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Cmu-Hcii-19-102 Research through Evocative Play: Play-based Methods for Drawing out Contextual Complexities and Understanding Power Anna Michele Kasunic Das June 30, 2019 Doctoral Dissertation, CMU-HCII-19-102 Research through Evocative Play Play-based Methods for Drawing out Contextual Complexities and Understanding Power Anna Michele Kasunic Das Committee Geoff Kaufman, HCII, Carnegie Mellon University, Chair Jeff Bigham, HCII, Carnegie Mellon University Laura Dabbish, HCII, Carnegie Mellon University Jessica Hammer, HCII/ETC, Carnegie Mellon University Saiph Savage, Human-Computer Interaction Lab, West Virginia University June 30, 2019 Anna Michele Kasunic Das Research through Evocative Play: Play-based Methods for Drawing out Contextual Complexities and Understanding Power Doctoral Dissertation, CMU-HCII-19-102, June 30, 2019 Chair: Geoff Kaufman Committee: Jeff Bigham, Laura Dabbish, Jessica Hammer, Saiph Savage Carnegie Mellon University The eHeart Lab Human-Computer Interaction Institute School of Computer Science Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, 15213 Abstract In this dissertation, I present research through evocative play, an empirical research method inspired by and drawing upon design research (research through design, critical design and ludic design) and play research and theory, and that uses dec- larations of play to reveal nuances of a context and investigate power dynamics therein. Viewing play as a research tool rather than a design end, the approach facilitates the revelation of participants’ relationship with that context and others in the context, as well as the ambiguities, conflicts, uncertainties, and discontent those relationships might encompass. In research through evocative play, the researcher designs and declares play in the context to encourage participants to reflect on and engage with the context in novel ways. In this manner, research through evocative play also positions the researcher-designer as an active and integral participant in the study whose perspectives and actions should be critically analyzed and reflected upon as part of the research process. To demonstrate my path using this approach, I present three related projects. As a precursor to my research through evocative play approach, I first present my mixed methods work on the subreddit r/RoastMe, an online forum community in which people post photos of themselves to be harshly ridiculed by others. I show how the play declaration of “comedy not hate” casts online self-presentation behaviors and harsh humor as play, and explore how this play declaration reveals participants’ views on and relationships to standards of behaviors for self-presentation and politeness in related contexts, and ambiguates power dynamics and ludic consent within the space of RoastMe. Next, I discuss Turker Tales, a Google Chrome extension implemented with 171 participants on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). MTurk is a platform where remote crowd workers produce labor for requesters, often for low pay and with limited platform-supported means of voicing their concerns and communicating with peers. Turker Tales allows participants to anonymously create, view and share short identity-based narratives with workers completing the same or similar labor tasks on MTurk. With Turker Tales, I suggest novel directions for supporting crowd workers, beginning fleshing out research through evocative playas a research approach to promote criticism of and reflection on a context and its attendant power dynamics, v and highlight the ethical implications of playing with and within a capitalist structure where power is imbalanced. Building off my research findings and approaches in both RoastMe and TurkerTales, I lastly present YouMercials, a concept and functioning prototype for a design that declares YouTube advertising as a space for play, encouraging participants to manip- ulate YouTube advertisements by replacing the original audio tracks or by creating short identity-based imagination exercises for viewers to consider while watching ad- vertisements. With YouMercials, I further explore and directly manipulate elements from RoastMe and Turker Tales, including direct play declarations, the use of roast- ing humor, the implications of play declaration within a capitalist context, and the anonymous sharing of short narrative-based shared artifacts. Through YouMercials, I analyze participants’ ambivalent relationships to YouTube and YouTube advertis- ing, reflect on the role of the researcher in research through evocative play, and discuss both the values and limitations of research through evocative play as a study approach. My work contributes methodologically to human-computer interaction (HCI), design research, and play research by proposing the research through evocative play approach. In addition, as a side product of my pursuit of this approach, my work also contributes recommendations about the effectiveness of specific forms of play in engaging