Inaugural lecture
Prof. dr. Elisa Giaccardi
January 24, 2014
Biographical note
Prof.dr. Elisa Giaccardi was appointed full professor of Interactive Media Design in the Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering at Delft University ofTechnology on September 15,2012.
Elisa Giaccardi received her Master's degree [ c u m laude) i n Humanities and Philosophy at Universita degli Studi d i Torino i n 1997. I n 1999 she started her doctoral studies at the School of C o m p u t i n g of the U n i v e r s i t y of P l y m o u t h i n the U n i t e d K i n g d o m , and obtained her PhD [ c u m laude] i n 2003 as p a r t of the i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y research p r o g r a m i n art, science and technology CAiiA-STAR. P r i o r to her p o s i t i o n at Delft, she has been an Associate Professor i n I n t e r a c t i o n Design at Universidad Carlos I I I de M a d r i d , Spain [ 2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 2 ] , w h e r e she established and co-directed the Digital Living Initiative. Prior to that, she was a Senior Research Scientist at the Center f o r L i f e l o n g L e a r n i n g and Design, U n i v e r s i t y of Colorado at Boulder i n the U n i t e d States [ 2 0 0 4 - 2 0 0 9 ] .
Her early w o r k o n meta-design has been f o u n d a t i o n a l to approaches such as w e b 2.0 and localized m a n u f a c t u r i n g . She is the editor of Heritage and Social Media [Routiedge 2 0 1 2 ] , i n w h i c h she uses heritage as a lens to u n d e r s t a n d the i m p a c t of social media on the emergence and
g r o u n d i n g of p a r t i c i p a t o r y values and practices. Her research reflects a persistent concern w i t h design as a shared process of c u l t i v a t i o n and management of o p p o r t u n i t y spaces.
8. Greenfield, A. [2006) Ever3ware: The Dawning Age of Ubiquitous Computing. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
9. Harper, R., Rodden, T, Rogers, Y., Sellen, A. [2008) Being Human: Human-Computer Interaction in the Year 2020. Cambridge, England: Microsoft Research Ltd.
10. Hinte van, E. [1997) Eternally Yours: Vision on Product Endurance. Uitgeverij, Netherlands: 010 publishers.
11. Ingold, T. [2012) Towards an ecology of materials. Annual Review of Anthropology 41, 427-442.
12. Kende, M. [2014) Annual Global Internet Report 2014. Internet Society
13. Ng, I.C.L. [2013) Value & Worth: Creating New Markets in the Digital Economy Cambridge, UK: Innovorsa Press.
14. Rosner, D. [2012) The material practices of collaboration. Proceedings o f t h e 2012 Conference on Computer
Supported Cooperative Work. NewYork: ACM Press, 1155¬ 1164.
15. Schatzki, T R , Knorr-Cetina, K, Savigny von, E. [2001). The Practice Turn in Contemporary Theory. London; New York: Routiedge.
16. Shove, E., Pantzar, M., Watson, M. [2012) The Dynamics of Social Practice: Everyday Life and How It Changes. Los Angeles: Sage.
17. Sterling, B. [2005) Shaping Things. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
References
1. Evans, D. [2011] The Internet of Things: HOWA the Next Evolution o f t h e Internet Is Changing Everything. Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG].
2. Giaccardi, E. & Fogli, D. (2008) Affective geographies: Toward a richer cartographic semantics for the geospatial web. In Proceedings o f t h e 9th International Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces. NewYork: ACM Press, 173-180.
3. Giaccardi, E. & Palen, L. (2008) The social production of heritage through cross-media interaction: making place for place-making. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 14[3), 281-297.
4. Giaccardi, E., Karana, E., Robbins, H., D'OIivo, P (2014) Growing traces on objects of daily use: A product design perspective for HCI. Proceedings o f t h e 2014 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems. NewYork: ACM Press.
5. Giaccardi, E., Speed, C, and Rubens, N. (2014) Things making things: Towards an ethnography o f t h e impossible. Research Network for Design Anthropology, Seminar 1, April 10-11, 2014, Aarhus, Denmark.
6. Giaccardi, E. & Karana, E. (2015) Foundations of materials experience: An approach for HCI. Proceedings o f t h e SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. New York: ACM Press (in press).
