The Customers of the future program for 2001, expanded significantly through a partnership between Novell Australia and the University of Melbourne, was based on a set of three empirical studies with young people aged 16 – 22, appropriating new technology and developing techniques for envisioning requirements to design information and communication technologies (ICT’s).
The objective of the program was to support innovation and invention of future technology through understanding and modelling the needs and behaviour of young people using technology in the context of social and leisure activities. The program was divided into three distinct stages – modelling appropriation or uptake of technology – validating the appropriation model – and creating a technique based on ‘acting out’ the us of technology with low fidelity props to envision or innovate requirements for new technology.
The first stage benchmarked and modelled appropriation and current use of ICT’s using techniques such as focus groups, ethnography and self-reporting used to collect data. The second stage tested the model by trialling the appropriation of a relatively new technology with the same group of young people. The third stage investigated a new technique to elicit requirements for the design of new technology. Firstly a panel of ‘experts’ was convened to discuss anticipated form factors of the future. Next a process of scenario based, participatory design enactment was conducted with actors. Academic and industry papers, reports and media releases from this work is presented in this website.
 
Detailed Description
Stage 1 – Benchmarking and modelling
Methodology
The benchmarking study was conducted over four weeks and data collected through a combination of ethnographic and marketing techniques such as contextual observation, focus groups and self-reporting diaries (scrap books & throw away cameras). The data was triangulated to validate the findings.
Four groups consisting of a total of 34 young men and women were set up in Melbourne and Sydney during March 2001. The young people were recruited from a broad cross section of socio economics and on the basis that they had access to a mobile phone and their own e-mail address.
Initial sessions of focus groups and self completion questionnaires were held to establish young people’s perceived use of ICTs. This was followed by a longitudinal study of their ICT usage, including self reporting on-line diaries, and a multi media scrap book to record thoughts, pictures and ideas. Ethnographic based observations were also conducted with a number of Melbourne respondents. A second session of focus groups was conducted in May. These were used to revisit the findings and gain a greater depth of understanding of the issues developing from the initial stages.
Key Findings
The major findings were the criteria associated with the appropriation of technology by these young people and, in particular, three higher order social factors – identity, power and fragmentation were defined as having a significant impact in the on-going use of technology.
A model was proposed to represent the uptake and on-going use of technology. This technology ‘appropriation’ model expressed the transformation of technology-as-designed (envisaged by the designer) into technology-in-use (ongoing use). The model described three possible outcomes for the technology as the transformation takes place:
|
|
|
 |
Non-appropriation - users reject technology-as-designed before use. |
|
|
Disappropriation - users evaluate then take up and trial technology-as-designed but reject it after limited use. |
|
|
Appropriation - users evaluate, take up and trial technology-as-designed and commence a cycle of usage and adoption labelled technology-in-use. |
|
At each stage criteria were defined as contributing to the uptake or rejection of the technology. The model with each of the stages, outcomes and criteria can be found in the publications section of this website.
Stage 2 – Validating the model
Methodology
Having created an understanding of technology appropriation, stage two set out to validate the model by providing groups of young people with state-of-the-art mobile devices and collecting data on their usage over a sustained period. The study examined 30 young people, evenly divided between males and females, located in Sydney and Melbourne, and aged between 16 and 22 years. Multiple data collection techniques were used similar to those used in stage one of the 2001 program.
Each young person was provided with a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) enabled mobile phone for one month all expenses paid, in place of their usual phone providing they would allow the researchers to collect data from the use of the phones using various methods. Kyocera supplied the devices and Telstra covered the cost of the airtime on the CDMA network. Data was gathered using a number of different techniques and triangulated to strengthen the validity of the results.
Key Findings
The study validated the appropriation model confirming the criteria for uptake and showing overwhelmingly that irrespective of cost – the phones were free – factors such as usability were major determinants in the uptake or appropriation of the technology. The data also revealed novel uses of features such as using the speakerphone facility for ‘prank’ calls between groups of friends, thus illustrating how young people shaped the technology to their specific needs and desires.
Stage 3 – Envisioning requirements through enactment
Methodology
Stage three of the program focused on developing a method for innovating or inventing future technology based on user needs.
Initially, an expert panel with members from industry and research involved in emerging mobile technology convened to discuss expectations for future inventions and in particular the form that new technology over the next one, three and five years might take.
Then, situations of real life use derived from Stages 1 and 2 were described in which technology could be envisioned. Finally, the situations were turned into ‘stage directions’ and acted out as scenarios combining people with expected future forms of technology in the situations of use. The form factors consisted of very low fidelity objects that could be worn or carried. The enactment was held in late October using a professional director and the services of two professional actors. The enactments were ‘performed’ in the Australian Melbourne Novell office converted into a film ‘studio’ and also in-situ. Professional actors were used to take advantage of their training in applied creativity to act out an impromptu part in a given situation with a form factor.
The researchers worked with actors, acting out scenarios, iteratively changing constraints and developing the technique to define requirements for situations of use.
Key Findings
‘Acting out’ shows promise as a technique to support envisioning new technology. There are various advantages and challenges associated with using professional actors to enact the scenarios. The enactment tapes were analysed extensively and a number of papers and presentations have been produced to describe and develop the technique. These have been presented in various national and international forums. Information regarding these may be found in the publications sections of this web site.
|
