Chronicling Portable Practices
Mimi Ito
Keio University
Presentation Overview
Introduction of methodological problematics Methods of self-documentation
– Mobile phone diary (paper)– Mobile kit diaries (paper, voice, moblog
database)– Longitudinal study/training of users
Methodological commitments
Adapting anthropology to behavior highly distributed and fragmented across time and place– Context as hybrid of “real” (physically local) and “virtual” (online
and remote)
Commitments to ethnographic focus on everyday action and local knowledge– Close “direct” observations of people’s activity in diverse locations
rather than reported usage– Interpreting qualitative details of user experience by analyzing
subjective reports (interviews) in relation to observational data
Research objects and methods
Social networks and groups– How do portable devices mediate different kinds of social
relationships?– Surveys of relational data, content analyses of communication
Locations and institutions– How do portable ICTs change the characteristics of public space,
the home, service areas, etc.?– Observations in specific social situations/locations
Person/device experience– How do portable devices mediate people’s experiences as they
move through time and space?– Shadowing and diary-based methods of self-documentation
Take 1: keitai diary study
24 users (12 high school and 12 college students) in Tokyo
3 phases– Pre-interview and methodological briefing– Diary keeping– Post interview
Take 1: keitai diaries
No.時間
[when]相手[who]
場所[where]
[communication type]
選択理由
[reason for choice]
周りにいた人
[people in vicinity]
問題があったか
[problems?]
内容[content]
1 10:29 友人 S 家 KV 彼氏 半分寝てた 飲み会キャンセル
2 12:19 母 家 KV 彼氏
3 15:13 友人 K 家 KM 彼氏 電話番号教えて
4 15:39 友人 K 家 KM 彼氏 すぐに返信できなかった 090-××× だよ
5 17:53 友人 M バス停 KM 通行人 飲み会確認
6 18:09 友人 M 電車 KM
安いし,電車の中だから
20 人位 電車が混んでいた これからゼミ飲み会
7 18:14 友人 M 電車 KM 〃 20 人位 〃
8 18:20 友人 M ホーム KV 5 人位
Take 1: reflections
Rich data on how keitai fits into individual’s life at an everyday level
Some data on relational content and locational experiences
Focus limited to single device
Take 2: mobile kit study
Not just the Keitai, but the whole range of portable objects in a “mobile kit”– People use mobile kits to interface with people and envi
ronments.– Includes devices such as music players, credit cards, tr
ansit cards, keys, and ID cards in addition to mobile phones
– Goal is to understand how portable devices construct and support an individual’s identity and activities, mediating relationships with people, places, and institutions.
Take 2: mobile kit study 3 major world cities: London, Los Angeles, and Tokyo
28 participants: Young professionals, 22-32, most unmarried, even M/F split
4 phases:
– Initial interview & tour of “mobile kit”
– Diary keeping (paper notes, voice memos, GPS moblogging)
– Shadowing for half a day
– Final interview & reflection on diary
Take 2: mobile kit inventory
Surprising similarities Calendar, wallet, keys, phone, reading/music Wallet for exchangeables, credentials, residues
London Diaries
Shadowing
Take 2: Reflections
Netted rich data on how object mediate everyday transactions, encounters, and displays in in-between places
Self-documenting on the fly requires very lightweight form of capture– London/LA almost always reflection
Different phases of study shed light on different dimensions of research question– Feelings, actions, objects, contexts, others
Training/briefing of participants more focused– Collaborators more than “subjects”
Take 3: Pedestrian computing
Current study: an evolution of mobile kit study 18 participants in Tokyo over 3 years - a
longitudinal study– Targeting heavy mobile user in life transitions: college
seniors, entrepreneurs, families with teenagers 5 layers repeated 4 times at 6 month intervals
– Pre-interview and mobile kit inventory– Self documentation with keitai diary– Self documentation with GPS moblog– Half-day shadowing– Post interview reflecting on diary and moblog
Take 3: Reflections
Developing relationships with people over time– Research collaborators rather than research subjects– Following life changes and changes in technology
profiles Following technology and infrastructure changes
over periods of rapid change– Growing pervasiveness of portable media devices– New digital cash and transit infrastructures
Ten old transportation prepaid cards with only a few yen remaining
Copyright (c) 2004 Impress Corporation
Conclusions
Mobile technologies can be useful tools in studying low profile behaviors– But we need better automation, seamless and quick
input and upload mechanisms Layering of different practice-based methods
– Observation, interviews, self-documentation, inventories
Participatory research - our participants are our research assistants– Self-documentation as a native practice in many
settings. We can leverage this.