My Research Informed by My Mixture of Both Industrial and Academic Expertise

Research Statement Jennifer A. Rode 800 High School Way #311 Mountain View, CA 94041 USA +1 949-923-0191 [email protected]

My research lies in the areas of Human-Computer Interaction and Ubiquitous Computing. I am deeply committed to understanding why technology is so empowering to some and for others it is the foundation for exclusion. My work examines the values of technological utopianism and how those values influence the user-centered design process. Ultimately, I look at how, and under what circumstances, individuals choose to use technology. Consequently, my work explores areas in which the experiences of both enthusiasts and technophobes overlap. This makes technology in the home especially relevant as it is a primary environment in which we socialize children in socially approved attitudes towards technology. My research looks at how gender is key to the ways technology is both perceived and used. Further, it looks reflectively at the design process to see how our biases and practices shape the artifacts we design. My research is based on a combination of experience in both academia and industry. I use a multi-disciplinary theoretical approach that draws from anthropology, gender studies, science and technology studies, design research, social informatics, and ubiquitous computing. At the same time, having been involved in software design projects aimed at the mass market for the last nine years (sometimes full time, and other times nearly full time in addition to being a student or researcher), I also bring industrial expertise to my research. Most notably, this includes my time working on the first generations of the TiVo product and conducting the first usability studies and ethnographic research on its use. My industrial experiences complement my academic training and give me first-hand knowledge of software design practice and user-centered design. Much of my work looks at existing design and evaluation practice critically. In doing so, I considered current approaches and how they can evolve to be made more appropriate for both new technologies and for practitioners working in industrial settings. My research up to now has focused on three principal areas. First, in my dissertation research I used ethnographic approaches to create grounded theory that examined gender and domestic end-user programming in household devices. Second, throughout my career as a member of various interdisciplinary design teams, I used new technologies such as ubiquitous and tangible computing to meet social challenges; at the same time, I worked to evolve existing evaluation approaches and create new approaches to appropriately evaluate these new technologies. Finally, I examined the relationship between design and evaluation in HCI practice and the differences in how these approaches are used in academia and industry today. Research Statement (cont.) 2 Jennifer A. Rode

Domestic End-User Programming The human life cycle is shaped by relationships among adults and children, and homes are the chief location in which these private dramas play out. The home is also a principal site of technology use. Often these domestic interactions involve technology and center around gender norms, which makes homes highly gendered spaces. Gender is critical not just in our interpersonal relationships but in how we interact with our environment. The objects and technologies in our homes themselves are gendered, and we respond to social norms regarding gender in our interactions with them. We have additional gender norms surrounding programming of technology devices in the work place, which in turn affect programming of these gendered technologies in the home. As we increasingly introduce programmable technologies into the home, gendered attitudes become enmeshed in how we discuss and use these technologies. While many researchers are creating new technologies for the home, the creative process occurs largely independent of any discussion of gender or discussion of the historical and sociological trends that govern the structure of activity in the home. To better understand how gender and programming practice interact, I conducted an ethnographic study of the domestic context in which end-user programming of new technology occurs, with a particular focus on gender. My work discusses how the relationship between technology and identity is negotiated, especially gendered identity and the presentation of an individual’s technical ability. Further, I explore what this negotiation process means for the usage patterns surrounding technology and how it fits into the larger feminist agenda. Women’s usage patterns of technology are increasingly relevant as their participation in the work force and subsequent time spent outside the home change. Meanwhile, technology in the home is changing how domestic work is accomplished. Women are increasingly involved in the labor market, while at the same time, married women often serve as their families’ primary caregivers. Technologies introduced into the home have changed the type of domestic work done by removing much of the physical labor. For example, vacuum cleaners, indoor plumbing, and central heating have replaced the need to beat rugs, fetch water, and gather firewood. In short, the nature of household work has changed from the production of goods to the consumption of goods (e.g., baking bread “from scratch” including raising and milling grain has been replaced simply by buying a loaf) (Cowan, 1983; Strasser, 2000). At the same time, we have seen a remarkable stability in the amount of time required for domestic work performed by women (Cowan, 1983). In particular, increased standards of cleanliness, time-consuming issues related to “good parenting,” and new activities such as the need to comparison shop now fill the time vacuum for many housewives (Cowan, 1983; Strasser, 2000). The gendered nature of domestic work, and the fact that many of these new technologies require programming, raises important issues for the design of new technologies. HCI researchers need to be cognizant of these trends and begin to design technology that attacks this trend head on with technologies that actually reduce the time needed for domestic work. In order to do this, we need to understand the allocation of domestic programming tasks and the difference in men’s and women’s attitudes towards technology. Research Statement (cont.) 3 Jennifer A. Rode

