Lessons from the Life of Domestic Objects - Design Considerations for UbiComp Devices for Home

Domestic Objects are emerging as a source for embedding ubiquitous computer technologies. The current focus on single objects or a singular function neglects people’s diverse functional use of domestic objects and their cultural significances at home. Based on ethnographic interviews, this paper reports how people utilize domestic objects in relation to activities and domestic spaces. The paper concludes with some design considerations for ubiquitous computer devices. 1 Understanding the Domestic Environment Ubiquitous computer technologies signify a transformation of the traditional form of computers into diverse objects that make up our everyday environment. The discussions on ubiquitous computer technologies initially focused on the work environment until the late 1990s when a call emerged emphasizing the need for exploring the home environment [1, 2]. Together with the growing industry interests in so-called smart home technologies, the home environment has emerged as a new source of design opportunities for ubiquitous computer technologies. At the same time, as the discourse in human-computer interactions expanded beyond the domain of computer related disciplines, researchers in the field began to unleash particular considerations necessary for designing ubiquitous technologies for home. Three particular research approaches are worth mentioning in the area of designing ubiquitous computer technologies for home thus far developed: (1) understanding people at home as users, (2) designing to support routine activities, and (3) substituting existing functions of home objects with computational devices. Understanding People at Home as Users Initially from the work environment and later within the domestic environment, the use of technologies was initially studied from the perspective of technology