7. Gloss, M., Robbins, H., D'OIivo, P., Karana, E., Giaccardi, E., (2015) Materiality and practices of connectedness: 'Nesting' in Expat Families. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Thank you to all m y f o r m e r mentors and supervisors, and i n particular Mario Ricciardi, Roy Ascott and Gerhard Fischer f o r playing a crucial role i n m y education and development.
Last, b u t n o t least, t h a n k y o u to m y f a m i l y f o r t h e i r loving s u p p o r t and constant encouragement: thank you, Nathan, f o r bearing w i t h the evenings spent w o r k i n g ; t h a n k you, m o m and dad, f o r all the flights and baby-sitting; and t h a n k y o u also to you, l i t t l e Emma, f o r teaching me there is always more to life, and t h a t w e should never stop being marveled.
Thank y o u all f o r coming.
I f i n i s h e d m y speech / Ik heb gezegd.
Acknowledgments
A n d so, I have come to the end of m y speech, and w i t h i t to the t i m e f o r thanlcing some special people.
T h a n k you, Pieter Jan Stappers, f o r f i n d i n g me and b r i n g i n g me to T U Delft; t h a n k you, Paul Hekkert, f o r giving me the rare g i f t of an academic home; t h a n k you, Huib de Ridder f o r w e l c o m i n g me as head o f t h e section together w i t h y o u ; and t h a n k y o u , Ena Voute, f o r y o u r t r u s t and energetic support.
T h a n k y o u to all the colleagues and f r i e n d s t h a t e n j o y collaborating w i t h me. T h a n k y o u i n p a r t i c u l a r to Elvin Karana and Marco Rozendaal f o r t h e i r b e a u t i f u l enthusiasm. M y colleagues Nazli Cila, A r n o l d Vermeeren, Tomasz Jaskiewicz, A a d j a n van der Helm, F r o u k i j e
Sleeswijk Visser, Marieke Sonneveld and Elif Ozean f r o m Delft, and m y i n t e r n a t i o n a l colleagues Chris Speed, Ron W a k k a r y L i a m Bannon, the DIS c o m m u n i t y and all others f o r t h e i r i n s p i r a t i o n and f r i e n d s h i p .
M y personal g r a t i t u d e goes also to the D e l f t students and PhD candidates w h o w o r k w i t h me, f o r t r u s t i n g m y provocations and d a r i n g to experiment. T h a n k y o u Holly, Patrizia, Emma, Fabian, Koen, Joyce, Rene, Youge, Lorenzo, Luke, Hansen, Yiran, Segourney Josje and Job.
T h a n k y o u to m y peers i n the Technology Fellowship p r o g r a m and to the Rector, the DEWIS o r g a n i z a t i o n and all the people t h a t p r o m o t e and s u p p o r t this i m p o r t a n t p r o g r a m .
The next generation of interactive media
This is m y vision f o r the next generation of interactive media, a generation of technologies textured i n rich material interactions and experiences, not just screens. Technologies t h a t s u p p o r t connections and interactions grounded and organized a r o u n d practices i n thephysical w o r l d , not just layered on top of them. Finally, technologies t h a t facilitate webs of d i f f e r e n t size and d u r a b i l i t y — a n d that do not need to be "always on."
This is n o t nostalgic longing f o r a simpler, physically bounded life. In the connected everyday, practices mediated by interactive media should be as r i c h as the best m a t e r i a l practices; screens and smartphones should n o t be a default, b u t should be used only i n t h e i r strength, next to other modalities; and the digital and the physical should n o t be considered and designed as separate w o r l d s , b u t rather as i n t i m a t e l y connected substrates o f a more f l u i d r e a l i t y
In summary, w e live i n a w o r l d of increased complexity, i n w h i c h digital data, everyday objects, and social practices are increasingly connected and interdependent. I n a w o r l d of increasing complexity, designing interactive media that facilitate m e a n i n g f u l interactions and integrate elegantly i n our everyday lives requires an understanding of h o w to design f o r c o m m e n s u r a b i l i t y — t h a t is, m a k i n g our a b i l i t y to connect across n e t w o r k s commensurate w i t h our c u r r e n t practices i n the physical w o r l d . Designing the connected everyday is f u n d a m e n t a l l y about m a k i n g things commensurate as m u c h as i t is about m a k i n g t h e m smart.
DESIGN EXPLORATION #3
Thing Tank is an interdisciplinary research platform for designing a new generation of products and services capable of reinventing themselves. Thing Tank's hypothesis is that the misuse of everyday objects can provide insights into niche practices and niche practices can provide insights into emerging values, and that Internet of Things infrastructures can be used to support constellations of objects, practices, and values capable of adapting and changing.
