our goal the

goal does not change. As Leont’ev (1974 in Nardi 1996:38) formulates it:

“Operations depend on the conditions under which the action is being carried out. If a

goal remains the same while the conditions under which it is to be carried out change,

then only the operational structure of the action will be changed.”

So in the case we would present for our test users, we might be able to affect the operations

through the conditions the action is carried out in without compromising the goal or object

as such. Something we need to take into consideration when evaluating our user tests later

on.

In the case of the kindergarden we need to understand the complexity of the context in

order to analyze it. The question is then how can the context be defined when dealing with

an activity system? Nardi (1996) argues that both object, action and operation is the 33 / 58

context. That the “...context is constituted through the enactment of an activity involving

people and artifacts. Context is not an outer container or shell inside of which people

behave in certain ways. People consciously and deliberately generate contexts (activities)

in part through their own objects; hence context is not just out there.'' (Nardi 1996:38).

To be more concrete Mejdahl (2009) argued that in her experience with users the motive

of which we act is the dominating factor. It is the motive that foster the action, which

corresponds very well with the quote above that people are every conscious about

generating activities or contexts. Mortensen (2009) knows form her work that parents has

an object in closely following their child growing up, but in the context of picking up the

child after a day of work the context does not allow for a sufficient amount of time to fully

reach that object. Therefore the kindergarden has tried to generate a new context in the

form of the Child’s-book that all parents can take home and read. The artifact, that is the

book, gives the parents the opportunity to see what their child has been doing the last week

or two and thereby reaching the object of following the child grow up. By creating the

context centered around the Child’s-book the management of the kindergarden triggers

the motive of the parents that is to understand and interact with their children.

The example described above also shows something else. With the creation of the child’s

book the conditions change for the parents to raise their child change. Kuutti (1991) tells us

that artifacts carry with them a particular culture and history which mediates our actions

as we saw in the example above. This may lead some of the parents to reframe their object

- now that the can take something from the kindergarden with them home. By doing so the

parents mediate their activity which fit the idea of Kuutti (1991) who argues that artifacts

are created to control their behavior. It works both internal for the parents as mentioned

but also external as all the child-books becomes a way for the employees to document their

work with the children. This underlines the point “that in activity theory, external and

internal are fused, unified” (Nardi 1996:38).

Regardless of the changing conditions caused by the artifact it is essential to mention that

people and artifacts are asymmetrical (Bødker 1989). This means that despite the fact that

artifacts may be able change the conditions - as mediators of human thought (Nardi

1996:38), under which we perform our action it will always be the intent or motive and the

object that is of essence.

34 / 58

Implications of Activity theoryNow that we have gained a more in-depth understanding of activity theory it is important

to be critical towards the conditions that this theory brings to our work and later the

analyses of our user tests. When observing activities of our test users we must remember

that “activities are longer-term formations and their objects cannot be transformed into

outcomes at once, but through a process consisting often of several steps or

phases.'' (Kuutti 1991 in Nardi 1996:47).

We have tried to abide by this in documenting all observed artifacts but we have not seen

all in action, and since it was only possible to interview the employees of the kindergarden

and not the parents we have only heard the story from one side.

Moreover, in the documentation phases of our empirical research it is important to direct

our “attention to broad patterns of activity rather than narrow episodic fragments that

fail to reveal the overall direction and import of an activity.” (Nardi 1996:47). As activity

theory always will aim at the overall focus of research.

Therefore we must be critical towards the representation of these data and ask ourselves if

these interviews are sufficient in order for us to meaningfully outline the structures and

patterns of the kindergarden context? As the collection of our empirical data are not

restricted to solely focus on our kindergarden study we must aim at using our user tests as

well as a more in depth representation of activity patterns that we are also able to

document in detail.

Analysis - Digital Interaction

In the following analysis we begin our digital research which will account as the offset

before defining digital patina. We will use the theories of ubiquitous computing and

everyware (Greenfield 2006 and Weiser 1991) along with some of the frameworks of IxD

(Winograd & Flores 1986). As we take our starting point in the digital analysis we do this

because we need to understand the development that is taking place in the technologies

and trends today. With this in mind we will make use of part of our user tests to investigate

user reactions and transformation in our own controlled setting along with expert

35 / 58

interviews with Steffen T. Christensen (2009), developer at 23 (photo and video sharing

service).

Before outlining the theoretical framework of ubiquitous computing we spend a few lines

the thoughts that precede this. Despite the somewhat technology outlook of the computing

part this analysis is also very centered around how designers of technology has developed.

Winograd & Flores (1986) argue that as participants in society today we are all engaged in

the transformation of technology. But when asking Christensen (2009) about his notions

on structure in the development of new systems or applications he argue that his

prerequisites is still build around a well working database and sensible structured indexes.

