Design and deployment of everyday UbiComp solutions at the hotel: An empirical study of intrinsic practice transformation

Abstract

Understanding how people employ digital artifacts in their everyday settings to create more advanced interactive habitats is becoming a key issue in HCI research. This paper aims to contribute to this research by reporting an empirical study of artifact ecologies and their dynamics in day-to-day activities at a hotel. We describe two technological solutions, designed and implemented by people in the settings: (a) converting a paper-based cleaning staff roster into a Google Doc, and (b) switching from a traditional fax machine to email as a technology for handling communication with suppliers. We discuss a range of factors affecting such user-driven innovations, as well as the impact of the technologies on larger-scale interactive habitats. © 2013 Springer International Publishing.