Using Machinima as Cultural Probes to Study Communication in Children's Virtual Worlds: An Exploratory Approach

Engagability

Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction ◽

10.4018/978-1-59140-562-7.ch031 ◽

2006 ◽

pp. 196-198

Author(s):

John Knight

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Virtual Worlds ◽

Product Life Cycle ◽

Important Research ◽

The Real ◽

Voluntary Engagement ◽

Technological Advances ◽

Exploratory Approach ◽

Recent Trends ◽

Virtual Experiences

Recent trends in HCI have sought to widen the range of use qualities beyond accessibility and usability. The impetus for this is fourfold. First, some argue that consumer behaviour has become more sophisticated and that people expect products to give them a number of life-style benefits. The benefits that products can give people include functional benefits (the product does something) and suprafunctional benefits (the product expresses something). Engagability is thus important in understanding people’s preferences and relationships with products. Second, technological advances offer the possibility of designing experiences that are like those in the real world. Engagability is therefore important in providing an evaluative and exploratory approach to understanding “real” and “virtual” experiences. Third, the experiences that people value (e.g., sports) require voluntary engagement. Thus, engagability is important in designing experiences that require discretionary use. Lastly, the product life cycle suggests the need to look beyond design to engagement. Products change from their initial production, through distribution to consumption. Each phase of this life cycle contains decision-making activities (e.g., purchasing, design, etc.). Engagability is an important research focus in explaining stakeholders’ values in making these decisions. As such, engagability research seeks to understand the nature of experience in the real and virtual worlds. The activities that people become engaged with are often complex and social and thus challenge the traditional HCI focus on the single task directed user. Important application areas for this inquiry are learning, health and sport, and games.

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Social Interactions in Virtual Worlds

10.1017/9781316422823 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Social Interactions ◽

Virtual Worlds

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Control in Flexible Working Arrangements

Journal of Personnel Psychology ◽

10.1027/1866-5888/a000121 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 61-69 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Cornelia Gerdenitsch ◽

Bettina Kubicek ◽

Christian Korunka

Keyword(s):

Self Determination Theory ◽

Digital Natives ◽

Self Determination ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Similar Extent ◽

Decision Latitude ◽

Media Technologies ◽

Exploratory Approach ◽

Flexible Working ◽

Temporal And Spatial

Supported by media technologies, today’s employees can increasingly decide when and where to work. The present study examines positive and negative aspects of this temporal and spatial flexibility, and the perceptions of control in these situations based on propositions of self-determination theory. Using an exploratory approach we conducted semi-structured interviews with 45 working digital natives. Participants described positive and negative situations separately for temporal and spatial flexibility, and rated the extent to which they felt autonomous and externally controlled. Situations appraised positively were best described by decision latitude, while negatively evaluated ones were best described by work–nonwork conflict. Positive situations were perceived as autonomous rather than externally controlled; negative situations were rated as autonomously and externally controlled to a similar extent.

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