In mainstream Internet of Things applications, things are often instrumented with sensors and software to make sure products perform optimally A printer is a printer and a thermostat is a thermostat. In reality once produced, things have secret lives. Rain boots want to be a doorstopper, cups want to be a prop, and forks like to occasionally become a garden utensil.
Thing Tank turns every situation of use into a potential design situation and enables things to finally enter into a consensual relationship with us—becoming what they want to be, connected in networks, serving recipes of their own choice and opening up design opportunities we could not otherwise imagine (Giaccardi et al. 2014].
DESIGN EXPLORATION #2
Geist is a family of connected objects for people living outside their native country. This concept rethinks the connection of digital and physical material flows in everyday practices of "nesting/' that is, the procuring of artifacts from home countries to maintain family values and social relations.
Geist consists of the Radio, the Clock, and the Calendar. These are everyday objects that help expat families develop a sense of
connectedness and belonging through ordinary practices of nesting. A "seed" is left in the home country to serve as the outpost of the family. It is a transponder, which sets GPS coordinates as point of reference for the Geist objects.
By adjusting the knob ofthe Radio to enlarge or reduce the radius of the seed, a family can decide whether to be connected to their former home, broaden the connection to their countries of origin, or connect to the country where they currently reside. If a family adjusts the knob to be closely connected to their hometown, for example, the Radio will transmit local radio streams, the Clock will set on a different time zone and glow in the colors of the sky back home, and the Calendar will print out the date with local newspaper headlines. Through the materiality of Geist, families can manipulate their flows of material procuring and construct a sense of belonging and connectedness through repeated, everyday performances (Gloss et al. 2015].
#3: K E E P I T O P E N - E N D E D
I w a n t to give y o u one last example. W h e n I was a child, I used to go on vacation abroad w i t h m y parents. W h e n v i s i t i n g a n e w t o w n , m y dad l i k e d to ask locals f o r
i n f o r m a t i o n . Usually, i t was to f i n d the best restaurant i n t o w n . W i t h a b i t o f Italian and a l o t o f gestures, m y dad w o u l d ask the o w n e r o f t h e store, w h o w o u l d debate w i t h a customer, w h o w o u l d ask another costumer, w h o w o u l d eventually give h i m his r e c o m m e n d a t i o n . Imagine a scene m o r e or less like this one. M y dad goes i n w i t h the excuse to b u y something, takes the o p p o r t u n i t y to chat, and eventually he pops his question.
Today w e are blessed w i t h all sorts of o n l i n e services. T r i p A d v i s o r can tell m y dad about the restaurants i n t o w n , h o w t h e y have been r a n k e d b y customers, w h e r e t h e y are located, and h o w m u c h i t is going to cost: c e r t a i n l y m o r e effective. B u t the constellation o f objects, practices, and values m y dad activated was organized a r o u n d each specific s i t u a t i o n . A n d so i t p r o v i d e d f o r an i m m e d i a t e t u n i n g o f questions and answers and f o r n e g o t i a t i o n [ t h e classic "cup o f coffee i n exchange f o r valued i n f o r m a t i o n " ) , and also easily a l l o w e d h i m to opt out f r o m those
connections and interactions w i t h no f u r t h e r n o t i f i c a t i o n s .
Keeping connections and interactions open-ended means creating a constellation o f objects, practices, and values capable o f a d a p t i n g and changing w i t h the s i t u a t i o n at hand. The ways i n w h i c h practices are l i n k e d to each other [e.g., s h o p p i n g and asking f o r i n f o r m a t i o n ) are key to the rise and development o f such constellations.
#2: GROUND FLOWS IN T H E P R A C T I C E OF EVERYDAY L I F E
Once again, let me use an example. I o w n a spoon that has been passed d o w n to me by m y grandmother. 1 still use i t almost everyday f o r cooking. The spoon has a unique materiality: w h a t i t is made of, the shape i t has, the w a y i t has w o r n out w i t h use. This m a t e r i a l i t y shapes the cooking. A t the same time, the spoon and that characteristic w a y of cooking r e m i n d me o f m y g r a n d m o t h e r Together, the spoon and the activity of cooking w i t h that spoon create a material b o n d that connects me to m y g r a n d m o t h e r
Now t h i n k of h o w checking i n on Foursquare or Facebook has become a f a m i l i a r w a y o f saying "IVe been there" or " I had great food!" Picture yourself i n the act of t a k i n g a photo o f t h e food y o u are about to eat and document that still moment. The material b o n d w i t h the f o o d is broken i n the act, and the practice of r e m e m b e r i n g — t h o u g h made shareable—is n o w l i n k e d to the i m m a t e r i a l i t y o f t h e cloud, together w i t h the data associated to that experience.