He adds that he is actually quite conscious about the gap between technical architecture /

digital architecture and social architecture. So how do we then understand and research

the gap between these two opposing arguments and how does technology shape our

interaction - primarily in a digital environment? This will be our main focus in this

analysis.

Theoretical frameworkInitiating our analysis, we start by defining the frame in which we operate that will be

centered around Winograd & Flores (1986) ideas on HCI, Greenfield’s (2006) and Weiser’s

(1991) thoughts on ubiquitous computing and everyware. Ubiquitous computing and

everyware evolves around the theory on how technology is gradually diffusing into

everything around us. As Adam Greenfield describes it “...computing has leapt off the

desktop and insinuated itself into everyday life.“ (Greenfield 2006:9). To avoid further

confusion on when something is ubiquitous computing and when something is everyware,

beside having different authors, the two must be considered two sides of same matter.

Modern technology is built around small microprocessors that we find in our mobile

phones, iPods, car systems and so on. These micro-technologies are what we refer to when

discussing computing or -ware in every-ware, and the fact that we know find these things

everywhere in many types of context just mean that they are ubiquitous. The big

uncertainty that these theories pose is that if technologies are to be found in every context

we navigate in then we most likely will not notice this, which imply that our interaction

with these will become fluent and natural (Greenfield 2006).

The greatest leap in this movement of technology is that until now we have not been

influenced directly by these technologies, since they more or less just worked for us and 36 / 58

never had any directly interaction with the human user. But what if these small

applications and services were able to pass information through it to become more

relevant? This means we are “...contemplating the extension of information-sensing, -

processing, and -networking capabilities to entire classes of things...” (Greenfield:18).

As these micro processors spread into everything the opportunity of passing information

through these artifacts increases. As Greenfield (2006) argues that if technology is in

everything then information is as well. This increases our exposure to information but in

our interaction with the different artifacts that carry these technologies we are not always

aware of what we do with it. Moreover are we capable of receiving information at that time

and how will we address it? Greenfield (2006) argues that everyware can be engaged

inadvertently, unknowingly, or unwillingly, which reinforces the fact that we might not be

able to control the information exposed to us. Meaning that information can be expressed

just about anywhere which brings a practical effect ;how do one bring about a relationship

to the information? This is what Greenfield refers to as ambient informatics (2006:24).

These perspectives on everyware brings forth new approaches on how to design for the

user experience. Earlier, the tools used by the designers to deliver information to the users

had the ability to let them know, or control when, the user received the different

information. But the notion of everyware creates new implications for the display of

information as the user experience is closely connected to the physical design of the user

interface as well as the interplay between the artifacts and the user (Greenfield 2006).

Personal computing used to be the only frame for user experience, and the context

personal computing was present in consisted solely of structures the designers were able to

understand and control. Lately, a tendency has emerged for technology to be present in

many other places than personal computing were able to before (Greenfield 2006). An

example of this is that by diffusing into the things around us, everyware can scale

according to the surroundings and is limited only by the constraints of the buildings, cities,

streets and other public spaces we interact in.

An example of this is an experiment, called The Image Of The City (Greenfield 2006:63),

where MIT professor Kevin Lynch tried to explore and structure the quality of a city. A

measurement that he called legibility that basically should measure to what extent a given

city was able to aid you in your navigation. The experiment tried to map how users where 37 / 58

able to figure out where they were, how it was connected to their destination and how to

get there. Lynch were able to identify certain permanent guidelines that users would use.

The result counted landmarks, city and street sign etc. The importance here is not which

tools Lynch found that users take hold of but these tools are now becoming subject for

computational enhancement. By taking a simple study of something that many users do

everyday (navigating the city or streets), we now open up for new ways of interacting with

a city or a street.

AnalysisThe aim with this analysis is to go deeper into what mechanisms and structures that are

apparent when we as a user interact in a digital environment and the elements in play.

Despite our primary focus on everyware in the theoretical framework we will not neglect

important notions from HCI and IxD in general in this analysis.

The micro processors that have gradually diffused into our society we will, in the words of

Winograd & Flores (1986), gradually engage more and more in the information and

technology development. It is somehow inventible but when asked about how Christensen

(2009), as a developer, designed new services and system he answered that he found a

clear distinction between the different tasks ahead - from the conceptual whiteboard

brainstorm, to the strategy on how to implement users and get them to interact with each

other as well as the other parts of the internet ecosystem. This leads us to the fact that

most interaction in the digital environment is engaged through a motive-driven activity.

