IMD Ethnography

Introduction

For many of our masters students industry will be their intended final destination, but some may choose to stay on at Dundee and undertake doctoral studies. The MSc in Design Ethnography provides an excellent preparation for this, and we already have a growing cohort of research students engaging with these areas. Their projects give a flavour of some of the directions we are committed to growing here at Dundee University.

Graeme Coleman

Key Words

Interaction design, auditory interfaces, sound design, ethnographic methods 

PhD Student, Interactive Design Lab

My research interests are within the design of sound for contemporary interactive technologies and, in particular, the challenges involved in designing sounds for technology which no longer fit the traditional desktop metaphor, but which are becoming increasingly mobile and ubiquitous. In particular, I am interested in widening the scope of traditional research in this area, which is predominately concerned with cognitive aspects such as how we hear and how long it takes us to respond to certain sounds, to considering the meaning we give to the sounds we hear in our everyday lives, ways in this information can be collected, and how this information could be presented in a way that could be useful as a means of providing designers with useful insights into designing sounds for certain technologies within certain contexts. As part of this research, I carried out a field study with  computer game sound designers, using a variety of methods such as interviewing, observation and online data collection, to understand the role the sound designer plays within the design of computer games and whether this offers useful insights in those designing sounds for more general interactive technologies.

Project Title (TBC)

“Exploring the potential for applying the concepts of acoustic communication within the context of interaction design” 

Contact Details

Tel Ext 85820
Email gcoleman@computing.dundee.ac.uk

http://www.computing.dundee.ac.uk/acstaff/gcoleman 

Scott Loynton

Key Words

Interaction design, auditory interfaces, sound design, ethnographic methods 

Electronic Laboratory book, e-lab book, Workplace studies, Ethnography, Paperless Laboratory

PhD Student, Interactive Design Lab

How can technology be designed to allow for both an engaging and seamless interaction? My interests are with the ways in which design ethnography along with other methods can allow and be developed for this. My PhD is being conducted under the  Usable Image project, a 3 year EPSRC funded project to improve the usability of imaging software for molecular cell biologists. These scientists generate huge quantities of images of cellular processes using a variety of different kinds of microscopy system. However until recently storing, managing and using that data has been difficult and inefficient. The Usable Image project is working in collaboration with a team of scientists and developers on a suite of applications called OMERO which aim to tackle that design problem. 

My work is questioning how cell biology scientists use their laboratory book, a document which scientists use to write and record their experiments. The work aims to build an understanding of why an electronic version of a laboratory book has still not yet been widely adopted – despite numerous efforts to do so.

My initial research has involved questioning how scientists use their paper laboratory books, and investigating the existing work and literature on electronic laboratory books. With the insight and understanding gained from this my aim is to redefine the design and concept of the electronic laboratory book.  I also hope this work will contribute to our understanding of how the use of ethnography may be applied strategically to design of future E-Science applications.    

Project Title

Usable Image E-Lab book  

Contact Details

Tel Ext -  +44 (0)1382 385820

Email -  scottloynton@computing.dundee.ac.uk

www.computing.dundee.ac.uk/ac_staff/

Debbie Maxwell

Key Words

Orality, oral culture, literacy, literate culture, post-literacy, ethnography, storytelling, stories, design ethnography

PhD Student, Interactive Design Lab

My research interests lie in the interdisciplinary area between design and computing, and in the social aspects and applications of technology. Our literate and visual mindsets dominate the way we create and design. Yet oral stories are universal and help us define ourselves, our communities, and our very environment. Research suggests that we are moving towards a new oral culture or ‘secondary orality’, shifting away from textual dominance (think YouTube, SMS, MySpace). It is the extent of the overlap between secondary orality and traditional oral culture which forms the focus of my PhD research.

My research has so far examined what is implied by orality and oral culture and conversely, literacy and literate culture. I am currently working with traditional storytellers in Scotland (mainly through the Dundee Storytelling Group - http://www.dundee-storytelling.org.uk) using ethnography and by establishing myself as a gatekeeper through involvement in the creation of the group.

One aim of my research is to discover the immersive qualities of professional storytelling (viewed as a facet of oral culture embedded in a literate society) through a series of participatory design workshops; investigating what makes storytelling such a participative experience for the listener (“there are ears that have the power to open mouths”).

In terms of future research, I am interested in the performance element of storytelling, the differences between reading and telling (e.g. the polarised examples of contemporary poetry and traditional storytelling) and the importance of the medium of transmission, e.g. face-to-face or through a virtual environment.

Project Title

Transposition of Storytelling into eCulture 

Contact Details

Email d.maxwell@dundee.ac.uk

www.idl.dundee.ac.uk/~debbiem