Data and Dasein

the thesis committee for trevor hogan certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: DATAANDDASEIN - A Phenomenology of Human-Data Relations - Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doctor rerum Naturalium (Dr. -rer. Nat.) an der Fakultät Medien der Bauhaus Universität Weimar vorgelegt von T R E V O R H O G A N B.Des. M.Sc. Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Eva Hornecker April 2016 DECLARATION I certify that the work in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree nor has it been submitted as part of re- quirements for a degree except as fully acknowledged within the text. I also certify that the thesis has been written by me. Any help that I have received in my research work and the preparation of the thesis itself has been acknowledged. In ad- dition, I certify that all information sources and literature used are indicated in the thesis. Weimar, April 2016 Trevor Hogan Aim for the sky and you will reach the top of the mountains. — (Terry Hogan—on many occasions 1975-present) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As I write these words I find myself reflecting on my PhD journey, from the first email exchange with my supervisor, over many fond memories travelling across the world attending conferences, to the endless pages of transcripts and finally to the last few words that I type here. It’s been fun, exciting, inspirational, exhausting, intriguing, confusing, satisfying but most of all endlessly rewarding, an assort- ment of emotions all wrapped up in one bundle of fulfilment. But the words I wrote would not have been possible without the help and support of so many people. Firstly, I would like to thank my family, especially my Mam & Dad who have supported me, not only during this chapter, but on every page of my life. I would like to pay special thanks to Uta Hinrichs - one could not ask for a more creative and hard-working co-author. Also to Claire Petitmengin for her expert training on the Elicitation interview technique and Val for being a willing volunteer for many practise Elicita- tion interviews. I have also been so fortunate to have some really special educa- tors around me for many years. Thanks goes to Angela Mellot, who taught me not to be scared of creativity while in school, to Kieran Whitelaw, who opened my mind to the possibilities of design, to Liam Bannon who introduced me to HCI and of course to the very special Eva Hornecker. Eva, this work would never have happened without your support, guidance, advise and many other things that you have so kindly given me over the last years. Thank you for asking the hard questions and forcing me to always push harder, I am forever indebted to you. Lastly, I started and finished this journey with and because of Julia, it would not have been possible without your love and never ending support. Along the way we were joined by our little Fina & Léna, you are both the sparkling light at the end of a tunnel, two rays of sun- shine that never quenches. This work is for you. v Eva Hornecker in friendship and admiration ABSTRACT In contemporary society, data representation is an important and es- sential part of many aspects of our daily lives. This thesis aims to contribute to our understanding on how people experience data and what role representational modality plays in the process of percep- tion and interpretation. This research is grounded in phenomenology - I align my theoretical exploration to ideas and concepts from philosophical phenomenology, while also respecting the essence of a phenomenological approach in the choice and application of methods. Alongside offering a rich description of people’s experience of data representation, the key contributions I claim transcend four ar- eas: theory, methods, design, and empirical findings. From a theoretical perspective, besides describing a phenomenology of human-data relations, I define, for the first time, multisensory data representation and establish a design space for the study of this class of representation. In relation to methodologies, I describe and deploy two methods to investigate different aspects of data experience. I blend the Reper- tory Grid technique with a focus group session and show how this adaption can be used to elicit rich design relevant insight. I also in- troduce the Elicitation Interview technique as a method for gathering detailed and precise accounts of human experience. Furthermore, I describe for the first time, how this technique can be used to elicit accounts of experience with data. My contribution to design relates to the creation of a series of bespoke data-driven artefacts, as well as describing an approach to design that I call Design Probes, which al- lows researchers to focus their enquiry on specific design features. To answer the research questions I set out in this thesis, I report on a series of empirical studies that used the aforementioned methods. The findings of these studies show, for