The social mediation of everyday user experiences
Eeva Raita · Työväentutkimus Vuosikirja · 2015
A vast amount of our daily experiences emerge in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as smartphones and tablets. A major trend for studying these experiences is user experience research in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). While this string of research has focused on the subjectivity of user experiences, less is known about their social origins, or intersubjectivity. I draw on the concept of mediation to develop an understanding of how user experience is situated not inside the head of the individual, but rather also to the social and material context. I argue that we can increase our understanding of user experience by approaching it as a phenomenon that encompasses multilayer mediation. User experience is not mediated only by ICT use, but also by social processes. The empirical research utilizes a mixed methods approach and combines quantitative and qualitative methods. I investigate how social processes mediate everyday user experiences by focusing on three particular social processes: interpretations, expectations, and habits. The fourth study broadens understanding of the mediating role of ICT use by addressing the central yet ambiguous relationship between user experience and usability. Each of the studied processes mediates user experience in a unique way. First, user experiences do not concern only the present user system interaction; they are adjusted and compared to expectations derived from others opinions. Second, experiences with a given artifact differ between people because of interpretative flexibility: the same artifact can be interpreted and experienced very differently, with much depending on socially shared perspectives. Third, social processes are not only about meaning-making but they concern also practices. ICT is commonly experienced through repetitive behavior, or habits, which connect the user to social customs. Last, usability is a process that mediates the flow of experiencing. Good usability lets users engage in technology-mediated experiences, but poor usability forces users to focus on the broken device. The dissertation advances user experience research by articulating the multilayer mediation of everyday experiences with ICT. It questions the individual-centric emphasis in prominent mainstream research by expanding the understanding of how individual s user experiences are socially mediated. It ties together scientific traditions to pave way for user experience design, development and evaluation that is socially discerning. Thereby social psychological theories and research methods offer a solid base for understanding and capturing the intersubjectivity of user experiences. Importantly, the work denotes that relationships to other people are always part of our user experiences even when we are ostensibly by ourselves.