Use, Non-Use, and Appropriation of Large Non-Interactive Public Displays in Higher Education Contexts

Large Display Technologies (LDTs) are becoming common in public spaces, changing the way we engage and share media content. The end use of LDTs can range from broadcasting information feeds (e.g., news programming) to supporting users in manipulating on-screen content (e.g., an interactive building map). One use residing as a mid-point of this range are non-interactive LDTs with content and interaction driven by users’ own personal devices. LDTs of this type are associated with supportive furniture, connection ports, and the presence of network protocols. Potentially, users can carve out personalized activity spaces in public, allowing them to engage their digital content just as they would at home or at the office. We identify this specific use of LDTs as Publicly Appropriable LDTs (PALs). Stakeholders of PALs might understand what users need in regards to technology support and furniture, but may lack the means of evaluating the outcomes of said installation. Existing literature on LDTs do not provide frameworks on how PALs can support users’ activities. To solve these issues, we need to better understand how PALs are situated in context with respect to users and its surrounding environment. In this study, we conducted an evaluative study of a PAL installation at the College of Architecture (CoA) at Texas A&M University. The CoA’s installation of PALs consists of a set of 8 individual units dispersed across the three floors of its main academic building. Users varying from students to faculty members were interviewed and observed as they utilized these PALs in their daily practice. From this study we found three categories of findings. First, we saw how users appropriated PALs specifically to their activities. Our second finding centered on how the PALs’ displays transition in and out of active use during occupation and what this signifies as its role during use. Finally, we found that the surroundings of a PAL had space and place-based attributes that impacted users’ experience of PALs

The Absent Peer – Non-users in Social Interaction Design

This thesis aims to provide a framework for the consideration of non-users in the context of social interaction design (SxD), in particular for the design of social network sites (SNSs). It is based on the sociological perspective of symbolic interactionism. Positioning social interaction design as a practice within the discipline of interaction design, its goals are defined through a discussion on user value and worth-centred design. Existing research on the non-use of technologies is being reviewed and contextualised with SxD, coming to the conclusion that non-use is not a pathological state that needs to be corrected but a form of use that has to be accommodated by an SNS. The empirical research, presented as a diagnosis of the times, employs auto-ethnographic observations that are analysed applying an inductive Grounded Theory process. The emergent theory of “The Absent Peer” consists of two core concepts, presenting the network aspect and the sociality aspect that influence SNS concepts. Herein, the focus of the work is on the discovery of the impact of non-use rather than on its reasons. The theory is then set into relation with the practice of interaction design and a worth-centred model of value in HCI. Building on the insights from the study, this discussion presents the conceptual considerations required in order to create valuable SNS concepts that acknowledge non-use as a permanent and complex phenomenon of social reality

The Quest for the Room of Requirement - Why Some Activity-based Flexible Offices Work While Others Do Not

The overarching purpose of this thesis is to develop further knowledge of the consequences of relocating to Activity-based Flexible Offices (AFOs). As workspace design innovations, AFOs are increasingly implemented in organisations. AFOs comprise a variety of workspaces for employees to choose from depending on their preferences or activities. Workspaces in AFOs are shared, instead of every employee having their own desk. Research results are inconsistent regarding employee satisfaction with AFOs, and research into employees’ appropriation of AFOs and organisations’ processes of adopting AFOs is sparse. In response to these knowledge gaps, the thesis aims to explain why some AFOs work while others do not. The thesis builds on five case studies: (i) three cases with recently implemented AFOs, and (ii) two cases with AFOs implemented at least two years prior to the study. Data collection in all the case studies involved semi-structured interviews with employees and facility managers, observations and collection of secondary data such as process overviews, and layout drawings. For data collection and analysis, a theoretical framework was developed and used consisting of Activity Theory, artefact ecology, as well as theories of innovation adoption and appropriation. The findings show that individuals’ usage of AFOs varies considerably due to personal circumstances and work-related preconditions. Drawing on Activity Theory, three types of matches/mismatches were identified in employees’ activity systems: Employee ↔ AFO, Activity ↔ AFO, and Employee ↔ Activity. Furthermore, individuals’ usage preferences and non-preferences highlighted sub-optimal design features in the AFOs: (a) ambiguity and insufficient communication of rules; (b) undesirable ambient features; (c) exposure to stimuli; (d) difficult to interpret workspaces; and (e) dysfunctionality and insufficiency of the collective instruments. In summary, AFOs work in the absence of mismatches related to individuals’ personal and work-related preconditions and sub-optimal design features. The employees’ processes of appropriating AFOs involved first encounters, exploration, and stable phases, during which various types of adaptations occurred: (i) on an individual level: acquired insights, and behavioural, social and hedonic adaptations, as well as (ii) in the AFO solutions: rule-related, spatial and instrument adaptations. Furthermore, the AFO adoption process in organisations varied considerably.\ua0 Procedural shortcomings during the planning process led to a limited understanding of AFO users and thus the sub-optimal AFO designs, while shortcomings during the routinising stage involved restrictions on making post-relocation improvements in AFOs and inadequate Occupational Health & Safety management. To conclude, AFOs work provided (i) they match individuals’ personal circumstances and work-related preconditions; (ii) they facilitate flexibility and shared use of spaces through well-designed rules, workspaces and instruments; (iii) individuals’ appropriation processes reach a stable phase where mismatches are resolved and fruitful symbiosis is achieved in their activity systems; and (iv) the organisations’ process of adopting AFOs is successful both during the planning and the post-relocation routinising stages, leading to a collective sense of ownership among employees