participants that can be useful to researchers and practitioners in human-computer interaction and play. vi Acknowledgements What follows is only a partial list; there are way too many people to thank. First and foremost, I need to thank my husband, Sauvik Das. 1 During these last few years of the PhD, he has seen me at some of my worst, has stayed by my side when running away was probably the more logical and lucrative action to take, and has shown me steadfast acceptance, love, and support. So much has changed for us both in the past few years, and I still can’t quite fathom that all of those changes have actually taken place. I can’t promise that it will be smooth sailing from here on out, but I am so looking forward to figuring out the next phase of our lives together, including, of course, the impending birth of our first child together. I also want to thank my family, especially my mom, Mary Claire, who has been a constant emotional support for me throughout my life and has continued to be so during my PhD; my dad, Jon, who has been my at-home office mate in Pittsburgh during the past year and a half and has generously put up with me being annoyed by him invading “my” space in his house; my sisters, Raquel and Elise; my brother Nick, who has been the most involved in my research of anyone in my family; my siblings-in-law, especially Louis, who was the person who most encouraged me to apply to the Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) in the first place; my niece and nephews; and other extended family, including my cousin Julia, who helped make semi-living with my parents as I split my time between Pittsburgh and Atlanta during the end of the program less stressful. My family has helped me stay grounded, reminding me that there is meaning and value in life, and there are people who I care about and vice versa, no matter how poorly things might have been going at times in the PhD program. They also served as guinea pigs for testing out nearly every new study protocol I undertook, while still permitting me to otherwise refuse to discuss any aspects of my research with them. Also thanks to my in-laws in Atlanta, especially Sangeeta, Samir, Sunny, Amisha, Ari, and Mini, who put up with me being MIA for many family occasions in the time leading up to the defense. 1Whose last name, incidentally, I have not yet formally/legally adopted, but nonetheless have chosen to use in this document. vii I of course need to thank my advisor, Geoff Kaufman, who joined CMU just as I was entering my second year in the program, and who has been forced to ride this roller coaster with me. Geoff’s expertise, wisdom, patience, and intelligence as a research advisor have been crucial to helping me figure out my path as his student, but I especially want to thank him for his emotional support. I believe it was within the first month or two of working with Geoff (and Geoff’s first couple months of adjusting to his new position) that I began hinting to Geoff about my continual existential crises and expressing urgent needs to quit the program, a cycle that has continued up until my very last weeks in this program. As I have worked with Geoff over the past four years, I have become increasingly candid about issues I’ve been experiencing, and have made many decisions in the program that make little sense from an academic standpoint. Nonetheless, Geoff has always responded with a lack of judgment and a wealth of support and empathy which has not only helped me get through the program, but also allowed me to reflect on and reconsider how I want to choose to live my life and organize my priorities moving forward. I also can’t mention Geoff without calling out his partner in crime and major support for all PhD students, Queenie Kravitz, who has been an invaluable cheerleader and champion for me (and many other students) during my time here. I also want to thank my first advisor here at CMU, Amy Ogan, and my unofficial second advisor, Jessica Hammer (I never formally worked with Jess in part because I was adamant about being disinterested in research related to play, which now feels ironic). In addition to, like Geoff, dealing with me continually trying to quit, (including in the summer preceding my official start date in the program), they were both incredibly supportive and helpful when I made the decision to switch advisors and try out a different research path, despite the challenges I realize in retrospect that must have posed for them at the time. A special thanks goes out to all my committee members, Saiph Savage, Jeff Bigham, Laura Dabbish, and Jessica Hammer, all of whom have been incredibly helpful and patient in offering their advice, feedback, and support throughout the proposal and dissertation process. I’m grateful to all my paper collaborators, including my advisor Geoff (of course); Saiph Savage and Chun-Wei Chiang, who motivated me with their enthusiasm and positive encouragement; Robert Kraut; Amy Ogan and Jessica Hammer; Joselyn McDonald and Jodi Forlizzi.
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