Geneology and Landscape of Personal Possessions

Rayamajhi, Rickles, Tang, Wisneski

People-centered ApproachThe research team met on March 25th to ideate on the context of the study. The research team wanted to target a user group for this assignment to better gain a contextual understanding when analyzing the genealogy and landscape of the participant’s possessions. By understanding the context and building a concrete foundation for analysis, the research team can gain empathy for the user group and create meaningful designs that evoke a people-centered design perspective by employing people within the problem space.

Understanding the Context The context for this project is to understand the artifacts and how they are used by an aspiring musician. How are the musician’s possessions utilized? Do these objects compete with each other and in what ways? How are non digital artifacts utilized versus digital ones? Are these digital and non-digital artifacts harmoniously utilized in the user’s lifestyle? How do they fit together or do they compete with each other? We chose the Jacob School of Music for our field work and observed the location of the Music Annex where musicians are in flux finding practice rooms, meeting with their instructors, and returning equipment rentals. By understanding the participant’s relationship with their artifacts we can develop a holistic understanding of the artifact and how it can be transformed based on the user’s needs, other artifacts, and the space that it takes up.

Selecting the ParticipantWe located a participant who was in the middle of returning a french horn to an equipment locker in the Music Annex. The participant is a female music major at Indiana University in her first year of study. She is from the Indianapolis area. Her concentration is on vocal performance with an emphasis on musicals. She is active in the vocal performance community and is partaking in many student groups like the Singing Hoosiers, and the University Players which puts on musicals.

Documentation and Possession AnalysisThe research documented via field notes and photographs. The team asked the participant to remove the entire contents of her backpack and place them on a long shelving in the Music Annex by a window. While removing each artifact, the participant was asked to discuss the significance of the artifacts that were removed. Questions about the participant’s connections with items both emotionally and physically were asked. The participant would describe where she got the item and how she uses the item. Questions about where the item was in location to other items and where she stores it in her backpack were also answered.

Once all of the items were laid out, the design team converged on questions about what memories those objects evoked for the participant. When first asked if any of the artifacts were sentimental to the participant, she did not acknowledge any of the items. In fact, she said her laptop was the most important to her because of writing papers. But upon further questioning, she related memories of her brother helping her choose the laptop as well and that she uses the laptop for singing and music accompaniment. The wallet was another item that seemed insignificant but later upon further digging, became a sentimental reminder to the participant about her show choir teacher.

Study Process

What We Have DoneAs previously stated, the participant was asked to empty her backpack and to put all her things upon a windowsill. The research team conducted a contextual interview as she did so to discover more about how the objects fit into her material landscape and to identify which two items to perform a genealogical analysis on. Once those two items were identified, her wallet and her macbook, we proceeded to inquire further about these items.

Material LandscapeOur participant carries a lot of items in her backpack, with good reason. She lives across campus and further explained: “Usually I have class begin in 8 [AM] until 5 [PM] . I only have one hour break. And after that I usually have to rehearse from 6:30 [PM] to 11:30 [PM] ”. The contents of our participant’s backpack were a mix of the essential things that she expects to use all day long in order to not trek back to her dormitory.

As we watched our participant remove items from her backpack, we noticed she had an innate heuristic to how she organizes her things due to the size and shape of the backpack’s compartments. This observation was later confirmed by our participant. For example, the largest, most padded compartment had room for something flat to slide into, so she used it for her laptop. One of the mesh side pockets was torn, so she indicated that she “would not use it for pens” or other small accessories, rather, she used it for her large water bottle which would not fall out of the smaller hole.

Aside from her compartmental heuristics, we noticed some subject matter groupings of objects in our participant’s material landscape. Books are compartmentalized together, notebooks are color coordinated with folders which are in a compartment together, and her pencil case and smaller items are in a smaller compartment together. Here are some objects that helped her divide up these sub-organizational groupings in her backpack that form cooperative systems:

• Folders: As a music major, she carried a lot of printed music. She prefers this to just looking on her computer. She has pages grouped in folders that pertain to classes or activities.

• Notebooks: She noted that she does not take notes on her computer during class, so she has several spiral notebooks for this purpose.

