Ex-situ technology appropriation of an e-deliberation platform in an art gallery

Abstract

When designing interactive web applications and services, understanding the situated nature of interaction and investigating technology appropriation experiences in the context of real-world use deserve special attention. In this paper, we report on experiences with technology appropriation of an e-Deliberation platform that we designed to support collaborative interpretation in an art gallery. Our qualitative study is based on interviews with 23 participants to explore a) visitors' practices when commenting on and interpreting art and b) how these practices are shaped by interaction with an e-Deliberation platform for collaborative writing that imposes strict regulations. An analysis of 12 hours of interview data yielded two particular appropriation practices related to the demand to satisfy additional visitors' communication needs, such as exchanging their ideas and thoughts face-to-face before writing an interpretation. Although the designers anticipated these specific needs, users also appropriated the e-Deliberation platform in unanticipated ways. These practices lead to a better understanding of the situated nature of ex-situ interaction when using interactive web applications to support remote collaboration in the art gallery context.

Participatory IT for In-situ and Ex-situ Collaborative Writing in Semi-public Spaces

“…When they were outside the gallery, they had read-access only. Secondly, we found that for writing a coherent art interpretation, visitors prefer to be in a relaxed atmosphere (Al Zubaidi et al, 2017). The visitors mentioned they need more time to reflect upon the artwork to write an elaborate text.…”

“…Based on these results, the participants were invited to write a new interpretation that integrated ideas from highlighted interpretations. The HBGA allows citizens to find common ground and a shared solution, proposal or a collaboratively written text as the result of a collaborative process (Al Zubaidi- Polli et al, 2017). In summary, using the contextual consensus as a design concept means inviting constructive, moderated participation that is supported by a human-based genetic algorithm.…”

“…The PIT is physically embedded in a shared, semi-public place and accessible in-situ via mobile phones and ex-situ via an e-deliberation platform. Using an e-deliberation platform supports the users in collaborative discussions and in writing one collaborative text containing the consensus of the participants (Al Zubaidi- Polli et al, 2017).…”

“…The research presented in this paper builds upon the analysis of two design experiments: our initial design experiment, Local Area Artwork (LAA) (Polli et al, 2013; and the follow-up design experiment, Aarhus"s Artwork (AA) (Al Zubaidi- Polli et al, 2017). Our initial research project, LAA, focused on in-situ collaborative art interpretation writing , and the follow-up study, AA, explored the extension to exsitu interpretation writing (Al Zubaidi-Polli, 2017).…”

“…Using this platform, we sought to investigate how an e-deliberation platform can engage citizens in writing a coherent collaborative text (Al Zubaidi- Polli et al, 2017). At the end of the study, we reached a contextual consensus of the different interpretations submitted by the citizens, which o o k and o wgren (2012) describe strong concepts as an intermediate-level knowledge form that can emerge from designoriented HCI research: "Strong concepts are design elements abstracted beyond particular instances, which have the potential to be appropriated by designers and researchers."…”