Technology Probe I
The study sought to collect qualitative data about individual’s experiences over time, given the loudspeaker and the freedom to choose a platform for curating a shared playlist. The data was self-reported in-situ over a two-day period by participants from the team’s network of friends and family with multi-generational households.
We sought to define the focus of the study around understanding how people negotiate the process of curating a music playlist and playing this through a physical system, and will set a two-day reporting period to give us the ability to utilise the data for concept preparation. To help participants remember to fill in their thoughts, we periodically prompted them via SMS periodically throughout the day as per the schedule developed. Phone (text message) has been decided upon as the most reliable tool of communication as it acts in real-time and responses will be in a digital format.
Participants were recruited from within the team’s broad networks and prepare instructions for them to understand the nature and requirements of the study.
Q1. Do you give consent to allow the researchers to use your data for their design research purposes?
Q2. Could you tell us a little bit about who lives in the household?
Q3. Do have any specific routines or jobs that impact how often your in the household?
Q4. Do you listen to music much in the household?
Q5. Would you normally listen together or alone?
Q6. When would you play music out loud?
Q7. Could you tell us about a time when you listened to music together?
Q8. Who chooses when and what music is played?
Q9. Was it always this way? Have things changed at all?
Q10. Can you tell us about a particular song that has importance for the household?
Q11. Is there anything else you’d like to add before we move on?
We have scheduled a face-to-face meeting with each participant (or someone who was elected to represent the household), prior to the study to discuss the tools they will be using, answer any questions they may have, and get them ready to log.
Identifying and understanding the decision-making factors in the curation of a music playlist in a multi-generational household
This study seeks to examine the views and opinions of people residing in multi-generational and multi-person households to understand their perceptions of curating a playlist in their home life.
We would like to know more about your interactions with others while curating a playlist through a physical system, and your feelings throughout the day, especially when you are engaging in the activity or are experiencing the effects of it.
- What factors contribute to a person knowing what song would be suggested as an addition to the playlist?
- What are some discussion points when the household adds a song to the playlist?
- Where does such a system exist within the household ecosystem?
- What emotions were present during the negotiation?
- What factors contribute to making people feel connected or like they are part of an experience that is ongoing in a household?
- What emotions were evoked during the playing of a song?
- Whether technology plays a role within this
Our first correspondence will include interviews questions regarding your demographics and subsequent correspondence will include questions relevant to the (i) diary responses we are seeking on the post-it notes. You are encouraged to keep notes of anything you wish to include across the day, including photos of you, your surroundings, or something you find interesting. Your participation will involve answering these questions along with any other observations, thoughts or responses and return them back to us when we come by to collect the system.
You will also be given responsibility of Bill, your speaker system that you will use to play this music throughout the study! Please return Bill in a safe condition and text us if you have any technical issues with Bill throughout the study.
Throughout this diary study, we will be asking you to observe and record things about yourself, your environment and your interactions with others. You do not have to record or answer any questions that you are uncomfortable with. Your confidentiality and privacy will be maintained at all times.
If you require any additional information about our research, we will be able to discuss any questions you may have. The entire team greatly appreciate your help and cooperation in this research.
To support effective activity logging we have provided a clear question framework designed to elicit specific information while remaining open to natural feedback. In-Situ logging of mood or emotions were prompted by SMS text notifications 5 times per day.
- Please describe where you are writing this from right now? Feel free to include a picture
- Please use this diary to record any additional thoughts or feelings about this activity. Feel free to write or draw in the space below.
- Is there anything else you would like to share about your interactions around the household?
- Hi, it’s Team Glacier checking in! In your reply, can you please describe where you are writing this from? Feel free to include a picture P.S. don’t forget to include an emoji showing how you feel right now
- Hi, it’s Team Glacier checking in! Can you describe the interactions you had while deciding on the song? P.S. don’t forget to send an emoji showing how you feel right now
- Hi, it’s Team Glacier checking in! How many songs have you added to the playlist by this time of the day? P.S. don’t forget to send an emoji showing how you feel right now
- Hi, it’s Team Glacier checking in! How did making the playlist make you feel? P.S. don’t forget to send an emoji showing how you feel right now
- Hi, it’s Team Glacier checking in! Let us know what songs you’ve chosen recently and do describe the interactions you had while deciding on the song... P.S. don’t forget to send an emoji showing how you feel right now
- Hi, it’s Team Glacier checking in! Have you noticed any favourite songs so far? P.S. don’t forget to send an emoji showing how you feel right now
- Hi, it’s Team Glacier checking in! Is Bill still in his spot? P.S. don’t forget to send an emoji showing how you feel right now
- Hi, it’s Team Glacier checking in! Is there anything else you would like to share about your interactions around the household? P.S. don’t forget to send an emoji showing how you feel right now
After the study we will evaluate all the information provided by each participant and conduct a follow-up interview to discuss logs in detail. During this interview we may ask probing questions to uncover specific details needed to complete the story. We will also ask for feedback from the participant about their experience participating in the study, so we can adjust our processes for the next time.
