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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Designing Collaborative Systems that Support Social Behavior
Thomas EricksonSocial Computing Group
IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
SBSC, WebMedia, SBBD, SBESFortaleza, October 5-7, 2009
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Introduction
Outline of the talk• A Social Perspective
• The Face to Face World
• A Design Approach
• Examples
• Closing Remarks
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Social Perspective
A tale of two doors• A Problem:
A door opens into a hallway; opened too quickly it can slam into those on the other side.
• Two sorts of solutions…
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Social Perspective
A tale of two doors• Solution 1: A sign
“Open Door Slowly”
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Social Perspective
A tale of two doors• Solution 2: A window
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Social Perspective
A tale of two doors• Solution 2: A window
• Why It Works
Visibility produces awareness: Movement and faces engage our attention in a way that text does not
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Social Perspective
A tale of two doors• Solution 2: A window
• Why It Works
Visibility produces awareness: Movement and faces engage our attention in a way that text does not
Awareness triggers social norms: I know that you’re there, and therefore social rules or norms come into play
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Social Perspective
A tale of two doors• Solution 2: A window
• Why It Works
Visibility produces awareness: Movement and faces engage our attention in a way that text does not
Awareness triggers social norms: I know that you’re there, and therefore social rules or norms come into play
Mutual visibility triggers accountability: I know that you know that I know,and therefore I am responsible to you
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Social Perspective
A tale of two doors• Solution 2: A window
• Side Effect
Reinforcement of norms: The very act of doing the ‘dance’ at the doorway reinforces the social norms
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Social Perspective
The morals of this story• Many problems can be solved either
by technical means or social means
• And the design of a system can facilitate or inhibit social solutions
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
What can we learn from looking at social behavior in face to face interactions?
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Latour and the missing mass(es)• A physics problem:
The universe is not flying apart as quickly as expected…
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Latour and the missing mass(es)• A sociological problem:
People’s interactions are not nearly so random as might be expected
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Latour and the missing mass(es)• Artifacts and environments play
critical roles in shaping behavior
• The metaphor of social structures as being under a dynamic tension, ready to fly apart except for a web of social forces which binds it together
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Face to Face Interaction
Latour and the missing mass(es)• The masses are missing, or at
least diminished, in the online world
• Online interaction is easily disrupted: it tends towards drift, dissolution and disorder
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Face to Face Interaction
Norms• As we saw in the tale of two
doors, social norms are one way in which human human interaction is structured
There are lots of examples
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Social norms in action• Lining up for at parade
- change in paving
- position of other spectators (and marchers)
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Social norms in action• Walking on a path
- paved paths and signs
- other walkers staying on path
Note that the cues are reinforcing behavior, not forcing it...
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Social norms in action• Waiting in a queue
- poles and ribbons
- the other people in the queue
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Social norms in action• Waiting for the light to change
- painted crosswalk, crossing lights
- crowd of people waiting
• Note that a person crossing against the light can trigger everyone to do likewise
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Two claims• Face to face interaction is
supported by social norms
• And social norms are supported by visible cues, which include
- cues embedded in the environment
- and behavioral cues from people
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
It’s not all norms, though• Our collective behavior is also influenced by social forces
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Social forces• Curiosity (and ‘meta-curiosity’)
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Social forces• Triangulation
(when an object or event pulls strangers into conversation)
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Social forces• Imitation
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Social forces• Peer Pressure
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Social forces• Competition
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Social forces• Herding
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
The Face to Face World
Many social factors combine to order our collective behavior• voluntary adherence to norms
• accountability to others
• curiosity
• triangulation
• imitation
• peer pressure
• competition
• herding
Photo © 2004 Project for Public Spaces, Inc. www.pps.org
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
How do we apply these observations of face to face interaction to digital systems?
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
A social proxy• A social proxy is a minimalist
graphical representations that make people and their activities more visible
An example for a multi-room text-based chat system. . .
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
A social proxy• A conversation is represented by a circle
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
A social proxy• People are represented by colored
dots
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
A social proxy• People in the ‘current’
conversation are shown inside the circle...
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
A social proxy• People in other conversations are
shown outside the circle
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
A social proxy• When a person is ‘active’ in the
chat (types, clicks or moves the mouse), their dot moves towards the center of the circle...
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
A social proxy• So an active conversation in
which lots of people are speaking or listening looks something like this
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
A social proxy• As a person is idle, their dot slowly drifts outward
(over the course of about twenty minutes)
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
A social proxy• An inactive conversation (but one
in which people are still ‘around’) looks something like this
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
The Babble system• The social proxy was
implemented as part of the Babble system, a persistent chat application
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
The Babble system• The social proxy was
implemented as part of the Babble system, a persistent chat application
• There was also an asynchronousproxy that showed the last week of activity
Sleepzone
Morning in Europe
Morning in North Am.