The use of everyday objects and practices can make data, connections, and interactions relevant i n ways p r o p o r t i o n a t e and appropriate to the actions w e p e r f o r m i n d i f f e r e n t physical environments and our broader social context. They can be used as b o t h i n s p i r a t i o n and g r o u n d to facilitate interactions that m a t t e r Grounding f l o w s i n the practices of everyday life means creating i n t i m a t e relationships between the m a t e r i a l i t y of objects and h o w practices are p e r f o r m e d around them. This requires b r i d g i n g the a r t i f i c i a l gap between online and o f f l i n e practices, objects, and devices (Giaccardi & Karana 2015).
InSpiro is a concept that emphasizes the role of time and repetitive movement in the creation of material traces. Contrary to Chiocciola, InSpiro is the concept of a suitcase slowly and "unintentionally" growing a decorative pattern of memories as it gets used. As in Chiocciola, the pattern is entangled with digital data.
In both concepts, codes and patterns are not just markers. Objects are not what they used to be: They are partly physical artifact and partly data. Codes and patterns thus are an aesthetic resource for design, which uses material traces as a metaphor for a newly developed "maturity" ofthe object [Giaccardi et al. 2014].
Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering Landbergstraat 15
2628 CE Delft The Netherlands
Book design
Emma Gohres
Sieca
Concept design
Mirsaid Mousavi (Chiocciola] Segourney Muntslag [InSpiro] The Incredible Machine + Fabian Bitter [Geist]
Thing Tank graphics
Nazli Cila ISBN 978-94-6186-416-1 Digital version http://issuu.com/connected-everyday Video recording https://collegerama.tudelftnl/Mediasite/
This research is supported by TU Delft Technology Fellowship [2012-2017], Design United Demonstrators
2014, and MIT Skoltech IdeasLab Program [2014-2019], awarded to Elisa Giaccardi.
DESIGNING THE CONNECTED EVERYDAY
Oratie
In v e r k o r t e v o r m uitgesproken op 24 Januari 2014 ter gelegenheid van haar aanvaarding van
het ambt van Hoogleraar Interactive Media Design aan de faculteit Industrieel O n t w e r p e n
door
Connected Everyday
The next generation of interactive media will
be textured in rich material interactions and
experiences, not just screens. It will support
connections and interactions grounded and
organized around practices in the physical
world, not just layered on top of them. And it will
facilitate networks of different permanence and
consistency that do not need to be 'always on'.
Designing the connected everyday will
be fundamentally about making things
commensurate as much as it is about making
them smart.
What kind of life do you want to live?
How o f t e n have you f o u n d yourself interacting online at the dinner table? Our daily routines o f t e n incorporate tweeting, facebooking, and use of other online p l a t f o r m s w h i l e i n the company of friends.
Yet, f r o m Silicon Valley to Amsterdam, f r i e n d s sometimes stack t h e i r phones on the table to stop facebooking, tweeting, and texting w h i l e d i n i n g out. This example of "social n o r m i n g " speaks o f t h e gap between interactions online and interactions i n everyday life. This k i n d of behavior also speaks of our i n a b i l i t y as designers to
imagine less intrusive ways i n w h i c h interactive media can be integrated into our lives.
Interactive media have opened up unprecedented
opportunities f o r c o m m u n i c a t i o n and interaction, b u t h o w can we make t h e m f i t more neatly a r o u n d our lives?
IVIany companies realize this need and are e x p l o r i n g solutions such as glasses, watches, and a menagerie o f smart devices. These devices w i l l a l l o w Facebook or T w i t t e r notifications (or whatever other notifications we w i l l receive i n the f u t u r e ) to appear "discretely" as an icon in the corner of our eyesight, or on our w r i s t , rather than on our phones. This is not w h a t I am concerned w i t h .