A strongly related thought is the ideas Winograd & Flores (1986) brought forth on when

action is given primacy over cognition, knowing is always engaging activity, and thereby

influencing our ability to experience. In other words the way we understand things is by

doing them in the digital environment which then shapes us in different ways depending

on the context. Consequently, this could also be assumed to be culture related. Because as

Christensen (2009) explains, “systems and services are often designed under the influence

on how user can interact and what technical ground lies behind”. Despite the notion that

Winograd & Flores (1986) believes that technology should be seen as something inherently

social, we can still make this notion fit with the though of Christensen (2009) - because the

technology is rooted in the activity and that the activity, in the everyware concept, is rooted

in our interaction.

38 / 58

This shows how strong the actual activity is connected to the technology the user is

interacting with. This sets even higher demands for interfaces and the connectivity in

between applications or services. As the theory of everyware argues it is not until this

connectivity is present the value for the user emerges, which is confirmed by Christensen

(2009). “In most cases where I have been involved the embedding of data in the most

known social services like Twitter, RSS, video and other mash-ups, in most cases it has

been build on top of the project afterwards.” This does not completely discard the

connectivity point but is perhaps an indication of how great the possibilities in the

technology are now. As Christensen (2009) later in the interview points out “the

complexity of the technology and the open standards that are evolving are maybe greater

than we imagined”. By opening up, people are not just getting access to data but also code.

An evolution that due to this openness might evolve quicker and in more complex ways

than expected.

With this development the everyware idea also indicate that we might not know when we

interact with the technology around. However it will always take place in a particular

context (Greenfield 2006). But as we know from Interaction theories put forth by Suchman

(2006), action is founded on local interactions with our environment informed by

reference to abstract representations of situations and actions. The function of these

abstract representations is not to specify local interactions but to exploit some

contingencies of our environment and to avoid others. So if it is the local interaction we

interact more or less conscious with the technology surrounding us, in accordance to

Greenfield (2006) will users interact with information and process information in that

moment. This extends the information processing into intense rate but it might also open

new doors because no one mentioned what type of information there should be processed.

This is especially the case with the Lynch experiment (Greenfield 2006) where the city

tools were made into computational components. What if our navigation framework in a

digital context becomes equally enhanced? This will mean that we will have access to far

richer tools when interacting digitally due to the increased information process.

This scenario becomes even more interesting if the digital context is able to take both the

willing and unwilling interaction and use it constructively and organically. Much indicate,

however, that we should perhaps not put our trust in the technology to moderate the users

but - as this analysis has shown us - rely on the actions of other users to moderate our

digital context. The essential point is to find the level of universality that everyday objects 39 / 58

such as chairs, tables etc. have reached. We know these objects’ function and place in a

physical environment, but one might argue that we have not reached this level of

universality with digital devices yet. As Greenfield (2006:261) expresses the dilemma: “The

real struggle will be to find an appropriate place for ubiquitous computing in our lives.”

User Interfaces

To be able to fully describe the problems related to presenting information in digital

settings to users that interact with a user interface, the theories of mental models and

metaphors are applied to our user tests.

Mental ModelsThe application of computational capabilities in objects that differ in form from the

personal computer provides interesting problems for the developers and designers of said

objects. How people perceive the possibilities the newly developed interaction models

present can be described with the theory of mental models. In 1943, the Scottish

psychologist and physiologist Kenneth Craik wrote:

“If the organism carries a “small-scale model” of external reality and of its own possible

actions within its head, it is able to try out various alternatives, conclude which is the best

of them, react to future situations before they arise, utilize the knowledge of past events

in dealing with the present and the future, and in every way to react in a much fuller,

safer and more competent manner to the emergencies which face it.” (Craik, “The Nature

of Explanation”, 1943:61 in Johnson-Laird 2005)

What he proposed is that human beings react to situations they are unfamiliar with taking

offset in what the are familiar with based on their creation of a “small-scale model” in the

same way an architect create a model to represent a house before it is built. Rather than

having a physical model, a mental model is created based on input regarding the situations

one has encountered at an earlier point.

The theory’s base is older than 1943, however, as Charles Sanders Peirce published the

major system of logic known as “Predicate Calculus” in 1883 (Johnson-Laird 2005). He

described three different properties of signs that includes thoughts:

40 / 58

1) Iconic

2) Indexical

3) Symbolic

An example of an iconic sign is a visual image, but they are only truly interesting when

combined with similar images. Three images of mountains might not look the same, but

the representational similarities in showing what a mountain looks like makes it iconic.

Indexical properties is the act of pointing towards an object as it is a way of separating the

objects found in the surroundings in distinguishable categories. Talking about them, on

the other hand, is merely symbolic representations as the objects are not there, but human

beings have settled on adequately advanced linguistic systems that makes it possible to

describe the differences between two objects.