My dissertation research investigated gendered patterns of use in domestic programming ethnographically. I drew extensively on feminist theory, which debates the problematic relationship between femininity and technical mastery. Specifically, Turkle (1988) argues that definitions of western femininity are at odds with women demonstrating technical ability. My research explores what this means for technology design. My work outlines gendered patterns of use surrounding end-user programming to ensure home security; more importantly, my work establishes that indeed, technology is used to construct and negotiate gender identity, in that technology is an object around which individuals negotiate their Gender and Technical Identities. If the home is the primary environment in which we socialize children in socially approved attitudes towards gender and technology, the co-construction of Gender and Technical Identities in the home suggests a fundamental conflict for women who wish to fully participate in technology. My work seeks to understand this tension. This body of work on end-user programming leaves room for further study with regard to gender and the home. My work influences both usage patterns surrounding technology and the larger feminist agenda. It also suggests a need for a program of Gender-Aware Technology design which is mindful of the bi-directional nature of technology’s ability to socially shape, and to be impacted by, society. My work suggests a masculine bias in both usability evaluation and design processes, and while my dissertation research characterized the nature of this bias, additional research is required to further understand and advance user-centered design practice that addresses these biases.

 PhD Dissertation: An Ethnographic Examination of the Relationship of Gender & End- User Programming. University of California Irvine. Expected by May 2008.  Rode, J.A. (2005). “Appliances for Whom? Considering Place.” Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 10: 2-3, p90-4.  Rode, J.A., E.F. Toye, and A.F. Blackwell. (2004). “The Fuzzy Felt Ethnography - Understanding the Programming Patterns of Domestic Appliances.” Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 8: 3-4, p161-176.  Rode, J.A., E.F. Toye, and A.F. Blackwell. (2005). “The Domestic Economy: a Broader Unit of Analysis for End User Programming.” CHI'2005 (Portland, OR), p 1757 – 60.

User-Centered Design: Ubiquitous & Tangible Computing While my dissertation work focused on deconstructing the relationship between gender and technology use in the home, I prefer to carry out exercises that will directly support new technology design. And although I am a competent prototyper myself, I prefer to work with a design team of specialists playing the role of user advocate. I do this in two ways. First, as in my dissertation research, I conduct ethnographic research with the intent of creating grounded theory that will provide a better understanding of how technology is used. For instance, my dissertation work suggests that negotiating a co-construction of gender and technical identity is core in how technology is used. In the future I would like to be involved in design projects that explore what this theory means for technology design. Second, I like to be directly involved in technology design by conducting iterative evaluation and working with designers to integrate findings. I prefer Research Statement (cont.) 4 Jennifer A. Rode to use iterative ethnographic approaches to ensure the applicability of technologies within their socio-cultural contexts. This philosophy is best explained in [Rode, Stringer, Toye, Simpson & Blackwell, 2003]. This work makes research contributions of two types.

First Contribution: Novel Interface Creation By drawing on my skills in combinations with multi-disciplinary design teams, I am able to play a role in creating new technologies which have social significance. For instance, my work has taught children to construct arguments, [Stringer and et al., 2005] and I have designed Personal Video Recorders (specifically TiVo) that help allow individuals to time-shift media so they have the opportunity to concentrate on social relationships. In the future, I wish to design new technologies which attempt to redress the issues of imbalances in domestic work, as well as those which encourage redefinition of the gender roles that often inhibit women’s access to technology. Some specific examples of both academic and industrial design experience include:

