research-article

Applying the lens of sensory ethnography to sustainable HCI

Authors:

Kerstin Leder Mackley,

Marcus Hanratty,

Carolina Escobar-Tello,

Roxana MorosanuAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI), Volume 20, Issue 4

Article No.: 25, Pages 1 - 18

https://doi.org/10.1145/2494261

Published: 17 September 2013 Publication History

Abstract

Sociological appropriations of practice theory as applied to sustainable design have successfully problematized overly simplistic and individualistic models of consumer choice and behavior change. By taking everyday practices as the principal units of analysis, they move towards acknowledging the socially and materially structured nature of human activity. However, to inform sustainable HCI we also need to understand how practices are part of wider experiential environments and flows of practical activity. In this article, we develop an approach rooted in phenomenological anthropology and sensory ethnography. This approach builds on theories of place, perception and movement and enables us to situate practices, and understand practical activity, as emplaced within complex and shifting ecologies of things. Drawing on an interdisciplinary study of domestic energy consumption and digital media use, we discuss ethnographic and design practice examples. We demonstrate how this theoretical and methodological framework can be aligned with the 3rd paradigm of HCI.

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction Volume 20, Issue 4

Special issue on practice-oriented approaches to sustainable HCI

September 2013

156 pages

ISSN:1073-0516

EISSN:1557-7325

DOI:10.1145/2509404

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Copyright © 2013 ACM.

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Publication History

Published: 17 September 2013

Accepted: 01 March 2013

Revised: 01 October 2012

Received: 01 April 2012

Published in TOCHI Volume 20, Issue 4

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642727
Glad WGramfält MNilsson M(2024)Residents’ thermal comfort in Swedish newly built homes: political aesthetics and atmospheric practicesHousing Studies10.1080/02673037.2024.2373988(1-23)Online publication date: 9-Jul-2024
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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103245
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