SystemCrash
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
The Babble system• Over the course of five years it
was deployed to about two dozen groups
• And it was generally quite successful:participants liked the proxy
“It makes me feel like people are in the room with me”
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble• Something is happening
(curiosity)
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble• Something is happening
over there (curiosity/herding)
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble• Waylay: Orange is active and
using Babble, and they know that I know it (accountability)
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble • Ice breaking
(curiosity/triangulation)
Nik: Interesting, why are some dots closer to the middle and some more towards middle/outer radius?
Bob: Hmmm... need more testing to find out!
Tom: Nik, it looks like an activity statement... the longer your idle the further from the center you are.
Nik: Thanks for the info Tom, I'm going to see if I move in closer as a result of typing this message...
Pat: as soon as u send a message u get closer to the center
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble • Color choosing (triangulation)
Originally there was no way to choose a dot’s color; its color was determined by hashing the user’s nickname into the color table
Wendy
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble • Color choosing (triangulation)
Originally there was no way to choose a dot’s color; its color was determined by hashing the user’s nickname into the color table
Wendy
Wendy K
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble • Color choosing (triangulation)
Originally there was no way to choose a dot’s color; its color was determined by hashing the user’s nickname into the color table
Wendy
Wendy K
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble • Color choosing (triangulation)
Originally there was no way to choose a dot’s color; its color was determined by hashing the user’s nickname into the color table
Wendy
Wendy K
Wendy trying to be pink
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble • Color choosing (triangulation)
Originally there was no way to choose a dot’s color; its color was determined by hashing the user’s nickname into the color table
Wendy
Wendy K
Wendy trying to be pink
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble • Color choosing (triangulation)
Originally there was no way to choose a dot’s color; its color was determined by hashing the user’s nickname into the color table
Wendy
Wendy K
Wendy trying to be pink
Wendy pink pink pink pink
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble • Color choosing (triangulation)
Originally there was no way to choose a dot’s color; its color was determined by hashing the user’s nickname into the color table
• Users enjoyed this. Others would watch and make jokes and suggestions about what version of the nickname to try next
Wendy
Wendy K
Wendy trying to be pink
Wendy pink pink pink pink
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Social phenomena in Babble • Color choosing (triangulation)
Originally there was no way to choose a dot’s color; its color was determined by hashing the user’s nickname into the color table
• But then we made a mistake: we put in a menu item: “Options: Select Dot color”
It increased “ease of use” for users, but we lost a small but nice ritual.
Wendy
Wendy K
Wendy trying to be pink
Wendy pink pink pink pink
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
A Design Approach
Summary• The Babble proxy was
easy to learn• Participants used it,
often in unexpected ways• And it seemed to be have
interesting social andexperiential aspects
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
How widely applicable are social proxies?
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for spoken conversation
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for spoken conversation:Supporting audio conferencing
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for spoken conversation: A design sketch
How it works• Dot moves into center when speaking,
slowly drifts out when silent
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for spoken conversation:A design sketch
How it works• Dot moves into center when speaking,
slowly drifts out when silent• A dot’s user can signal various states
such as ‘I have a question’ (shown), ‘I’m on mute’, or ‘I can’t hear’
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for spoken conversation:A design sketch
This proxy is interesting because- shows who has spoken recently
- provides a visual backchannel
- provides a resource for ‘going around the table’
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for spoken conversation:An implementation
Rendezvous: A VoIP-based audio conferencing system at IBM• Participants arrayed around a ‘table’
• Those who are invited, but not present, are shown below
• ‘Speech bubbles’ indicate a signal coming in on that line
• Clicking shows a photo of the person, and right-clicking brings up a menu
Design by Tracee Wolf, IBM Research
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for spoken conversation:An implementation
Observations• People like knowing who is speaking
(or making noise)
• Participants use the state of the proxy to decide when to actually call in
• Users make frequent use of the menu functions for a variety of purposes
Design by Tracee Wolf, IBM Research
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for queues
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for queues
“Your call is important to us.
Please remain on the line and your call will be answered in
the order in which it was received.”
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for queues• An advance in state of the art! ->
“Your call is important to us.
Please remain on the line and your call will be answered in
the order in which it was received.”
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for queues:A design sketch
How it works• A new dot joins the end of the
queue• Triangles indicate ‘assistants’• Colors show estimated wait time
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for queues:A design sketch
• A more elaborate version for an online help site that includes a chat space for anyone in the queue
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for queues:A design sketch
This proxy is interesting because• it provides feedback about the
collective state of the interaction (e.g. wait time, line speed)
• and could provide a framework for other interactions such as chat
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for queues:An implementation
Chit Chat Club, an installation by Karrie Karahalios and colleagues• People sitting together in a room
can converse with someone who ‘logs into’ the physical avatar in the picture
• However, what to do about people who were waiting to log in next?
