Richard Harper - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Richard Harper
Microsoft Research Ltd., Cambridge, 2008
Journal of Philosophical Economics
This paper reports an ethnographic study of work practices in the IMF, and IMF mission activity i... more This paper reports an ethnographic study of work practices in the IMF, and IMF mission activity in particular. It will show how this work combines arithmetic, econometric and meeting skills with the adroit management of social processes that transform 'incomplete' or 'ambiguous numbers' into socially validated and hence 'objective for practical purposes' data. These data form the basis of epistemic certainty in the analytical work undertaken, and though this certainty is socially framed, it is treated as sufficient for substantive, robust and 'real world' macroeconomic policy making.
While it can be a delicate and emotionally-laden topic, new technological trends compel us to con... more While it can be a delicate and emotionally-laden topic, new technological trends compel us to confront a range of problems and issues about death and bereavement. This area presents complex challenges and the associated literature is extensive. In this paper we offer a way of slicing through several perspectives in the social sciences to see clearly a set of salient issues related to bereavement. Following this, we present a theoretical lens to provide a way of conceptualizing how the HCI community could begin to approach such issues. We then report field evidence from 11 in-depth interviews conducted with bereaved participants and apply the proposed lens to unpack key emergent problems and tensions. We conclude with a discussion on how the HCI design space might be sensitized to better support the social processes that unfold when bereavement occurs. Author Keywords Bereavement, understanding people, digital persistence
Interactive Marketing, 2004
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 2008
In this article, we examine the containment of clutter in family homes and, from this, outline co... more In this article, we examine the containment of clutter in family homes and, from this, outline considerations for design. Selected materials from an ethnographically informed study of home life are used to detail the ways in which families contain their clutter in bowls and drawers. Clutter, within these containers, is found to be made up of a heterogeneous collection of things that, for all manner of reasons, hold an ambiguous status in the home. It is shown that bowls and drawers provide a “safe” site of containment for clutter, giving the miscellany of content the “space” to be properly dealt with and classified, or to be left unresolved. The shared but idiosyncratic practices families use to contain their clutter are seen to be one of the ways in which the home, or at least the idea of home, is collectively produced. It is also part of the means by which families come to make their homes distinct and unique. These findings are used to consider what it might mean to design for th...
Research into the use of audio-video technologies forcollaboration frequently raises issues of pr... more Research into the use of audio-video technologies forcollaboration frequently raises issues of privacy and controlfor the users of these systems. Common problems are thoseof protecting individual privacy and providing mechanismsfor awareness of network usage, while at the same timemaintaining enough flexibility in the network for it to beuseful. Godard is a flexible architecture for audio-videoservices, developed at Rank Xerox EuroPARC, whichtackles these problems. This particular model has been in useat EuroPARC for ...
Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), 2016
This paper considers the shared awareness perspective put forward by Tenenberg, Roth and Socha. S... more This paper considers the shared awareness perspective put forward by Tenenberg, Roth and Socha. Seeking to treat this view from its philosophical background in Quine, Davidson and Bratman, this paper offers a different approach to shared phenomena, one derived from Wittgenstein and Garfinkel. It explains how this view motivated one of my own study’s of work, in particular the work of economists at the International Monetary Fund, and demonstrates how these individuals operated in a shared knowledge space constituted by and reflexively organised through documents, most especially Staff Reports. This perspective on shared phenomena focuses, thus, on cultural practice and its reasoning forms. It thus also eschews the ‘mental phenomena’ central to Tenenberg, Roth and Socha’s perspective. The consequences of the Wittgenstein/Garfinkel view for systems design and CSCW are remarked upon.
Conference companion on Human factors in computing systems common ground - CHI '96, 1996
An initial hurdle encountered by new information systems is user acceptance, and many systems fai... more An initial hurdle encountered by new information systems is user acceptance, and many systems fail this test at great cost to customers and developers. We have investigated methods, based on models of users' responsibilities, for assessing a system's likelihood of acceptance or rejection. We describe an instance of testing a design heuristic based on responsibility modelling.
Information Design Journal, 1998
Interaction modalities with document technologies have, until recently, been quite limited. Curre... more Interaction modalities with document technologies have, until recently, been quite limited. Current advances have led to the emergance of a host of new techniques for navigation, marking and annotation, and these are allowing users of documents to get to grips with documents more effectively than before. This paper illustrates how sociological investigations can provide insights into what these new interaction modalities might be.
