Investigation 1 - Warmup Exercise
Spooky User Research
Brief and Goals
In this module, we’ll consider how the complexity of distributed, smart, and connected systems challenges explainability, but also provides a resource for critical design. In this exercise you’ll take cues from the work of Graham Dove & Anne-Laure Fayard, and explore the how the supernatural can be useful metaphor to examine how people understand and intrepret everyday systems. The authors note:
“Research into ML often focuses on explaining algorithmic decision-making or making it more transparent to users. However, transparency and explanations have limitations … Monsters are to be feared, but also are generative spaces, places to question, wrestle with uncertainty, resist easy classifications, name power.”
Graham Dove and Anne-Laure Fayard. 2020. Monsters, Metaphors, and Machine Learning. In Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ‘20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1–17. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376275
In this study, “Monsters, Metaphors, and Machine Learning”, the authors developed a hands-on workshop to materialize questions posed by machine learning. They introduced a series of ‘monster cards’ (see above) to help encourage reflection on designing with machine learning. Each monster is related through a brief description to an aspect of machine learning’s uncertainty and processes. Using this, participants map out their assumptions and concerns about these processes and later materialize them as a monster using everyday materials.
As part of this exercise, you’ll explore questions of uncertaintly around systems, first-hand, and the value of ‘spookiness’ as a metaphorical approach by adapting/repeating the exercise yourself.
Brief: Drawing on the examples introduced in class, work with someone to examine an everyday technology of the smart and connected home. Use the supernatural or superstitious metaphor to help this exploration. Prepare a materialization or diagram their mental models.
Note This is a warmup exercise and you should spend around 2 hours on this exercise.
Note We’re still in COVID land. This project is to be completed remotely / safely and social distanced!
Learning Objectives
As part of this exercise you will be asked to:
- Develop your awareness of the challenges surrounding complexity and expalinability in everyday systems and processes;
- Explore the kinds of interpretations and beliefs that form around everyday technologies through light-weight user research; and
- Examine the affordances of a ‘spooky’ or otherworldly lens on everyday technology.
Deliverables
You are asked to deliver three things for this warm up exercise:
- Mental Model or Materialization: Delivered with digital documentation (photographs, sketches, etc.) on Slack or bring to class
- Narrative: A short description of the manner in which you approached the project, the process you followed and the strategies you used.
- Reflection: A reflection on outcome, and comparision to findings of the Petrelli paper discussed in class.
The narrative and reflection should be approx 150-200 words (max.)
Share your outcomes as a post on the #projects channel of on Slack.