According to Johnson-Laird (2005), the theory of mental models builds upon the iconic

properties of logic and are essential for their existence. Craik separates himself from the

modern view of mental models in one critical point, however: What Johnson-Laird refers

to as “the iconicity”. Although Craik also argued that a model’s structure can differ from

what it represents, it still has to parallel or imitate reality. Modern mental model

theoreticians would argue that understanding theories on e.g. quantum electromechanics

are beyond “commonsense interpretation”, even though we can make accurate calculations

about their behavior.

Therefore, Johnson-Laird argues that “a principle of modern mental model theory is that

the model has the same structure as the situation that it represents” (2005:181), and this

is where it gets interesting for applying to the area of HCI and the concept of the personal

computer.

Metaphors

“[Y]ou can take advantage of people’s knowledge of the world around them by

using metaphors to convey concepts and features of your application. Use

metaphors involving concrete, familiar ideas and make the metaphors plain, so

41 / 58

that users have a set of expectations to apply to computer environments.” (Apple

Computer Inc. 1992 in Blackwell 2006:492)

The rise of the Graphical User Interface (GUI) with its well-known Desktop Metaphor,

created at Xerox and made popular by Apple’s Macintosh computer and Microsoft

Windows, relies heavily on the use of metaphors to give users an idea of the action which

the items shown in the interface can perform. The basic idea is that what the user see on

the computer resembles what can be found at an office desktop; a table, paper basket,

folder, file etc. The user us familiar with these objects from their everyday life, and will -

theoretically - understand their function based on their previous experience with the object

the metaphorical representation within the GUI refers to.

As described in the section on mental models, Craik (1943) argued that the mental model

should parallel or imitate reality whereas Johnson-Laird (2005) argues it merely has to

have the same structure as the situation it represents. In relation to the desktop metaphor

it becomes clear that Craik’s understanding of mental models is less applicable to the

digital setting compared to Johnson-Laird’s. In a Craikian setting, throwing something in

the paper basket in the GUI would move something physically within the hard-drive of the

computer, whereas Johnson-Laird’s definition better captures the actions that are

performed digitally. The structure of moving something from a folder to the paper basket

is similar, and it does not imitate reality directly, but rather gives an idea of the same

situation. The difference might seem subtle and almost indifferent, but as our user tests

showed, it is of great importance to how users perceive actions within GUIs.

Our test website that changed links from black to white, representing a change from

existence to complete removal was not registered by the user at all. Questions about

whether or not he saw a change in the menu proved to be negative, even though he had

clicked the link enough times to make it disappear completely. The metaphor mimicked

that of a Craikian setting, but the mental model failed in this case as it is uncommon for

links to be removable in that way.

ExperienceOur user tests gave interesting results in relation to the theory on mental models and

metaphors. We put together four sets of themes found in the process of writing affinity

diagrams that we thought to be related under the header “Experience”:42 / 58

1. Lack of aid tools

2. Exploration - clicking

3. Users’ experience

4. Previous Activity

As explained in the part with findings of the paper, we were caught by surprise by some of

the results from the test. One user found the faded links in Test 1 to be an indicator of

another user’s previous activity with the site - something none of the other testers even

mentioned. Since the thesis for the user test was to see if users reacted to the change and

would subsequently perceive the changes that were already made to be a result of former

user activity, it is safe to conclude that with only one positive result that mental model is

invalid.

Another interesting find was that when users were presented with the tasks, we had set

them to be found under one of two menu points that had somewhat similar meaning (e.g.

Features and Specifications). Once they had clicked around looking for the first and second

answer they had built an experience with the site that enabled them to remember where

the information was categorized and thus act based on that experience. The same user that

perceived the links as a result of previous usage even clearly distinguished between

Specifications and Features because of extensive knowledge of looking for technical

information for computer parts.

When the users found that their mental model based on previous experience failed, they

looked for an aid tool such as a search engine to help them - something that is not possible

when interacting with physical information artifacts such as books, signs and the like. The

mental model for the users was that you would be able to search across the site and when

they found out that was unavailable, they relied on clicking everything until they found

what they sought after in the same way you would flip through a book.

To sum up, our test website put forth some interesting findings in how our test users

perceives the digital interaction that is a website. The mental models they have formed

based on previous activity with similar settings proved to be unavailable, and as a result

they relied on the same basic principle as they would use when interacting with a physical

medium.43 / 58

Defining Digital Patina

Starting pointAt this point in our work we have come to the part where we will try to examine what the

previous analyses have discovered and use these as a point of reference in order to define

Digital Patina. Our path so far has led us through an analysis on the physical activity

driven by motive through activity analysis, over how we interact in a digital environment to

an outline of which types of mental models we carry with us on this journey.

This work took its starting point in the patterns and traces we leave behind when we as

users travel through streets, cities, systems or whatever paths we choose. We began to

investigate the possibility of transferring these traces from the ‘real’ world to the virtual.

