Engaging with Under-Resourced Communities for User Research through Self-Authored Videos

Abstract

The conventional 'participant-as-informant' model of user research has recently been challenged by approaches that advocate for participants to have a greater authorial control over narratives that portray their lived experiences. This is particularly important for addressing relationships of power and representation. Informed by narrative approaches in social work, we report on a study exploring the use of self-authored videos captured by 16 participants from under-resourced communities. Participants portrayed their mundane life experiences in a form of a video biography. Co-analysis of resulting videos showed that video biographies were used for: authentic representation of daily routines and life stories; portrayal of DIY identities; and promoting living well. Findings show how the self-authored biographies afforded participants a vehicle for challenging cultural stereotypes often associated with the research population. We further demonstrate the value of video-based approaches in user research for illuminating mundane life through rich autobiographical narratives.

Accessible Gaming Wearables: Opportunities for Players with Upper Limb Motor Disabilities

“…Participatory design and design fiction research are often used in HCI research and narrative inquiry. Participatory design has been used with narrative inquiry to explore creating narratives in video games [79], designing e-textiles [80], studying under-resourced communities [81], social media privacy [82], studying stigma [83], and individuals who have had strokes [84]. Design fiction has been used with narrative inquiry to explore sustainable strategies for communities [85], soft sensors in artistic research [86], and exploring silly design fiction [87].…”

“…Narrative inquiry is gaining popularity in HCI participatory design and design fiction research. In HCI co-design and participatory design research, narrative inquiry has been used on research exploring stories of social stigma [83], online privacy conflicts [82], stroke patients [84], lived experiences of under-resourced communities [81], knee replacement surgery patients [80], and player experience in video games [79]. In these cases, the narrative inquiry methods used with thematic analysis [79,82,83], visual analysis [84], affinity mapping [80], or co-analysis [81].…”

“…In HCI co-design and participatory design research, narrative inquiry has been used on research exploring stories of social stigma [83], online privacy conflicts [82], stroke patients [84], lived experiences of under-resourced communities [81], knee replacement surgery patients [80], and player experience in video games [79]. In these cases, the narrative inquiry methods used with thematic analysis [79,82,83], visual analysis [84], affinity mapping [80], or co-analysis [81]. In speculative and design fiction research, narrative inquiry is still sparsely used; however, dialogic/performative analysis is rarely represented where it is used.…”

“…In a similar subject, Vyas et al [81] used narrative inquiry to delve into the lived experiences of individuals in under-resourced communities. In this research, they found that the narrative nature of the data allowed participants to open up about very personal lived experiences [81].…”

“…In a similar subject, Vyas et al [81] used narrative inquiry to delve into the lived experiences of individuals in under-resourced communities. In this research, they found that the narrative nature of the data allowed participants to open up about very personal lived experiences [81]. We likewise found that hearing narratives of lived experiences from other participants allowed participants to open up more about their own experiences.…”