instance, how certain representational modalities cause us to have heightened awareness of our body, some are more difficult to interpret than others, some rely heavily on instinct and each of them solicit us to reference external events during the process of interpretation. I conclude that a phenomenology of human-data relations show how representational modality affects the way we experience data, it also shows how this experience unfolds and it offers insight into particular moments such as the formation of meaning. ix ZUSAMMENFASSUNG In der heutigen Gesellschaft sind Datenrepräsentationen ein wichtiger und wesentlicher Bestandteil vieler Aspekte unseres täglichen Lebens. Diese Doktorarbeit zielt darauf ab, zu unserem Verständnis beizutra- gen, wie Menschen Daten erleben und welche Rolle die Modalität der Repräsentation im Prozess der Wahrnehmung und Interpreta- tion spielt. Diese Forschung basiert auf der Phänomenologie – meine theoretische Erforschung ist ausgerichtet durch Ideen und Konzepte der philosophischen Phänomenologie, und berücksichtigt zudem die Essenz eines phänomenologischen Vorgehens bei der Selektion und Anwendung von Forschungsmethoden. Zusätzlich zu einer detail- lierten Beschreibung der menschlichen Erfahrung von Datenrepräsen- tationen sind die wichtigsten Beiträge meiner Arbeit die folgenden: Theorie, Methoden, Design und empirische Resultate. Auf theoretis- cher Ebene beschreibe ich die Phänomenologie der Daten-Mensch Beziehung, definiere erstmals den Begriff der multisensoriellen Daten- repräsentation und stelle den Designraum zur Untersuchung dieser Art von Darstellung auf. Um verschiedene Aspekte der Datenerfahrung zu untersuchen, wende ich zwei Methoden an, welche ich ausführlich beschreibe. Ich verknüpfe das ‚Repertory Grid‘ Verfahren mit Fokusgruppen- Sessions und zeige, wie diese Adaption angewendet werden kann um reiche design-relevante Einsichten zu gewähren. Zusätzlich wende ich die Elicitation-Interview-Technique an, um detailliert und präzise menschliche Erfahrung zu erfassen. Weiterhin beschreibe ich erstmals, wie diese Methode genutzt werden kann, um genaue Berichte der Erfahrung von Daten zu erhalten. Mein Beitrag zum Design besteht in der Schaffung einer Reihe eigens angefertigter Artefakte sowie der Beschreibung eines Ansatzes, den ich Design Probes nenne, welche es Forschern erlaubt, ihre Untersuchung auf spezifische Designmerk- male zu konzentrieren. Um die Forschungsfragen zu beantworten, die dieser Arbeit zugrunde liegen, berichte ich über eine Reihe von empirischen Studien, welche die oben genannten Methoden nutzen. Die Ergebnisse dieser Studien zeigen zum Beispiel an, wie bestimmte Repräsenationsmodalitäten ein erhöhtes Bewusstsein für den eige- nen Körper bewirken. Einige Modalitäten sind schwieriger zu in- terpretieren als andere, manche werden eher instinktiv interpretiert, und alle fordern uns dazu auf, während des Interpretationsprozesses auf externe Ereignisse zu verweisen. Meine Schlussfolgerung ist, dass eine Phänomenologie der Daten-Mensch Beziehung zeigt, wie die Er- xi fahrung von Daten durch die Repräsentationsmodalität beeinflusst wird, wie diese Erfahrungen sich temporal entfalten und entwickeln, sowie Einsichten ermöglicht in spezifische Momente, wie die Entste- hung von Bedeutung. xii CONTENTS 1 introduction 1 1.1 Research Question . 3 1.2 Research Approach . 4 1.2.1 Theory . 4 1.2.2 Methods . 5 1.2.3 Design . 5 1.3 Thesis Structure . 6 1.4 Dissemination of Research and List of Publications 8 i theory and design 13 2 the phenomenological landscape 15 2.1 Introduction . 15 2.2 Husserl and the beginnings of philosophical phenomenology . 15 2.3 Martin Heidegger . 17 2.3.1 Equipment . 18 2.3.2 Temporality . 19 2.4 Maurice Merleau-Ponty . 21 2.4.1 The Body Schema . 21 2.4.2 Maximum Grip . 23 2.5 Don Ihde . 24 2.5.1 Post-phenomenology . 24 2.5.2 Human-technology relations . 25 2.6 Phenomenology in HCI . 27 2.6.1 The Phenomenological Turn . 29 2.7 Chapter Summary . 33 3 data representation and evaluation 35 3.1 Introduction . 35 3.2 Data Representation . 35 3.2.1 Beyond the Visual Modality . 39 3.2.2 Physical Data Representations . 43 3.2.3 Auditory Representations . 47 3.2.4 Other Modalities . 53 3.2.5 Section Summary . 56 3.3 Data Evaluation . 56 3.3.1 Describing a lived experience . 58 3.3.2 Studying Experiences of Data Representa- tion . 59 3.4 Chapter Summary . 66 xiii xiv contents 4 data, design and dasein 69 4.1 Introduction . 69 4.2 Background . 69 4.3 Design Concept . 70 4.4 Implementation . 74 4.5 User Study . 75 4.5.1 Procedure . 75 4.5.2 General User Observations . 76 4.5.3 Through Husserl . 78 4.5.4 Through Heidegger . 81 4.5.5 Through Merleau-Ponty . 83 4.5.6 Through Ihde . 85 4.6 Chapter Summary . 85 5 a design space for multisensory data representations 89 5.1 Introduction . 89 5.2 Background . 90 5.3 Defining Multisensory Data Representations . 91 5.4 Design Space Analysis . 92 5.4.1 Methodology .

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