But have the previous analyses brought us any closer to the definition of digital patina?

What is Patina?As our emerging thoughts show us we have so far only been able to describe patina as

something that is worn. Worn in the sense that the worn traces leave in them the sign of

others. However when conducting our framework of user tests this metaphor was not

possible to transfer directly. Both in the sense that it would not make sense in a digital

setting and because it simply was not possible to satisfactorily show the worn path

digitally. We documented our early field studies with photos of the things we see in the city

around us. One of the most significant examples was the image of the door phone (Just

2009 - used with permission) that showed who the majority of the visitors came to visit.

44 / 58

If we try and use the door phone example as an illustration of what the term patina means

in a digital context, we came up with a valuable point in our activity analysis. We know

from that analysis that actions always carry a motive and a goal that direct the purpose

(Leont’ev 1974). Or, as Engeström (1999) explains it, that activity concerns the self-

determination of humans. So what we previously defined as patina is now centered around

activity. The reason for this is that through activity we are able to visualize the structures

that we “leave behind” when we navigate in a certain context. Returning to the door phone

example, the interesting activity in a digital sense is not the action of pressing the button,

but what comes before that particular action and what follows afterwards.

It is the way we found the path to the entrance with that specific door phone, and the path

behind us when leaving the phone that will be visible, and it is that structure other users

can use later on. These paths have great resemblance to the paths described in the

paragraph on ‘Desire Paths’ and ‘Social Proof’. The question might be then whether or not

the user is able to adopt and use the paths left behind, which is something our user tests

gave proof of. We were surprised by the tendency with which most users were able to recall

information they had stumbled upon earlier when clicking around. An equally significant

tendency was that many of the users were able to use that knowledge when required later

45 / 58

on in the tests, which fits perfectly with Winograd & Flores’ (1986) point that knowing is

the engaging activity and shapes the way we experience.

This concept of patina also matches Greenfield’s (2008) concepts of the Long Here and the

Big Now, which refer to the fact that at certain points a lot of people are gathered at the

same place (Big Now) and their traces are visible long afterwards (Long Here). People who

encounter that point outside the Big Now-moment can still find value in the action that has

occurred.

To summarize, patina is defined as the shaping of physical objects by activity over a period

of time.

DigitalThe challenge and the opportunity for digital interaction are the differences it has to the

physical world we have interacted with for thousands of years. The method we have used

so far to grasp the possibilities of digital interaction is to apply metaphorical

representations of real world objects in a world with an unlimited amount of shapes

consisting of 0s and 1s. Lars Jessen (2009) wrote about patination of data and the related

problems:

“Whereas most products are made of natures own material, digital objects main

substance is superficially constructed by human. [...] Consequently, when we

perceive the digital material we only see what is mediated by physical materials

and analogue outputs – the digital by itself happens to be indiscernible.”

The mediation Jessen (2009) writes about is supported by applying metaphors of real

world objects to their digital counterpart, but because of how we construct mental models

and think of digital settings, they can fail. It is especially seen in cases that go beyond what

the premise is for digital interaction that it becomes problematic, as seen with the virtual

world “Second Life”. People found it tedious and confusing because it was far from reality

while still trying to mimic the way we act in the physical world (Hansen, Jensen, Jespersen

& Hansen, 2007).

In Second Life you are able to buy perfumes and in order for you to see your otherwise

intangible purchase, you get an aura of a certain color around you. Moreover, you are able 46 / 58

to drive a car, but it is somewhat unnecessary when you also have the ability to fly

(Hansen, Jensen, Jespersen & Hansen, 2007). Both of these examples show us that it is

problematic when transferring elements of physical interaction directly into a digital

setting, which our user tests confirmed.

Ten of twelve test users did not notice any changes in the menu at all, even though the

links faded, changed size or darkened. Based on this, we are able to conclude that the users

are not used to links that mimic the same behavior as perishable materials found in the

physical world. One of our users said that she clearly thought the various sizes in links

were an intentional design decision as if to draw attention to certain links. She did not

interpret it as “used links”, but rather links she should pay attention to from the start.

Social ActivityWhat we tried to research with the user test is how we could create a feeling of “simulated

patina” in the digital setting (Jessen 2009). What we found was that people do not

interpret the perishability as intended in the digital setting, but rather as design decisions

because that is what their mental model they have created for digital interaction says they

should interpret it as.

What is interesting to analyze are the social structures patina is the result of. In the

example of Desire Paths, the wearing of the grass field is not very interesting in itself, but

why we choose to follow the majority of people before us is. The same goes for the example

from our analysis on Social Proof; walking past a famous violinist is not something

extraordinary (most people probably do something similar every day without noticing), but

it is interesting when you do it as a result of using the context in which you are situated to

navigate.