Instead, m y question of h o w interactive media can f i t more neatly around our lives is a question of h o w we can facilitate m e a n i n g f u l o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r c o m m u n i c a t i o n and i n t e r a c t i o n — n o t just a question of h o w interactive media can make our lives more effective. It is a f u n d a m e n t a l
design q u e s t i o n about the l<:ind of life w e w a n t to live: one w h e r e w e o f t e n feel overloaded, distracted, and f r a c t u r e d i n o u r social engagements, w i t h n o t i f i c a t i o n s t h a t p u l l us away f r o m o u r lives and sometimes f r o m the things w e really w a n t to be doing. Or the k i n d of life w h e r e the a b i l i t y to connect across n e t w o r k s is commensurate w i t h o u r c u r r e n t practices i n the physical w o r l d .
Can information technology enricli everyday
life?
A c c o r d i n g to I n t e r n e t W o r l d Stats, m o r e t h a n 2 b i l l i o n people use the I n t e r n e t today to share data and c o m m u n i c a t e t h r o u g h d i f f e r e n t online media [Kende 2 0 1 4 ) . Cisco predicts t h a t there w i l l be 25 b i l l i o n devices connected to the I n t e r n e t by 2015, and 50 b i l l i o n by 2020 [Evans 2 0 1 1 ] . As r e p o r t e d b y Intel, cars w i l l account f o r m o r e t h a n 23 m i l l i o n connected devices b y 2016. This means t h a t a g r o w i n g p o r t i o n o f t h e connected devices w e w i l l use to c o m m u n i c a t e and interact w i l l be everyday objects—"things."
So w h a t w i l l w e do w h e n o u r shoes w o n ' t stop c h a t t i n g w i t h each other, or t a l k i n g back to us about g e t t i n g some m o r e exercise? [ I can't even imagine h o w gossipy shoes w i l l be!) W h a t w i l l be the s o l u t i o n then? Piling t h e m outside the d o o r before e n t e r i n g a restaurant o r g o i n g to the movies?
M y answer is this: I n o r d e r to design interactive media t h a t integrate m e a n i n g f u l l y i n t o o u r everyday lives, w e need to l e a r n h o w to design f o r commensurability. T h a t is, w e need to make o u r a b i l i t y to connect to people and things across n e t w o r k s commensurate w i t h o u r practices
i n the physical w o r l d . N o w bear w i t h me, and h o l d on to this t e r m c o m m e n s u r a b i l i t y I w i l l r e t u r n to this idea in a moment.
Ten years ago, I was investigating early f o r m s of social n e t w o r k i n g and sharing o f user-generated content at CU Boulder i n the U.S. The project's goals w e r e to address the g r o w i n g tension between environmentalists and recreationists over the public use o f t h e City o f Boulder's natural heritage and to provide a means of social dialogue.
The idea was to encourage the local c o m m u n i t y to communicate using r a w sounds rather than w o r d s . This was meant to help people connect i n unexpected ways to one another's experiences, interpretations, and expectations about the mountains and parks i n w h i c h they live and that they share [Giaccardi & Palen 2008). So w e p r o v i d e d members o f t h e c o m m u n i t y w i t h a m o b i l e application f o r c a p t u r i n g t h e i r sonic experiences and a m a p p i n g application f o r creating and sharing soundscapes o f t h e places w h e r e sounds w e r e recorded. Provocatively, we called the project Silence o f t h e Lands.
This design successfully enabled people to learn f r o m one another. One w a y this was achieved was by using colors to express w h e t h e r a sonic experience had been positive, negative, or insignificant. People were creating a map together. The a b i l i t y to weave together data about w h e r e and w h e n a sound was recorded w i t h the sound itself and people's sentiments about i t gave the c o m m u n i t y a rich texture t h r o u g h w h i c h to express, communicate, and reflect u p o n t h e i r values i n r e l a t i o n to those o f others (Giaccardi & Fogli 2008).
The design also p r o v i d e d g r o u n d f o r developing practices of w a l k i n g and l i s t e n i n g to the land, w h i c h fed back into the m a p p i n g . I n other w o r d s , the design made perceptions and actions i n the physical w o r l d commensurate w i t h the set o f values and practices t h a t people w e r e able to express i n the o n l i n e m a p p i n g .
Designing for commensurability
A n d so, let me come back to this idea of commensurability.