• Pencil Case: This pencil case holds pens and pencils that she does not want to freely float within her backpack.

• Retainer Case: She was reluctant to show us the contents of this case because of the natural layer of scum that had formed (but as diligent field researchers, she finally digressed). She typically does not carry around her retainer, however she was studying later in her friends room and brought it along. The case is necessary to keep as much bacteria as possible from coming in contact with the device, as well as keeping the retainer from wear and tear.

Backpack

Many of her smaller accessories had formed an interesting, symbiotic relationship because they were literally tangled together on their own. Her wallet, ear-buds, and keys were intertwined together because they are kept in the same compartment. We asked how these items ended up in a compartment together and our participant informed us that she often removes these items when she goes out without a backpack. They are her essential items that she needs for monetary transactions, getting into her dorm room, etc and she will often remove them from her backpack and place into a jacket pocket or a purse. These artifacts are independent and often compete for real estate in her purse, becoming entangled; however, they are cooperative in aiding our participant in her daily life.

Along with the retainer, there are two other items that the participant does not regularly carry. A lip balm and a tube of concealer were in her purse due to weather and the potential of impromptu photoshoots. Our participant explained that as a music student, she might have to take promotional photographs at a moments notice. She is often prepared with a few low maintenance items to make herself up quickly. The lip balm and concealer are categorically similar, but would be used independently.

Color also played a role in the landscape of our participant’s items. It is clear that she likes blue, green, and cool colors very much. Her backpack, retainer case, water bottle, computer case, and even her chewing gum all adhere to this color scheme. She also noted that her notebooks and folders are color coordinated per class or activity. We did not dig deep on the logistics of how her color coordination works, but it can be assumed this schema helps our participant form a cooperative system to do better in her course work.

As far as her digital devices go, she had a macbook and an iphone. She did not have a recorder, as many musicians might have, but noted she is able to use her iphone as such. The ear-buds in the bag are used for her iphone, when on the go, and in her computer for other occasions. The computer, iphone, and ear-buds are all made by Apple and form a cooperative system for interactions. The iphone can connect with the computer through a wireless connection or through a usb cord (also present), and the earbuds can work cooperatively with both digital objects, or independently in another device with a headphone input.

In the next section we will conduct a genealogical analysis of two items of interest in our subject’s bag.

Wallet Geneological AnalysisThe user’s Coach wallet was a gift from her high school choir teacher. The gift was given to her at the end of her senior year (May 2013, it has been in her possession almost 1 year) because she was a co-president in the show choir. She uses it as a hub for her important tangible possessions. It houses money, credit cards, and her student ID which acts as a room key, library card, “Campus Access” debit card. It also has a key ring which holds her keys, frequent buyer cards, and is hooked to a lanyard so she can wear it around her neck. Our user noted that the wallet was expensive and she would have never bought it for herself.

The pink color of the wallet genders it female, by heteronormative standards. A wallet is something that is made to be used and the wear on the edges of our participant’s wallet shows that she frequently interacts with the item. One could infer that it is something she touches multiple times per day and if it were lost, she would need to find it in order for her life to function. As stated in the landscape analysis, our participant’s Apple earbuds are tangled around the wallet. These two items have nothing to do with one another and they are in a forced symbiotic storage relationship until she decides to release them.

On an intangible level, the wallet makes our participant think of her choir teacher, whom she thinks fondly of. This memory is far less frequent than her use of the wallet, however. The wallet has become essential and ubiquitous as a home for important objects to keep her life functioning. Our very enthused participant smiled (even bigger than she did for the entire study) and gazed up to the ceiling when she said “Ms. Weebly gave it to me!”. This wallet is not only important as a daily use item, but as a sentimental item; one that she will use for many years and have trouble parting with whenever the fine designer leather gives out.

Computer Geneological AnalysisThe subject carries an Apple Macbook Pro. This is the first laptop the subject has ever owned. Her parents bought it for her in August 2013 as part of graduating high school and moving on to college.

The subject commented that she’s not very comfortable with the computer but she does know how to use Microsoft Word. Her brother was very important in picking the model and she recalled a story about him in the Apple Store helping with transferring data across phones. It’s clear that she associates her technologically inclined brother with the laptop.