Social NavigationWe see this kind of patination as the basis for our definition of what can work in a digital

setting with regards to digital patina.

When a user browses around the web shop on Amazon.com, their activity is being

anonymously monitored. Once a couple of items are bought and they have browsed enough

to detect a pattern, recommendations start showing up. Beneath the item information, a

section for similar items is shown: “Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought”. This 47 / 58

gives the user the ability to navigate based on previous activity by users with a similar taste

in books, music and everything else Amazon sells. In this example the context inspires the

user to adopt a buying behavior related to other users.

Instead of navigating alone, my navigation is shaped by the previous activity of others in

the same way as a Desire Path can make me take a shortcut because others have found that

particular path to be faster than the paved one. Had Amazon chosen to showcase all their

items in an alphabetically sorted list, it would not facilitate recommendations to me from

other users’ activity as easily.

The same principle is seen in the music tracking service, Last.fm. When a user listens to a

piece of music a notice is sent to the web service so the listening patterns can be tracked.

Once a certain number of tracks have been played, recommendations for further listening

start appearing. If a user listens to pop artists like Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera a

recommendation for Justin Timberlake might occur. A structure in the serendipitously

driven discovery of new music is created - the user can choose to listen to Justin

Timberlake as a result of the fact that others with a similar taste in music also listen to

that.

(In this example last.fm is recommending the artist “Rumpistol” based on similar artists

within the electronica genre.)

48 / 58

A Working Definition of Digital PatinaDigital Patina is not about perishability or an ability to wear out data. Because of the

structure of the binary system and the intangible nature of data it can never show any

aging in itself, but only a representation of the user’s activity. The activity is bounded by a

motive that precedes it and an illustration of this interplay between the artifact and the

user is essential for digital patina to be present. The illustration must show the structure

formed by the users’ motive for activity in order for other users to perceive it as points of

navigation and act meaningfully upon it.

49 / 58

Conclusion

Method CritiqueOur user test was based on 12 voluntary helpers that tested three different sites while we

documented how they approached a set of tasks we gave them. The sites were built quickly

and because of the limited time and resources at hand, they were very simple to build and

served only as very strict test sites.

If we had expanded the user test to more users and a more complex site in terms of

technical features, we could perhaps have tested users more thoroughly in a website that

resembled more of a complete experience. Having more than 12 testers and a technically

more advanced test setting would definitely add weight to the results of examining how

people perceive the direct transfer of physical interaction principles to digital settings.

In spite of this, we believe that the test sites served the purpose well enough for us to get

valid answers and interesting points to analyze. Seeing that only two of our testers noticed

changes in the menu was very surprising and as such we determined the tests to be fruitful

enough for us to draw valid conclusions upon.

Moreover, our interviews with Jane Mejdahl, Anders Pollas, Morten Just and Steffen T.

Christensen gave us a very qualified insight into the different approaches people working

in the web industry have. Their backgrounds range from anthropology to political science

and graphic design and as such provide different opinions on the same subject. However,

we could have benefited from having more interviews with people in other sectors of

interaction such as architecture and the like, but for the scope of this paper and to keep it

within the frame of reference, we chose to interview the four people mentioned above.

We also feel that going on a field study around Copenhagen looking for desire paths and

similar traces of human activity was beneficial and if one wanted to provide an even deeper

insight into this field, spending more time on these tests would definitely add value.

Furthermore, studying how Smaaland Kindergarten used the rooms and building as a

whole was very inspiring and the interview with their leader, Britta Mortensen, gave us

crucial information on the interaction principles they have set up for themselves in

communicating with the parents. Staying at the kindergarten at drop-off and pick-up times

50 / 58

would have provided us with responses from parents that could confirm if the

communication is as successful as Mortensen (2009) found it to be.

Again, the scope of the paper did not allow us to go deeper into data collection of this kind,

and we still found that what we gathered from the interview was sufficiently insightful to

analyze.

Applying the theoriesThe theoretical framework of this paper ranges from philosophy to urban architecture and

we believe that traditional theories from HCI go well with theories on other aspects of

human behavior. Analyzing the differences and similarities of results found in user tests

with theories on how we navigate in urban architecture allows for us to give a nuanced and

untraditional answer to our research question. We found that the theories all shared the

same background in user interaction with information artifacts in one way or the other.

Therefore, they as such share the same frame of reference, despite at first seeming to stem

from vastly different disciplines.

Moreover, seeing that the basic principles of what we analyze in this paper - patina and

user behavior - stems from chemistry and anthropology respectively, new thinking and

approaches that go beyond what is usually expected in a paper about creating websites are

needed.

