A Noticeboard in "Both Worlds" Unsurprising Interfaces Supporting Easy Bi-Cultural Content Publication

Abstract

We describe the design of a digital noticeboard to support communication within a remote Aboriginal community whose aspiration is to live in "both worlds", nurturing and extending their Aboriginal culture and actively participating in Western society and economy. Three bi-cultural aspects have emerged and are presented here: the need for a bi-lingual noticeboard to span both oral and written language traditions; the tension between perfunctory information exchange and social, embodied protocols of telling in person and the different ways in which time is represented in both cultures. The design approach, developed iteratively through consultation, demonstration and testing led to an "unsurprising interface" aimed at maximizing use and appropriation across cultures by unifying visual, text and spoken contents in both passive and interactive displays in a modeless manner.

A Cross-Cultural Noticeboard for a Remote Community: Design, Deployment, and Evaluation

“…Studies conducted in rural areas and developing regions show that the uptake of ICTs is steadily growing [2,3], although sometimes use is adapted to local needs or available infrastructure (e.g. [13,15,17,22,23]).…”

“…Other aspects that came into focus during the project are also at odds with existing social media services: ownership of the contents as well as of the content management system, a social and relational approach to time management, strong bond to land and physical space, preference for working in groups [13][14][15] and sharing devices, and a diversity of infrastructure across the three townships where the community lives.…”

Designing for diversity in Aboriginal Australia

“…[9], and HCI researchers have successfully designed digital technologies with Australian Aboriginal communities (e.g. [3,13]). By and large, their efforts focused upon single communities.…”