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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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Journal ArticleDOI
Graham Button1, Richard Harper1
31 Dec 1995
TL;DR: Work-practice is an ambiguous concept in sociology that is used to refer to different orders to work organisation as discussed by the authors, and it is argued that as such it is as likely to mask the situated and contingent organisation of work as it is to make it visible.
Abstract: Designers are increasingly being urged to take account of the situated and contingent organisation of the work that their systems are to support or automate. Within CSCW the concept of work-practice is a much used token for the organisation of work. This paper develops the debate about the position of work-practice in design by recognising that it is an ambiguous concept in sociology that is used to refer to different orders to work organisation. It is argued that as such it is as likely to mask the situated and contingent organisation of work as it is to make it visible. In order to fully realise the radicalisation of design portended by the deployment of the concept of work-practice and in order to make visible thein situ organisation of work it is argued that full and due weight has to be placed upon grounding the concept inanalytic explications of the interactional ordering of work. This stands in contrast to grounding work-practice in the formalisms of work emanating from theoretical debates about work in a capitalist economic/social structure; documentations of work; the narratives of workers, managers, and purchasers; dialogues with users, and mere observations of work. Two studies are invoked to substantiate this argument, one involving a sales ordering and invoicing system, the other a crime reporting system.

104 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The role of presence, particularly as enabled by Bluetooth device discovery, as the driver for the system's behavior and its situational awareness is explored.
Abstract: Public digital displays are increasingly pervasive and an important enabling technology for many types of ubiquitous computing scenarios. Not only do they provide a simple and effective way of bringing digital information into our physical world, but their presence could also be a catalyst for situated interaction and the emergence of local user-generated content. This paper explores the role of presence, particularly as enabled by Bluetooth device discovery, as the driver for the system's behavior and its situational awareness.

102 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
07 Jan 2001
TL;DR: The role of the consumer in the diffusion of mobile telecommunications technologies is considered, and the now well attested view that the diffusion and consumption of mobile telephony and computing cannot be understood without investigating the contexts and processes of their use in everyday life is reiterated.
Abstract: This article considers the role of the consumer in the diffusion of mobile telecommunications technologies. There is presently little research on the consumption and use of mobile technologies, and the aim of the present paper is to facilitate discussion about the way consumer behaviour is currently understood in industry and academia. The paper considers key themes in social science research on mobile ICTs, and understandings of the consumer held by those in the mobile industry. Bringing these understandings together, we reiterate the now well attested view that the diffusion and consumption of mobile telephony and computing cannot be understood without investigating the contexts and processes of their use in everyday life.

100 citations

Proceedings ArticleDOI
05 Apr 2003
TL;DR: A field study of teenage mobile phone users and, specifically, their participation in gift-giving practices is drawn on to design the user interface and form of a concept mobile phone.
Abstract: In this paper, we demonstrate how ethnographic fieldwork studies can be used to inform the design of third generation mobile phones. We draw on a field study of teenage mobile phone users and, specifically, their participation in gift-giving practices to design the user interface and form of a concept mobile phone. The concept device is designed to support teenagers' social practices through a novel multimedia messaging system and the augmentation of the phone's address book. We report on the process adopted to design the concept and briefly describe preliminary reactions from potential users. To conclude the paper, we comment on the lessons we have learnt in applying ethnographic findings to design.

97 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