The green case was bought for the color rather than to protect her laptop. The green matches other possessions such as her retainer case and her backpack. She admitted green is one of her favorite colors and certainly shows in her possessions and color schemes that recur throughout her backpack.

Primarily the laptop is used for class notes and papers. She commented that she doesn’t like to read sheet music on the laptop but she does use YouTube to find accompaniment music for practice.

Geneological Analysis

From Tangible to DigitalOur participant’s tangible belongings were a blend of the physically and digitally inclined objects. As a vocal performance major, digital resources can help our participant prepare for physical performances, but sometimes analogue resources were preferred. The two items we analyzed, her wallet and her macbook, speak to the hybrid nature (digital and physical) of her possessions. The computer acts as an access point to the online world, she carries it around in her bag to have access to the internet. The wallet holds her credit cards and student id, which are tangible items that wire money or let her into her dorm room through digital technologies. She cares for certain things over others, has a busy schedule, and owns many items with access to the internet, so it can be assumed that her digital possessions are used for cognitive offloading as well as social purposes.

One scenario that might explore the hybridity across the landscape of our participant’s tangible and digital possessions would be the experience of her vocal lessons. Our participant meets with a vocal coach multiple times per week. When she is assigned a piece of music to learn, she goes to the music library, finds the sheet music, scans it, and prints it out. To practice the piece, she might use her computer to go onto YouTube and find a musical accompaniment. The internet’s access to free-to-use resources helps her become a better vocalist. When she goes to her lesson, she can record her voice on her iPhone so she can listen to it later, possibly with her headphones. These files can be moved off her phone and onto her computer to store. When she is ready for a performance, she might use her Facebook profile to invite her friends and family to the event, she might even tweet details to them. After the performance, people in the audience could tag photos and videos of her online.

In conclusion, people live in the physical world. Items we love show wear with time and use. Our digital possessions fit into our physical lives either to aid us by doing things out of our human capabilities, connect us on a larger scale than anything physically possible, or entertain us with games and alternate universes. Our digital items, such as Facebook, don’t show wear with time, but grow more robust and sustain deeper, more meaningful interactions as time goes on. The user is typically in control of the digital landscape, aside from losing her password or being hacked. Someone stealing her wallet in her physical life would have a deeper impact, but she could get online, shut down her credit cards and mend the pieces back together. Our participant is a prime example of millennial girl who is deeply rooted in both digital and physical spaces.

Through the genealogy and landscape analysis, we explored the relationship between the artifacts and their owners. We observed how the objects carry meaning in the landscape of the backpack from how she stores the artifacts to why she picked out the colors of the artifacts. Even if our participant does not consciously think about it, she has chosen the artifacts in her possession and they all have stories and purpose. This is exemplified in the two items we performed genealogical analyses on. Her computer and wallet both have rich stories that extend beyond the meaning of their form.

A physical examination of objects along with an interview with the participant contribute to a rich understanding of their physical, social, and cultural contexts. Genealogical analysis helps us understand the history behind the artifacts beyond their intended function. It uncovers the side of the object that simple artifact analysis can hardly reveal, which helped us come up with more insights into how objects can be used and manipulated to suit their needs. People use objects beyond their intended functions, they embed a part of themselves into the artifact, and our goal is to uncover those hidden imprints of the user and design objects with this in mind. This people-centered approach allows us to look beyond the artifact and find ways to design new meanings and embed more of the user into the artifact.

A limitation to this method is that discovering the participant’s deeper feelings about the artifacts takes a lot of time and probing. When we first asked our participant which items carry sentimental value, she did not think any of the artifacts did. We had to dig deeper to get those very embedded, but significant details.

By utilizing genealogy and landscape analysis along with other types of methods we can collect rich data for synthesis and form strong concepts from the insights obtained. For example, a contextual inquiry into how the artifacts are used can give us a richer understanding of the artifacts. Interview questions can jog the participant’s memory. By understanding the role that artifacts play in users’ lives, the design teams can be inspired to create responsive products and systems based on true needs and values.

Reflection