Analytical findingsIn the analytical parts of this work we have maintained a focus that was centered on a clear

distinction between physical and digital structures. For the physical interaction part we

tried to analyze how the behavioral patterns of users in a physical setting were formed with

a focus on how users engaged actively with the artifacts around them. In the digital

analyses we wanted to gain an understanding of the interaction that takes place in a digital

context and what was significant for user interaction along with the mental models that

users seem to bring to the table. Models that have their origin in the physical world and

might clash when brought into the digital environment. Lastly we wanted to formulate our

own definition of digital patina based on our empirical findings and the work analysis.

In the analysis on physical interaction we found tendencies to adopt patterns made by

others in i.e. small user-made roads in parks and parts of the city. We categorized these as 51 / 58

Desire Paths, which showed us that users will break out of the pre-determined structures

they were following if they regard an alternative as easier or more convenient. In a way

they create their own paths that can be adopted by new users through the trails of activity

they leave behind.

Closely related to these paths is Social Proof. This showed us that when users are

introduced to a new or unfamiliar situation, they have a tendency to self-analyze their

behavior and try and adjust according to the norms of that particular situation. This

underlines the idea that users have a tendency to follow the lead of others. When one starts

putting up posters in one place, many quickly adopt this behavior and will start doing the

same. Or, as in the case of the kindergarten,, when one employee starts to put information

in a particular place, others will follow and do the same.

The last part of our digital analysis involved how users act within a context through the use

of artifacts. We examined that artifacts in fact can mediate user behavior and are able to

change the conditions in which the users search for the object of their actions. In other

words, we as users create their own contexts by engaging in activities through artifacts.

Should the conditions change, the object that initiated their actions will remain the same.

As we moved into the digital part of our work we examined how activity and interaction are

connected when emerged in a digital space. We found that one’s previous knowledge

always influences activity and, through that, our ability to experience. In short, much of

our learning lies in interaction. Keeping our focus on digital, we went into depth with the

ubiquitous transformation of technology today. This transformation shapes the way we

receive information, both consciously and unconsciously, and these enhanced information

processed enrich the tools that we use to interact with. Thereby they also enrich the

relationship the user might have with both the artifact and the information.

To finish our digital analysis we applied the approach of mental models to understand the

interplay in difference between two objects and the user understanding of these. The point

of these models is not to imitate reality but rather give an idea of the same situation or

object. In addition to the mental models we analyzed the metaphors we bring into the

digital context and more concretely to the User Interface. Metaphors that indicate to the

user what the items on the desktop can perform which showed us that the worn metaphor

could not be used digitally.52 / 58

To return to our research question we now know that digital patina is bounded by the

activity that we perform and the motive that precedes this activity. Digital patina can then

shape that activity in forms of understanding the context we interact in better. We may use

the activity of others to understand how to react in a digital environment or understand

the Interface that we are presented with. To know how others have done may be just one

simple way of understanding our digital space and when acting based on our own motive

we basically let others’ patina direct the conditions in which we conduct our digital

journey.

Recommendations for Further ResearchAs we argued in the method critique section of the conclusion, our analyses is based upon

initial user testing within one part of the aspect of researching on digital patina. For the

area to be covered in more detail and depth, additional research would need to be

conducted.

We suggest that were one to dig deeper into the area, more thorough user testing would

need to be conducted in technically more advanced settings. Having a larger and broader

base of test users would give a more diverse and representative result to base the research

upon. It would be equally interesting to experiment with the context in which the patina

appears - e.g. using computational interfaces in a large, physical space.

The important point is that the test setting should reflect a variety of the aspects of

navigation points to be found in the physical world and how users react to those when

applied to digital settings. The essential focus is on how the perception of these elements in

digital interaction shapes the user behavior when managing and processing information.

53 / 58

Acknowledgements

Writing this paper would have been impossible without the help from the following people:

Kenneth Auchenberg

- for helping us with the technical aspects of the test-site

Morten Just, Jane Mejdahl, Steffen T. Christensen and Anders Pollas

- for letting us ask them silly questions

Aaron Bateman and Morten Kirckhoff

- for giving us the opportunity to spend immense amounts of time in the Advance-office

Britta Stougaard Mortensen

- for showing us an alternative approach to managing a kindergarten

Julie, David, Line, Cecilie, Carl-Christian, Allan, Christina, Dan Ho, Carsten,

Eline, Lone and Signe

- for giving valuable responses in our user tests

54 / 58

Bibliography

Ashton Kutcher (aplusk) on Twitter. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://

twitter.com/aplusk

Bachelard, Gaston. (1994). The Poetics of Space. Boston: Beacon Press. (Re-print edition)

Bardzell, J. (2009). Interaction Criticism and Aesthetics. ACM Portal,

(978-1-60558-246-7/09/04), 2357-2366.

