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

environments.– Includes devices such as music players, credit cards,

transit 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.