Behaviour & Information Technology, 1992
US Patent Number: 319607.0
A method of interacting between a display system and a user device is described in which a number... more A method of interacting between a display system and a user device is described in which a number of images are displayed by the display system. A user captures one of the images using a camera on the user device and sends the captured image over a wireless link to the display system. Upon receipt, the display system determines the identity of the sending user device and analyses the received image, and if the image matches one of those displayed, the system sends any data associated with the displayed image to the user device over ...
Lucia Terrenghi LMU University of Munich Amalienstrasse 17 80333 Munich, Germany lucia.terrenghi@... more Lucia Terrenghi LMU University of Munich Amalienstrasse 17 80333 Munich, Germany lucia.terrenghi@ifi.lmu.de Dynal Patel Dept. of Computer Science University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa 7701 dpatel@cs.uct.ac.za Richard Harper Microsoft Research 7 JJ Thomson Ave. Cambridge, UK CB3 0FB R.harper@microsoft.com Abigail Sellen Microsoft Research 7 JJ Thomson Ave. Cambridge, UK CB3 0FB Asellen@microsoft.com Nicolai Marquardt Microsoft Research 7 JJ Thomson Ave. Cambridge, UK CB3 0FB t-nimarq@microsoft.com Mike Molloy Microsoft Research 7 JJ Thomson Ave. Cambridge, UK CB3 0FB We present the “Time-Mill”: a digitally augmented mirror and image display device. Built by encasing offthe-shelf components in a unique physical form, the Time-Mill is a cultural probe designed to explore how visual image capture, tactile input, and aesthetically controlled image replay can provide a basis for reflection, evocation of place, and aesthetic wonder in a home setting.
Workplaces in all sectors are experiencing digitalization spurred primarily by increasing access ... more Workplaces in all sectors are experiencing digitalization spurred primarily by increasing access to data and AI. Many initiatives are failing to produce expected outcomes, and are even producing negative outcomes on workplace wellbeing. The insights generated by CSCW researchers seem to have failed to reach their targets: the challenges and opportunities for successful appropriation of technology have rarely been adopted by managers, or they were not articulated in a way that facilitated follow-on success. A failure of academic research to impact the world is a known problem – information systems research is abundant with analysis of the managerial challenges that have not been noted by managers themselves – it has been less discussed among CSCW researchers. In this workshop, we wish to gather researchers and practitioners interested
Microsoft Research Ltd., Cambridge, 2008
Journal of Philosophical Economics
This paper reports an ethnographic study of work practices in the IMF, and IMF mission activity i... more This paper reports an ethnographic study of work practices in the IMF, and IMF mission activity in particular. It will show how this work combines arithmetic, econometric and meeting skills with the adroit management of social processes that transform 'incomplete' or 'ambiguous numbers' into socially validated and hence 'objective for practical purposes' data. These data form the basis of epistemic certainty in the analytical work undertaken, and though this certainty is socially framed, it is treated as sufficient for substantive, robust and 'real world' macroeconomic policy making.
While it can be a delicate and emotionally-laden topic, new technological trends compel us to con... more While it can be a delicate and emotionally-laden topic, new technological trends compel us to confront a range of problems and issues about death and bereavement. This area presents complex challenges and the associated literature is extensive. In this paper we offer a way of slicing through several perspectives in the social sciences to see clearly a set of salient issues related to bereavement. Following this, we present a theoretical lens to provide a way of conceptualizing how the HCI community could begin to approach such issues. We then report field evidence from 11 in-depth interviews conducted with bereaved participants and apply the proposed lens to unpack key emergent problems and tensions. We conclude with a discussion on how the HCI design space might be sensitized to better support the social processes that unfold when bereavement occurs. Author Keywords Bereavement, understanding people, digital persistence
Interactive Marketing, 2004
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 2008
In this article, we examine the containment of clutter in family homes and, from this, outline co... more In this article, we examine the containment of clutter in family homes and, from this, outline considerations for design. Selected materials from an ethnographically informed study of home life are used to detail the ways in which families contain their clutter in bowls and drawers. Clutter, within these containers, is found to be made up of a heterogeneous collection of things that, for all manner of reasons, hold an ambiguous status in the home. It is shown that bowls and drawers provide a “safe” site of containment for clutter, giving the miscellany of content the “space” to be properly dealt with and classified, or to be left unresolved. The shared but idiosyncratic practices families use to contain their clutter are seen to be one of the ways in which the home, or at least the idea of home, is collectively produced. It is also part of the means by which families come to make their homes distinct and unique. These findings are used to consider what it might mean to design for th...
