Family life in the digital home — domestic telecommunications at the end of the 20th century

Abstract

This paper describes results from the first stage of a long-term study of people's use of ICT (information and communications technology) products and services in the domestic environment. It is part of BT's ongoing commitment to understanding, modelling and meeting the needs of its residential customers. At one level the research has already generated significant knowledge that has led directly to commercial benefit; at a second it has validated a number of research methods needed to capture the data to build a rich picture of people's actual as well as reported behaviour. At a third level it has also generated significant new scientific knowledge about the use of ICT products. The next step is to build on these successes using a 1000 strong UK household panel to build an unprecedented and unparalleled understanding of how and why people purchase, adapt and adapt to ICT as UK society moves into the 21st century. IntroductionThe UK residential telecommunications market is becoming increasingly competitive, and an understanding of customer loyalty is vital if an incumbent is to maintain its existing customer base, increase its market share, and retain competitive advantage throughout the digital revolution. Among other factors, customers are more likely to remain loyal to a company if the range of products and services on offer fit their needs and life-styles.Most telecommunications companies operating in the UK, including BT, commission market research with a wide sample of the UK population about aspects of communications technologies, both on an event-driven basis (for example, to provide information for a new product launch) and on a regular basis. Traditional market research techniques are a valuable means of capturing current consumer behaviours and attitudes. However, they can be poor at providing insight into future behaviours because it is difficult for respondents to predict what they intend to do with any accuracy and there is often a difference between reported and actual behaviours [1]. In addition, there has been little comprehensive research on the actual use of information and communications technology (ICT) within the home because traditional surveys have concentrated on data capture and analysis at the gross population level rather than empirically studying real patterns of use.The 'Family Life in the Digital Home' project has piloted and applied novel qualitative methodologies and sophisticated predictive modelling techniques to investigate naturally occurring usage of communications and information technologies by individuals in the domestic context over significant periods of time.The project consists of two phases:• a recently completed year-long study that assessed a variety of data-capture techniques,• a three-year implementation of successful techniques to address research questions arising from the literature, the first year's work, and market drivers. Related workThe impact of the rapid growth of the information and communication technology industry on society is an issue that has genera...

Investigating Genres and Perspectives in HCI Research on the Home

“…Authors have described activities, materials and interactions with artifacts involved in the practices of, amongst others, gardening [36], pottering [78,93], religious practice [90,92], health monitoring [1,39], interpersonal communication [3,4,26], domestic networks management [38], and resource consumption [74]. Works in this genre often rely on an ongoing relationship between participants and researchers as a way to gain an insider's understanding of the more intimate aspects of domestic practices.…”

Examining the Socio-Economic Determinants of Broadband Adopters and Non-Adopters in the United Kingdom

“…The results indicate that the most important variables when considering the adoption factors are, gender, race, education, and income. Previous studies that examined the adoption of ICTs such as the computer [25,27], the telephone [3], internet [2] and broadband [1] in the households and its subsequent impact on users have included these variables. Since home computers, the telephone, and the internet are grouped within the same technology cluster [21], the socioeconomic variables that have been employed to study one technology can also be used to study the others.…”

Adding critical sensibilities to domestic communication technologies

“…Other studies reinforce this sentiment of maintaining rhythm, but express it quite differently. Anderson et al (1999) demonstrate how families can have an affinity with domestic rhythms in other homes. This remote awareness is used to avoid intrusion by deliberately avoiding calls at inconvenient times, such as meal times or when the caller knows the recipient will be watching a particular television programme.…”

“…These were analysed to detect common threads of usage and thus adoption behaviour that persisted across the different communication devices. The technologies selected were: the traditional telephone (Anderson et al,1999;Kline 2003); emerging technologies such as domestic networking (Grinter and Edwards, 2005) and Instant Messaging (IM) (Diane et al, 2002;Grinter and Palen, 2002); and finally novel prototype technologies such as interactive message and video communication devices providing asynchronous text and pictorial images between family groups (Hutchinson et al, 2003) and 'media spaces' (Hindus et al, 2001) The first identified theme that consistently cut across all the identified technologies was the need for any given technology to fit in with natural domestic rhythms. Work patterns, schooling, preparing and eating meals and relationships with neighbours are examples of important rhythms that mould domestic routine.…”

“…Again, a common theme between these studies was how different communication technologies were able to manage obligation. Anderson et al (1999) describes how the phone can be used to defer an obligation through the use of 'pseudo-maintenance' calls. Calls are made when the caller knows the recipient is out and can leave a message thus helping to sustain the relationship.…”