T h r o u g h digital i n t e r a c t i o n , w e have become u b i q u i t o u s . We sustain m u l t i p l e relationships w i t h m a n y people and w e c o n t i n u a l l y g r o w o u r shadow o f data—data about o u r connections, o u r interactions, and o u r patterns of use [Greenfield 2 0 0 6 ] . Connected to the I n t e r n e t , everyday objects are about to f o l l o w the same fate [Sterling 2 0 0 5 ] . I r e f e r to this n e w c o n d i t i o n of existence as connected everyday. L i v i n g i n the connected everyday complicates our relationships. I t challenges our p e r c e p t i o n and o u r a b i l i t y to interact i n ways t h a t are commensurate to the p o t e n t i a l e m e r g i n g f r o m people and things connected across n e t w o r k s .
W h a t I have learned f r o m m y earlier w o r k is t h a t t a k i n g on this challenge requires more t h a n an understanding of h o w people socialize, establish relationships, and organize themselves i n groups; i t requires an understanding of h o w w h a t we need to live i n a connected w o r l d relates to our c u r r e n t practices i n the physical w o r l d [ H a r p e r et al. 2 0 0 8 ] .
For designers, this c o m m e n s u r a b i l i t y is a matter of texture: enabling people to almost bodily feel, sense, and relate to data, connections, potential. It is also a matter of g r o u n d and arrangements: b r i n g i n g online and o f f l i n e practices i n f l o w w i t h each other and m o v i n g beyond t h e i r a r t i f i c i a l d i c h o t o m y
Potential needs texture, f l o w s need ground, and
connections need arrangements. Understanding h o w to design f o r c o m m e n s u r a b i l i t y i n the connected everyday and h o w this knowledge can be applied, requires
substantial scientific research.
This research must be concerned w i t h understanding materials, practices, and constellations. These pillars b u i l d on studies i n the humanities and social sciences and i n human-computer interaction, and on more t r a d i t i o n a l design research, all of w h i c h help us to understand h o w objects are embedded i n everyday life and h o w practices develop, change, and bundle around those objects to create an always-changing constellation of practices and values.
Let me b r i e f l y distill a f e w i m p o r t a n t insights.
Three pillars of commensurability
1^* P I L L A R : MATERIALSM a t e n a l s are n o t s i m p l y w h a t objects are made of. They invite, suggest, facilitate, and collaborate w i t h the u n f o l d i n g of our activities.
W h e n w e c l i m b the stairways of an o l d village, the stones o f t h o s e steps a f f o r d o u r c l i m b i n g , and b e i n g large or n a r r o w , r o u g h or slippery, suggest a u n i q u e w a y of
d w e l l i n g . The w a y i n w h i c h the stone has gathered moss or been smoothened by use shape and is shaped by o u r m a t e r i a l interactions w i t h the stairs w e are c l i m b i n g . Like others before us, w e collaborate w i t h the l o o k and feel t h a t those stones develop over t i m e (Ingold 2 0 1 2 ] .
I n the same way, w e embed stories and i n f o r m a t i o n i n each and every crack and scratch, and i n the w e a r and tear t h a t materials m a n i f e s t as w e interact w i t h objects and as t h e y age [van Hinte 1 9 9 7 ] . These traces r e m i n d us of m o m e n t s i n t i m e , places w h e r e objects have m a t u r e d or decayed, and connect these events to o u r o w n personal experiences w i t h and t h r o u g h materials .
The f i r s t i n s i g h t is t h a t materials are n o t s i m p l y w h a t objects are made of. They invite, suggest, facilitate, and collaborate w i t h the u n f o l d i n g o f o u r activities and respond to these activities b y aging, changing t h e i r appearance, and even leaking i n t o each other (Rosner 2 0 1 2 ] .
2"^ PILLAR: PRACTICES
Objects are not simply tools. They play an active role i n hov^ a practice develops and eventually h o w i t changes.
The everyday objects w e handle i n a kitchen enable and constrain the practice o f cooking. Though cooking as an activity is a recognizable practice, the w a y w e cook is d i f f e r e n t i n each situation: I t is d i f f e r e n t i f I am cooking i n my lovely cluttered kitchen or i f I am cooking at a friend's house i n a t i d y and spotless kitchen. I n m y cluttered kitchen, cooking is i m p r o v i s a t i o n a l and creative. A v a r i e t y of spoons and forks, d i f f e r e n t sizes of pots and pans, and scented jars and spices are scattered around to inspire always-changing recipes and culinary performances. Things have t h e i r "place," b u t t h e i r place is d i f f e r e n t than in m y friend's kitchen, and so are our ways of m a k i n g food.