Research into the use of audio-video technologies forcollaboration frequently raises issues of pr... more Research into the use of audio-video technologies forcollaboration frequently raises issues of privacy and controlfor the users of these systems. Common problems are thoseof protecting individual privacy and providing mechanismsfor awareness of network usage, while at the same timemaintaining enough flexibility in the network for it to beuseful. Godard is a flexible architecture for audio-videoservices, developed at Rank Xerox EuroPARC, whichtackles these problems. This particular model has been in useat EuroPARC for ...
Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), 2016
This paper considers the shared awareness perspective put forward by Tenenberg, Roth and Socha. S... more This paper considers the shared awareness perspective put forward by Tenenberg, Roth and Socha. Seeking to treat this view from its philosophical background in Quine, Davidson and Bratman, this paper offers a different approach to shared phenomena, one derived from Wittgenstein and Garfinkel. It explains how this view motivated one of my own study’s of work, in particular the work of economists at the International Monetary Fund, and demonstrates how these individuals operated in a shared knowledge space constituted by and reflexively organised through documents, most especially Staff Reports. This perspective on shared phenomena focuses, thus, on cultural practice and its reasoning forms. It thus also eschews the ‘mental phenomena’ central to Tenenberg, Roth and Socha’s perspective. The consequences of the Wittgenstein/Garfinkel view for systems design and CSCW are remarked upon.
Conference companion on Human factors in computing systems common ground - CHI '96, 1996
An initial hurdle encountered by new information systems is user acceptance, and many systems fai... more An initial hurdle encountered by new information systems is user acceptance, and many systems fail this test at great cost to customers and developers. We have investigated methods, based on models of users' responsibilities, for assessing a system's likelihood of acceptance or rejection. We describe an instance of testing a design heuristic based on responsibility modelling.
Information Design Journal, 1998
Interaction modalities with document technologies have, until recently, been quite limited. Curre... more Interaction modalities with document technologies have, until recently, been quite limited. Current advances have led to the emergance of a host of new techniques for navigation, marking and annotation, and these are allowing users of documents to get to grips with documents more effectively than before. This paper illustrates how sociological investigations can provide insights into what these new interaction modalities might be.
Behaviour & Information Technology, 1992
US Patent Number: 319607.0
A method of interacting between a display system and a user device is described in which a number... more A method of interacting between a display system and a user device is described in which a number of images are displayed by the display system. A user captures one of the images using a camera on the user device and sends the captured image over a wireless link to the display system. Upon receipt, the display system determines the identity of the sending user device and analyses the received image, and if the image matches one of those displayed, the system sends any data associated with the displayed image to the user device over ...
Lucia Terrenghi LMU University of Munich Amalienstrasse 17 80333 Munich, Germany lucia.terrenghi@... more Lucia Terrenghi LMU University of Munich Amalienstrasse 17 80333 Munich, Germany lucia.terrenghi@ifi.lmu.de Dynal Patel Dept. of Computer Science University of Cape Town Cape Town, South Africa 7701 dpatel@cs.uct.ac.za Richard Harper Microsoft Research 7 JJ Thomson Ave. Cambridge, UK CB3 0FB R.harper@microsoft.com Abigail Sellen Microsoft Research 7 JJ Thomson Ave. Cambridge, UK CB3 0FB Asellen@microsoft.com Nicolai Marquardt Microsoft Research 7 JJ Thomson Ave. Cambridge, UK CB3 0FB t-nimarq@microsoft.com Mike Molloy Microsoft Research 7 JJ Thomson Ave. Cambridge, UK CB3 0FB We present the “Time-Mill”: a digitally augmented mirror and image display device. Built by encasing offthe-shelf components in a unique physical form, the Time-Mill is a cultural probe designed to explore how visual image capture, tactile input, and aesthetically controlled image replay can provide a basis for reflection, evocation of place, and aesthetic wonder in a home setting.
Workplaces in all sectors are experiencing digitalization spurred primarily by increasing access ... more Workplaces in all sectors are experiencing digitalization spurred primarily by increasing access to data and AI. Many initiatives are failing to produce expected outcomes, and are even producing negative outcomes on workplace wellbeing. The insights generated by CSCW researchers seem to have failed to reach their targets: the challenges and opportunities for successful appropriation of technology have rarely been adopted by managers, or they were not articulated in a way that facilitated follow-on success. A failure of academic research to impact the world is a known problem – information systems research is abundant with analysis of the managerial challenges that have not been noted by managers themselves – it has been less discussed among CSCW researchers. In this workshop, we wish to gather researchers and practitioners interested