 SWIRL - Visualizing Usable Security: o Rode, J., Johansson, C., DiGioia, P., Silva Filho, R., Nies, K., Nguyen, D., Ren, J., Dourish, P., and Redmiles, D. 2006. Seeing Further: Extending Visualization as a Basis for Usable Security. Proc. Symp. on Usable Privacy and Security SOUPS 2006 (Pittsburgh, PA), 145-155. o dePaula, R., X. Ding, P. Dourish, K. Nies, B. Pillet, D. Redmiles, J. Ren, J. Rode and R. Silva Filho (2005). “In the Eye of the Beholder: A Visualization-based Approach to Information System Security.” International Journal of Human- Computer Studies 63: 1-2, p5-24.  Webkit - Teaching Children Computer-Supported Cooperative Argument: o Stringer, M, J.A. Rode, E. Toye, A. Blackwell, and A. Simpson. (2005). "Webkit: A Case Study of Iterative Prototyping of a Tangible User Interface." IEEE Pervasive 4:4, p35-41.  Alice - End User Authoring of Virtual Environments: While at CMU, I worked with engineers to change the programming interface of Alice, an interactive VR authoring tool, from simplified Python scripting to a set of GUI widgets to better meet the needs of the non-programming target audience. I conducted Think-Aloud Protocols during an iterative design process to evaluate and improve the user interface. Alice was shown at SIGGRAPH 1999 along with the virtual worlds that I played a part in creating. (See http://www.siggraph.org/s99/conference/etech/projects.html)  TiVo - Personal Video Recorder: This technology permits users to record their favourite TV shows and to carry out implicit and explicit programming tasks to create preference profiles. I was hired as TiVo’s first usability engineer, and I worked on the software beginning with the earliest versions. Working as part of a small team, I designed and evaluated the usability of TiVo. I conducted an extensive in-home ethnographic study of viewers’ out-of-the-box experience as well as laboratory-based Think Alouds and performance-based tests. Performance-based tests determined the time to compensate for the reaction delays that led viewers to “overshoot” when fast-forwarding.  Dell Computers’ Out-of-the-Box-Experience: I engaged in this work as a private consultant at theUEgroup while employed at the University of Cambridge. I conducted lab-based usability tests comparing the out-of-the-box experience for different brands of Research Statement (cont.) 5 Jennifer A. Rode

desktop and laptop computers. TheUEgroup conducted studies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan over the course of several years. Results were based on 100 participants; several hundred hours of data in the United States; and samples of 40-60 participants in other locations. We worked with Dell to understand how the out-of-the-box set-up experience could be improved for both the US and the international markets.

A second contribution: Evaluation Methods for Ubiquitous and Tangible Computing HCI is moving beyond Graphic User Interfaces (GUI) to create the next generation of tangible, ubiquitous, situated interfaces that can meet specific user-task goals and be integrated seamlessly into the environment. While the development of usability techniques for the GUI lagged terribly behind the technology development itself, we must strive not to recreate GUI history. My research recognizes that design cannot be led by technology; instead, technology design must be led by observation and understanding of users’ needs. In order to do so, we need to evaluate the technology as we create it. Evaluation mechanisms for these new interfaces must be established in parallel with their development; a second thread of this work is developing new user- interface evaluation methods. This innovative work has led me to recognize the limited applicability of existing usability evaluation methods (UEM), which were largely developed for GUIs. Thus I have developed a strong interest in adapting existing techniques and establishing new methods for evaluating these emerging technologies.

 Designing Tangible User Interfaces for Use in British Schools: Adapted Druin’s Cooperative Inquiry method for use in British schools to teach argument. (See Rode, J., M. Stringer, E. Toye, A. Simpson, and A. Blackwell. "Curriculum-Focused Design." Interaction Design and Children 2003. Pg 119-126.)  Fuzzy Felt board: Adapted Mateas’ felt board approach as an ethnographic interview tool for discussing appliance use. Rode, J.A., E.F. Toye, and A.F. Blackwell. (2004). “The Fuzzy Felt Ethnography - Understanding the Programming Patterns of Domestic Appliances.” Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 8, 161-176.  Limitations of Current UEMs: Rode, J. “The Myth of the Usability Toolbox.” Interact 2003. (Workshop Paper)

Reflection on Design Practice Finally, I am interested in reflecting on design practice. I believe strongly in user- centered design, but at the same time, I feel political and social practices influence how and when we use formal design practices and conduct evaluation. I wish to understand the trends in our evaluation practices and the differences in how we, as academics and industrial practitioners, use these approaches. I also wish to understand the role of design, with a focus on ethnographic practices in particular, as we undergo a paradigm shift from rational actor-oriented design, to a consideration of cultural performativity questions. More recently, I have begun to look at the role of gender in design practice. I wish to reflect on HCI design research itself and how it shapes the types of design practices and technologies developed in academia and industry. Design practice, in turn, shapes those Research Statement (cont.) 6 Jennifer A. Rode available to the market at large. In doing so, I wish to be mindful of the bi-directional nature of technology’s ability to socially shape, and to be impacted by, society.

 Barkhuus, L. and J. A. Rode (2007). “From Mice to Men: 24 Years of Evaluation at CHI” Alt.Chi. 2007  Wolf, T. V., J. A. Rode, W. Kellogg & J. Sussman (2005). "Dispelling Design as the Dark Art of CHI." CHI 2006 (Quebec, Canada) p. 521-530. (Best of CHI Nominee).