Bergson, Henri (1934). La Pensée et le Mouvant: Essais et Conferences - The Creative

Mind.

Beyer, H., & Holtzblatt, K. (1999). Contextual design. interactions, 6(1), 32-42.

Blackwell, A. (2006). The Reification of Metaphor as a Design Tool. ACM Transactions on

Computer-Human Interaction, 13(No. 4), 490-530.

Bødker, S., Knudsen, J. L., Kyng, M., Ehn, P., & Madsen, K. H. (1988). Computer Support

for Cooperative Design. ACM Portal, 1(O-89791-282-9/88/0377 ), 377-394.

Bødker, Susanne and Grønbæk, Kaj (1989): Cooperative prototyping experiments. In:

Proceedings of the First European Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work,

September, 1989, Gatwick, London.

Cialdini, R. B. (1993). Influence : The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition. New

York: Harpertrade.

Davenport, Thomas H. and Prusak, Laurence, (1988), “Working Knowledge: How

Organizations Manage What They Know”, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA.

Dictionary, Merriam-Webster (n.d.). patina - Definition from the Merriam-Webster

Online Dictionary. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/

dictionary/patina

55 / 58

Dunbar, R. (n.d.). Grooming, Gossip, and the Evolution of Language. Retrieved May 21,

2009, from http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/DUNGRO.html

Engeström, Yrjö (1999). Perspectives on Activity Theory (Learning in Doing: Social,

Cognitive and Computational Perspectives). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Facebook Surpasses 225 Million Users. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://

www.allfacebook.com/2009/05/facebook-user-count/

Flores, F., & Winograd, T. (1986). Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New

Foundation for Design. New York: Addison-wesley Professional.

Greenfield, A. (2006). Everyware - The dawning age of ubiquitous computing. Berkely,

CA 94710: New Riders, a division of Pearson Education.

Greenfield, A. (n.d.). The long here and the big now. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://

speedbird.wordpress.com/2008/05/04/the-long-here-and-the-big-now/

Grudin, John (1989). Groupware and social dynamics: Eight challenges for developers.

Communications of the ACM, 37, 1, 92-105

Hooker, B., & Kitchen, S. (n.d.). Ben Hooker and Shona Kitchen. Retrieved May 21, 2009,

from http://proboscis.org.uk/prps/docs/p_hooker_kitchen.html

Hughes, R., & Rowe, M. (1991). The Colouring, Bronzing and Patination of Metals.

London: Watson-Guptill.

Jessen, L. (n.d.). Patina in Digital Objects. Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://

www.larsjessen.dk/bottledsouls/patinaindigital.html

Johnson-Laird, P. (2005). The History of Mental Models. National Science Foundation, 1,

1-34.

Kant, I. (1781). Critique of Pure Reason. New York: Cambridge University Press.56 / 58

Keinonen, T., Jääskö, V., & Mattelmäki, T. M. (n.d.). Three-in-One User Study for Focused

Collaboratio. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from http://www.ijdesign.org/ojs/

index.php/IJDesign/article/view/212/144

Kuutti, Kari (1991). Information systems, cooperative work and active subjects. The

activity-theoretical perspective. University of Oulu. Department of Information Processing

Science. Series A, Research papers, Oulu 1994.

Myhill, Carl. (2004). Commercial Success by Looking for Desire Lines, in Masoodian, M,

Jones, S, Rogers B, (Eds.) 6th Asia Pacific Computer-Human Interaction Conference,

Rotorua. Springer-Verlag.

Nardi, Bonni. (1996). Context and Consciousness: Activity Theory and Human-Computer

Interaction. London: The MIT Press.

Oprah Winfrey (Oprah) on Twitter. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://

twitter.com/oprah

Pollas, A. (n.d.). Hoist Company. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from https://

hoistnow.com/

Sadler-Smith, E. (2007). Inside Intuition. New York: Routledge; 1 edition.

Silverback — usability testing. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://

silverbackapp.com/

Suchman, L. (2006). Human-Machine Reconfigurations: Plans and Situated Actions.

New York: Cambridge University Press.

Twitter. (n.d.). Retrieved May 21, 2009, from http://twitter.com/invitations/suggestions

Weiser, Mark (1991). The Computer for the 21st Century. Published in Scientific American,

265, 3, 94-104.

57 / 58

Wixon, D., Flanders, A., & Beabes, M. A. (1996). Contextual Inquiry: grounding your

design in user’s work.. ACM Portal, 1, 354-355.

Wixon, D., Ramey, J., Holtzblatt, K., Beyer, H., Hackos, J., Rosenbaum, S., Page, C.,

Laakso, S., & Laakso, K. (2002). Usability in Practice: Field methods evolution and

revolution. ACM Portal, 1-58113-454-1/02/0004, 880-884.

58 / 58