The second i m p o r t a n t insight is that objects have an intimate relationship w i t h practice. They are n o t just tools, instruments to be used. They play an active role i n h o w a practice develops, h o w i t is p e r f o r m e d , and eventually h o w i t changes [Shove et al. 2012).
3^^^ PILLAR: CONSTELLATIONS
Objects, practices and values are not fixed. They m u t u a l l y influence and constitute each o t h e r
Let's consider the practice of r i d i n g a bike. We bike to t r a n s p o r t ourselves f r o m p o i n t A to p o i n t B. But w e also use our bikes f o r m o v i n g s t u f f to another house or f o r c a r r y i n g children to school. Riding a bike is bundled to
practices sucli as c o m m u t i n g , m o v i n g stuff, and c a r r y i n g c h i l d r e n i n ways that are c o n t i n u a l l y subject to change, as are practices themselves. H o w b i k i n g bundles to these practices depends on the c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h e bicycle and our perceptions of b i k i n g i n d i f f e r e n t places and under d i f f e r e n t circumstances.
Practices do n o t exist i n isolation. They emerge and develop t h r o u g h a c o n f i g u r a t i o n of elements, some of w h i c h [e.g., the same bike or the same value] may be p a r t o f o t h e r practices. These l i n k s are key to b o t h the c o n s o l i d a t i o n and the decline o f practices [Schatzki et al. 2 0 0 1 ] .
The last i m p o r t a n t insight is t h a t objects, practices, and values m u t u a l l y influence and constitute each other i n ways t h a t are n o t fixed [ N g 2 0 1 3 ] . 1 refer to this complex and dynamic w e b of elements as a constellation.
Design principles of commensurability
But h o w do w e m o b i l i z e these theoretical understandings? H o w do w e apply t h e m to the design o f t h e next
generation of interactive media?
I propose three design p r i n c i p l e s : create a r i c h texture of m a t e r i a l experiences, g r o u n d f l o w s i n the practices of everyday life, and m o b i l i z e practices and values w i t h i n arrangements t h a t are open-ended.
I w i l l explore and illustrate these p r i n c i p l e s t h r o u g h a series of design concepts and speculations. These explorations are the result of i d e a t i o n processes m o s t l y
i n f o r m e d by either ethnographic research or research-through-design methods. They a t t e m p t to investigate and mobilize materials, practices, and values as understood i n the theoretical pillars of design f o r c o m m e n s u r a b i l i t y discussed earlier
#1: CREATE A RICH T E X T U R E OF MATERIAL E X P E R I E N C E S
W h e n w e look at the w h i t t l e d counter of a coffee shop, we may notice h o w the varnish has flaked and chipped on the edge and h o w the wear and tear is more p r o m i n e n t r i g h t i n f r o n t o f t h e cash register Like our stone stairways, such a counter has the a b i l i t y to manifest the passing o f time. Its appearance has accumulated experience f r o m past activities, a n d — i n a quite h u m b l e w a y — i t tells us something about those activities. I t gives us a sense o f t h e social reality of the place.
N o w consider h o w the surface of y o u r smartphone communicates—notice its texture. I f I look at m y o w n iPhone, I can see little red bubbles float over m y app icons. They r e m i n d me of h o w many emails or notifications I have n o t read or, assuming I have s k i m m e d t h e m w i t h o u t opening them, tell me h o w many o f t h e m I d i d n o t have the t i m e to archive or to delete. This cognitive texture w o r k s quite d i f f e r e n t l y f r o m the subtle sense of social reality p r o v i d e d by the material fabric o f t h e counter
Creating a r i c h texture of material experiences means to b r i n g data and n e t w o r k e d connections closer to o u r b o d i l y ways of k n o w i n g and doing. This requires broadening the repertoire of materials and f o r m s used i n i n t e r a c t i o n design.
DESIGN EXPLORATION # 1
Personalized with strong sensorial and aesthetic qualities, everyday objects can begin to provide an additional texture for communication and interaction through a growing patina of readable codes and patterns entangled with digital data.
Chiocciola [snail in Italian] is a concept that emphasizes physical effort and expressivity in the production of material traces. Chioccola allows pictures of family moments around the kitchen table, or the laughs caught when the table was first used at a party, to be added to the object itself and in this way to become digitally accessible via a deliberate, repeated marking of important social moments.
