Computing and Information Systems - Theses
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ItemDesigning video-mediated technologies to cultivate indigenous knowledge over distance( 2017)Technology design influences what users know about the world, and how they construct that knowledge. This is especially true for technologies that underlie the communication and representation of information and knowledge. Relatedly, how designers understand and prioritise certain ways of knowing over others influences how technologies are designed for people within a given context. From these premises, this thesis investigates how video-mediated technologies may be designed to support transnationals in cultivating the indigenous knowledge (IK) of their homeland, while they live elsewhere in the world. Through three field studies between Australia and Kenya, this thesis investigates how digital technologies currently used by indigenous members support or alienate the cultivation of IK, and how the design of video-mediated communication technologies in particular can be grounded in indigenous ways of knowing. In Study 1, I conduct field interviews with 8 Kenyan transnationals in Melbourne, Australia about the practice of their indigenous culture while in the diaspora, and the role that current digital technologies play in supporting them to do so. Next in Study 2, I travel to Kenya to conduct a field study of 10 video-mediated sessions between rural elders and remotely-located youth. Based on findings from Study 1 and Study 2, I generate design themes that guide the design and evaluation of Study 3. Here, I investigate the use of the new medium of 360º video-conferencing to connect learners of indigenous knowledge in Australia, with elders in rural Kenya. Through findings from these studies, this thesis makes three contributions to technology research on indigenous knowledge. First, I propose a People-Place-Praxis lens as a productive conceptual framework in which to design for IK. The lens facilitates an understanding that aligns with indigenous ways of knowing; and motivates technology design in ways that support indigenous knowledge. Secondly, I demonstrate a way by which epicentres of indigenous knowledge can be extended through use of custom video-mediated sessions. This thesis makes explicit the need to design effective deployments of the technology, that is to design what I call ViMik sessions to effectively facilitate learners in the diaspora to cultivating IK from indigenous epicentres. Lastly, this thesis extends knowledge on how to enhance the experience of ViMik sessions for learners, over distance. The approach involves supporting an individual-yet-communal experience of the ViMik session, and mediating a sense of mobility for the learners at the remote indigenous location. This thesis concludes with opportunities for future research in this area.
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ItemUnderstanding the role of technology in supporting parent–child reunion( 2017)Parent–child reunion is one of the most prevalent yet less explored areas of family life. During reunions, parents and children can strengthen their bonds and reaffirm their ties. Earlier works on Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) have highlighted the value of digital technologies in supporting the parent–child relationship during physical separation or collocation, but little work has focused on parent–child reunion. This thesis investigates the role of digital technology in supporting a specific type of parent– child reunion: a reunion following separation for work-related reasons that has a pre-, upon and post-phase. This investigation was conducted with the participation of three types of families: academic, defence and mining. This thesis presents three studies that examined the role of digital technologies in supporting parent–child reunion. The first study focused on technological shortcomings of current technology use in parent–child reunion. This study found that current technologies lack certain elements of support during the anticipation to reunite in prereunion, the initial engagement upon reunion and the sharing of experiences in postreunion. The second study identified the interactional qualities of digital technologies that aim to support parent–child reunion that led to the design of Rendezvous—the first reunion-oriented artefact. The insights from this study emphasised the importance of stimulating co-creation in pre-reunion, motivating co-engagement upon reunion and inspiring co-sharing in post-reunion. The third study evaluated Rendezvous through its field deployment with the participation of academic and mining families. The findings demonstrated the significance of Rendezvous in supporting parent–child reunion by augmenting the anticipation to reunite in pre-reunion, heightening the initial engagement upon reunion and strengthening the experience of sharing in post-reunion. The knowledge generated by this thesis has three main contributions. First, it uncovers the necessity for digital technologies to support parent–child reunion by focusing on the anticipation in pre-reunion, the engagement upon reunion and the sharing of experiences in post-reunion. Second, the thesis calls attention to the merit of asynchronous technologies in supporting parent–child reunion. Finally, it expands the current knowledge by highlighting materiality and temporality as key design considerations for reunion-oriented technologies.
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ItemDesigning digital memorials: commemorating the Black Saturday Bushfires( 2015)Digital memorials are novel technologies used for commemorative purposes. There is a growing interest in their design amongst HCI researchers. Existing studies focus on commemorating deceased loved ones, where personal and familial remembrance is emphasised. However, there are fewer examples where digital memorials play a wider social and cultural role. Commemorating a war, terrorist attack, natural disaster or death of somebody of special significance such as a leader or even celebrity, are examples where commemoration extends beyond the personal and familial, and into broader social contexts. In these instances, it is likely that large numbers of people may wish to participate, from those with deeply personal reasons, to others with only a passing interest. This thesis examines the design of digital memorials for use in contexts where these diverse audiences come together in commemoration. This thesis presents three studies, in which commemoration following the Black Saturday bushfires was used as the setting for the research. The fires occurred in 2009 in Victoria, Australia. Asides the devastation caused to the natural environment, there were 173 fatalities and massive destruction caused to homes and other infrastructure. The first study was an exploratory study examining how people commemorated Black Saturday within the first two years after the fires. The findings extend current understandings of commemoration using technology by showing similarities between how people engage with physical and web-based memorials. The second study involved participants in fire-affected communities who were asked to generate design ideas for digital memorials to commemorate Black Saturday. The study contributed a novel craft-based approach to designing technology in the commemorative context. For the third study, a digital memorial was developed that included a website and internet-connected tablet computer app to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the fires. This technology was designed for both those within the fire-affected communities and those outside. The findings report on an evaluation of the experiences of those who engaged with the digital memorial. Selected findings from the three thesis studies are expressed as a set of five design considerations intended for future designers and researchers interested in digital memorials. These are: privacy, control and context collapse; considerations for symbolism and metaphoric representations; utilising physical locations; having sensitivity towards temporal patterns; and, designing for pace and asynchronicity.
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ItemAudience experience in domestic videogaming( 2014)Videogames are frequently played socially, but not all participants actively play. Audience members observe gameplay, often participating and experiencing the game indirectly. While the existence of non-playing audience members has been previously acknowledged, there have been few attempts to understand what activities audience members engage in while watching videogames, or how their experience is affected by different aspects of the game and social situation. This thesis presents the first substantial body of empirical work on audience behaviour and experience in social videogaming sessions. Existing work was reviewed in a number of areas of literp.ature including the sociality of gameplay, the increasing role of physicality and physical actions in gameplay, and the role of audiences in HCI. Three studies were then conducted based on the research question: How do the sociality and physicality of videogaming sessions influence audience experience? An initial exploratory observational study (N = 6 families) examined the types of activities that audiences engage in while watching highly physical videogames in their homes. This study indicated that audience members can adopt a variety of ephemeral roles that provide them with opportunities to interact with one another, the players, and the game technology. Additionally, participants reported that the physicality of the gameplay heavily influenced their experience. The second study, a naturalistic experimental study (N = 134) consisted of a mixed-model analysis of the factors of game physicality and turn anticipation. Study 2 found that anticipation of a turn affects experience of both audience and player, and similarly found that highly physical games result in more positive audience experiences, although the relationship between physicality and experience is not straightforward. A third study, also an experiment (N = 24), examined the influence of game physicality and visual attention on audience experience within a mediated setting, and a cross-study comparison identified that there appears to be a strong interplay between social context and the experience of physicality. Overall, this thesis contributes an understanding of how sociality, physicality, and the interplay between the two can influence audience behaviour and experience. These findings can be used to inform the design of novel game and interactive experiences that incorporate physicality, turn anticipation, and opportunities for different types of participation in order to influence and enhance audience experience.