Pottering: a design-oriented investigation

ABSTRACT

In this paper we examine a ubiquitous yet overlooked aspect of home-life, pottering. The Oxford English Dictionary defines pottering as "To occupy oneself in an ineffectual or trifling way; to work or act in a feeble or desultory manner; to trifle, to dabble." It is thus a term used to describe a variety of activities but none in particular. Below, we give shape to the practice of pottering and in doing so aim to demonstrate how such an investigation has broad implications for HCI and designing for the home. We also report on our experiences of using design sketching as an analytical resource.

REFERENCES

• 1: Genevieve Bell , Paul Dourish, Back to the shed: gendered visions of technology and domesticity, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, v.11 n.5, p.373-381, June 2007 [doi>10.1007/s00779-006-0073-8]
• 2: Bill Gaver , Heather Martin, Alternatives: exploring information appliances through conceptual design proposals, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, p.209-216, April 01-06, 2000, The Hague, The Netherlands [doi>10.1145/332040.332433]
• 3: Jennifer A. Rode, Appliances for whom? Considering place, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, v.10 n.2-3, p.90-94, January 2006 [doi>10.1007/s00779-005-0006-y]
• 4: Zerubavel, E. Hidden Rhythms: Schedules and Calendars in Social Life. Univ. of California Press, 1992.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.m Miscellaneous

General Terms:
Design

Keywords:
conceptual design, domestic technology, ubicomp