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Richard Harper

Other affiliations: University of Surrey, National Health Service, Microsoft  ...read more
Bio: Richard Harper is an academic researcher from Lancaster University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Mobile phone & Computer-supported cooperative work. The author has an hindex of 47, co-authored 200 publications receiving 8972 citations. Previous affiliations of Richard Harper include University of Surrey & National Health Service.


Papers
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Book
01 Nov 2001
TL;DR: Sellen and Harper as discussed by the authors used enthnography and cognitive psychology to study the use of paper from the level of the individual up to that of organizational culture, and concluded that paper will continue to play an important role in office life.
Abstract: From the Publisher: Over the past thirty years, many people have proclaimed the imminent arrival of the paperless office. Yet even the World Wide Web, which allows almost any computer to read and display another computer's documents, has only increased the amount of printing done by computer users. The use of e-mail in an organization increases paper consumption by an average of 40 percent. In The Myth of the Paperless Office, Abigail Sellen and Richard Harper study paper usage as a way to understand the work that people do and the reasons they do it the way they do. Using the tools of enthnography and cognitive psychology, they look at paper use from the level of the individual up to that of organizational culture. Central to Sellen and Harper's investigation is the concept of "affordances" -- the activities that an object allows, or affords. The physical properties of paper (its being thin, light, porous, opaque, and flexible) afford the human actions of grasping, carrying, folding, writing, and so on. The concept of affordance allows us to compare the affordances of paper with those of existing digital devices. We can then ask what kinds of devices or systems would make new kinds of activities possible or better support current activities. The authors argue that paper will continue to play an important role in office life. Rather than pursue the ideal of the paperless office, we should work toward a future in which paper and electronic document tools work in concert and organizational processes make optimal use of both.

795 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A study of mobile workers that highlights different facets of access to remote people and information, and different facet of anytime, anywhere, and four key factors in mobile work are identified.
Abstract: The rapid and accelerating move towards use of mobile technologies has increasingly provided people and organizations with the ability to work away from the office and on the move. The new ways of working afforded by these technologies are often characterized in terms of access to information and people anytime, anywhere. This article presents a study of mobile workers that highlights different facets of access to remote people and information, and different facets of anytime, anywhere. Four key factors in mobile work are identified: the role of planning, working in "dead time," accessing remote technological and informational resources, and monitoring the activities of remote colleagues. By reflecting on these issues, we can better understand the role of technology and artifacts in mobile work and identify the opportunities for the development of appropriate technological solutions to support mobile workers.

599 citations

Book
14 Aug 2003
TL;DR: Inside the Smart Home: Ideas, Possibilities, and Methods as discussed by the authors The Home of the Future: Past, Present, and Future: Explorations in the Dynamics of Domestic Life.
Abstract: Conceptions of the Home.- Inside the Smart Home: Ideas, Possibilities and Methods.- Conceptions of the Home.- Smart Homes: Past, Present and Future.- Households as Morally Ordered Communities: Explorations in the Dynamics of Domestic Life.- Time as a Rare Commodity in Home Life.- Emotional Context and "Significancies" of Media.- Designing for the Home.- Paper-mail in the Home of the 21st Century.- Switching On to Switch Off.- The Social Context of Home Computing.- Design with Care: Technology, Disability and the Home.- The Home of the Future.- Towards the Unremarkable Computer: Making Technology at Home in Domestic Routine.- Daily Routines and Means of Communication in a Smart Home.- Living Inside a Smart Home: A Case Study.- Smart Home, Dumb Suppliers? The Future of Smart Homes Markets.

426 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
22 Jul 2003
TL;DR: It is revealed that young people use mobile phone content and the phonesthemselves to participate in the practices of gift exchange and a number of possibilities for future phone-based applications and supporting hardware are suggested.
Abstract: This paper reports ethnographically informed observations of the use of mobile phones and text messaging services amongst young people. It offers a sociological explanation for the popularity of text messaging and for the sharing of mobile phones between co-proximate persons. Specifically, it reveals that young people use mobile phone content and the phones themselves to participate in the practices of gift exchange. By viewing mobile phone use in this way, the paper suggests a number of possibilities for future phone-based applications and supporting hardware.

331 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
20 Apr 2002
TL;DR: An overview of the data collected from an ethnographic study of teenagers and their use of mobile phones suggests that teenagers use their phones to participate in social practices that closely resemble forms of ritualised gift-giving.
Abstract: In this paper, we present an overview of the data collected from an ethnographic study of teenagers and their use of mobile phones. Through the data, we suggest that teenagers use their phones to participate in social practices that closely resemble forms of ritualised gift-giving. Such practices, we claim, shape the way teenagers understand and thus use their phones. We go onto show that this insight into everyday, phone-mediated activities has practical implications for mobile phone design. Using an example, we describe how teenagers' gift-giving practices can inform design, providing an initial means to conceptualise future emerging technologies

283 citations


Cited by
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01 Jan 2009

7,241 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
08 Sep 1978-Science

5,182 citations

Book
01 Jan 2003
TL;DR: In this paper, Sherry Turkle uses Internet MUDs (multi-user domains, or in older gaming parlance multi-user dungeons) as a launching pad for explorations of software design, user interfaces, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life, agents, virtual reality, and the on-line way of life.
Abstract: From the Publisher: A Question of Identity Life on the Screen is a fascinating and wide-ranging investigation of the impact of computers and networking on society, peoples' perceptions of themselves, and the individual's relationship to machines. Sherry Turkle, a Professor of the Sociology of Science at MIT and a licensed psychologist, uses Internet MUDs (multi-user domains, or in older gaming parlance multi-user dungeons) as a launching pad for explorations of software design, user interfaces, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life, agents, "bots," virtual reality, and "the on-line way of life." Turkle's discussion of postmodernism is particularly enlightening. She shows how postmodern concepts in art, architecture, and ethics are related to concrete topics much closer to home, for example AI research (Minsky's "Society of Mind") and even MUDs (exemplified by students with X-window terminals who are doing homework in one window and simultaneously playing out several different roles in the same MUD in other windows). Those of you who have (like me) been turned off by the shallow, pretentious, meaningless paintings and sculptures that litter our museums of modern art may have a different perspective after hearing what Turkle has to say. This is a psychoanalytical book, not a technical one. However, software developers and engineers will find it highly accessible because of the depth of the author's technical understanding and credibility. Unlike most other authors in this genre, Turkle does not constantly jar the technically-literate reader with blatant errors or bogus assertions about how things work. Although I personally don't have time or patience for MUDs,view most of AI as snake-oil, and abhor postmodern architecture, I thought the time spent reading this book was an extremely good investment.

4,965 citations

Journal Article

3,099 citations

01 Jan 2016
TL;DR: The the practice of everyday life is universally compatible with any devices to read and is available in the digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly.
Abstract: Thank you very much for downloading the practice of everyday life. Maybe you have knowledge that, people have look hundreds times for their chosen novels like this the practice of everyday life, but end up in harmful downloads. Rather than reading a good book with a cup of coffee in the afternoon, instead they are facing with some malicious bugs inside their desktop computer. the practice of everyday life is available in our digital library an online access to it is set as public so you can download it instantly. Our books collection spans in multiple locations, allowing you to get the most less latency time to download any of our books like this one. Kindly say, the the practice of everyday life is universally compatible with any devices to read.

2,932 citations