Design by Karrie Karahalios and colleagues, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for queues:An implementation
Chit Chat Club, an installation by Karrie Karahalios and colleagues• So the interface for the remote
users included a queue proxy
Design by Karrie Karahalios and colleagues, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for queues:An implementation
Chit Chat Club, an installation by Karrie Karahalios and colleagues• So the interface for the remote
users included a queue proxy
• And it allowed people to chat with one another
Design by Karrie Karahalios and colleagues, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for queues:An implementation
Anecdotal observations• People talked quite a lot
• Some users got so involved in their conversations in the queue that they didn’t want to leave the queue when their turn to use the avatar came...
• Karahalios et al are working on another version that allows users to change places, etc. Design by Karrie Karahalios and colleagues,
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for auctions
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for auctions
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for auctions:A design sketch
Design• Objects: Viewing, bidding, clock
• Dots: color means it was recently active
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for auctions:A design sketch
Design• Objects: Viewing, bidding, clock
• Dots: color means it was recently active
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for auctions:A design sketch
Design• Objects: Viewing, bidding, clock
• Dots: color means it was recently active
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for auctions:A design sketch
Design• Objects: Viewing, bidding, clock
• Dots: color means it was recently active
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for auctions:A design sketch
Design• Objects: Viewing, bidding, clock
• Dots: color means it was recently active
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for auctions:A design sketch
Design• Objects: Viewing, bidding, clock
• Dots: color means it was recently active
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for auctions
This proxy is interesting because• it tries to create an feeling of drama
• it illustrates the use of cumulative state
• it could provide the basis for visualizations of markets...
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for buildings
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for buildings
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for buildings:A design sketch
How it works• Everyone wears an active badge that
tracks their locations to the meter• People are shown on the map as
squares, and leave a trail of where they’ve been for the last 30 seconds
• However, users are not identified: the only information shown is whether
someone is an employee or visitor
Even without identifying people we can see patterns...
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for buildings:A design sketch design sketch
How it works• Everyone wears an active badge that
tracks their locations to the meter• People are shown on the map as
squares, and leave a trail of where they’ve been for the last 30 seconds
• However, users are not identified: the only information shown is whether
someone is an employee or visitor
Even without identifying people we can see patterns: meetings...
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for buildings:A design sketch
How it works• Everyone wears an active badge that
tracks their locations to the meter• People are shown on the map as
squares, and leave a trail of where they’ve been for the last 30 seconds
• However, users are not identified: the only information shown is whether someone is an employee or visitor
Even without identifying people we can see patterns: mail delivery...
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for buildings:A design sketch
How it works• Everyone wears an active badge that
tracks their locations to the meter• People are shown on the map as
squares, and leave a trail of where they’ve been for the last 30 seconds
• However, users are not identified: the only information shown is whether
someone is an employee or visitor
Even without identifying people we can see patterns: ???
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Examples of Social Proxies
Proxies for buildings:A design sketch
This proxy is interesting because• it shows that proxies are useful
for non-digital spaces
• it illustrates that much can be read even when people are anonymous...
• ...and that more can be read by those who know the background
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Design Explorations
Social proxies more generally• The approach is very flexible
• I claim that you can design a social proxy for any online situation
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Design Explorations
Some social proxy design ‘guidelines’• Everyone sees the same thing; no user-specific customization
• Provide a third person point of view
• Portray actions, not interpretation
• Support deceptive (aka polite) behavior
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Summary and Closing Remarks
Systems can be designed to inhibitsocial behavior...
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Summary and Closing Remarks
Systems can be designed to inhibitsocial behavior or to facilitate it
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Summary and Closing Remarks
Social behavior is supported by norms and forces that depend on visible cues • in the physical environment
• and the behavior of other people
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Summary and Closing Remarks
We can apply these ideas to designing digital systems• We can support collaboration
in digital systems by providing visible cues about the presence and activities of users and about the online situation/environmentthey are in
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Summary and Closing Remarks
We can apply these ideas to designing digital systems• We can support collaboration
in digital systems by providing visible cues about the presence and activities of users and about the online situation/environmentthey are in
• The surprise is that this can be done very simply
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Thomas Erickson, Social Computing Group, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center.
Thank You!
And thanks to • those involved in the Babble project...
Erin Bradner, Jason Ellis, Brent Hailpern, Christine Halverson, Wendy Kellogg, Mark Laff, John Richards, David N. Smith, Cal Swart, Tracee Wolf
• ...to the Project for Public Spaces (http://www.pps.org) for many photos (as noted)
• ...to Karrie Karahalios (University of Illinois) for the Chit-Chat Club queue proxy
• ...to Tracee Wolf (IBM) for the Rendezvous proxy design • ... and to my colleagues at IBM for support and inspiration
For more information• [email protected] • http://www.visi.com/~snowfall/