This study will help us evaluate how participants perceived the negotiation aspect of the music curation process and take note of any ambient feelings that had arisen over time, and what factors may influence these thoughts or feelings.
Each household participating was supplied with a speaker with which they can use to play music in the house periodically throughout the day as well as a diary which they can opt to use to write more on should they wish to note further observations.
Participants found the use of a shared playlist and the use of a communal speaker a worthwhile experience that is designed to support engagement and bonding. Whilst music tastes may differ from individual to individual, the overall consensus between participants were that music had triggered an overall positive affect, though sometimes the negotiation process felt unnatural.
The presence of dominant personalities was also observed during the study, which led to the need to design for turn-taking, to facilitate the impression of a shared experience when using such technologies (groupware). Additionally, the use of a 'smart' or responsive playlist which detects user presence in the vicinity may help promote more natural engagement. The queuing and 'un-queuing' of songs in the shared playlist may provide greater flexibility to song choice in a shared situation.
Participants tend to pick classic or older songs when using a shared playlist, citing reasons that they "can generate a special feeling no matter how many times you [have] listen[ed] to it (P04)". The use of music to facilitate reflective exercises such as reminiscence activities has been cited extensively in literature, and this study does not prove otherwise.
P01: Certain songs stand out… and it reminds you of a place where you were in your life, and where you were living, and you know, how old you were, and who is in the house at the time- children, yeah… what their ages were and everything…
In fact, when interviewed about their thoughts regarding a particular song that has importance for the household, the following response followed:
P01: Um memories… I guess when [name of P02] was born. We’d play a lot of music… we’d play the Bob Marley song to get her to sleep and to calm her down… Remember {looks at P03}? Was it One Love?
P03: Uhhh… yeah
P01: yeah… One Love by Bob Marley- and also, uh different songs that we’d played… there were some classical music that we used to play to her? Umm… I think it was Beethoven? Or something like that?
P03: Bach…
P01: Ah…
P03: Baby Bach
P01: Yeah, a whole lot of classical music… when I hear it now, reminds me of when…
P03: We used to do it for you!
P01: Yeah, we did it for all you… when you were born, we had a tape- like a labour…
P03: Relaxation…
P01: Like a labour, giving birth, tape of music… so it was always gonna be an important part of our lives
However, the sentiment was not shared by all household members, as it triggered memories in some parties but not others, likely due to different life experiences and timelines. This is indicative of the possibility of music curation as an intimate, individual experience. However, when curated music is played aloud, it can promote conversation, understanding, and has an overall effect on fostering bonding.
Lastly, our study revealed that the main modes of song search, in inter-generational households involved a few common techniques:
- Humming a tune
- Searching partial lyrics
- Browsing genres
- Browsing song recommendations
P01: Yeah… I was doing that last night. I was searching on YouTube. I guess I’ll think of a genre or a time. So I’ll search by genre, or search for something that’s like that… then I’ll look at the recommendations that come up- and that’s when I sorta’ go “oh that’s right, there’s that and I haven’t listed to it [inaudible]”… Like last night, we’re looking at the stuff from the late ‘60s-early ‘70s that umm garage whatever, psychedelia, and then I thought, “Ah yeah, that reminds me of that band…” so I put that one on, and so I saw the stuff that I’ve never seen before. So that’s been out there in the catalog for 50 years, but it’s new to me… So I try to find new stuff that’s old… even though I’ve got favourites.
P02: So a specific song that you know that you’ve forgotten about? Could you know some of the lyrics but not know all of it? Yeah, on YouTube music, you just type in some of the lyrics and it would give you recommendations based on that… [inaudible] Things relating to it…
The study suggests that in addition to the above findings, the interface has to be tangible (perhaps, bulky even) to remind the social actors of its affordances and the activities associated with the material. As such, the shared music playlist is probably best implemented alongside a tangible computing framework, to allow users to engage in shared reminiscence activities, aided by materiality.
- Curation process should allow users to proceed in the activity as individuals due to the nature of the activity
- Songs that are on the shared playlist can be randomised by the system to allow for turn-taking
- Perhaps, using the Gerdner protocol can help facilitate the shared playlist queuing of songs, beyond taking into account the individual's preferences and taste, but also to moderate song choice to promote an overall positive affect (i.e. filter out depressive songs in minor keys, or songs that are aggressive or triggering- e.g. techno, rap, heavy metal)
- The use of prompts to facilitate user-awareness when a song is played can help initiate reflective activities and support conversations around song choice or memories tied to the song
- Song searching can be facilitated using non-traditional interaction paradigms such as sound detection or vocalised instruction (e.g. SHAZAM technologies for song recognition through frequency and classification algorithms, as well as speech-to-text technologies and web-crawling advancements)
- Tangible user interfaces should be explored
Signed consent forms contain sensitive information so it is not available on here publicly (available on request).