An ethnographic approach to design
The human-computer interaction handbook
Ambient agoras: InfoRiver, SIAM, Hello.Wall
CHI '04 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Seamful interweaving: heterogeneity in the theory and design of interactive systems
DIS '04 Proceedings of the 5th conference on Designing interactive systems: processes, practices, methods, and techniques
BOINC: A System for Public-Resource Computing and Storage
GRID '04 Proceedings of the 5th IEEE/ACM International Workshop on Grid Computing
How web community organisation can help grid computing
International Journal of Web Based Communities
Reflecting on the invisible: understanding end-user perceptions of ubiquitous computing
UbiComp '08 Proceedings of the 10th international conference on Ubiquitous computing
Why and why not explanations improve the intelligibility of context-aware intelligent systems
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
I Bet You Look Good on the Wall: Making the Invisible Computer Visible
AmI '09 Proceedings of the European Conference on Ambient Intelligence
The infrastructure problem in HCI
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Who's hogging the bandwidth: the consequences of revealing the invisible in the home
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
The design of eco-feedback technology
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Proceedings of the 19th international conference on World wide web
The challenge of designing scientific discovery games
Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games
Designing for the invisible: user-centered design of infrastructure awareness systems
Proceedings of the 8th ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems
Ambient influence: can twinkly lights lure and abstract representations trigger behavioral change?
Proceedings of the 12th ACM international conference on Ubiquitous computing
The mini-grid framework: application programming support for ad-hoc, peer-to-peer volunteer grids
GPC'10 Proceedings of the 5th international conference on Advances in Grid and Pervasive Computing
The eLabBench: an interactive tabletop system for the biology laboratory
Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Interactive Tabletops and Surfaces
Overcoming interaction blindness through curiosity objects
CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Hi-index | 0.01 |
The success of a volunteer computing infrastructure depends on the contributions of its users. An example of such an infrastructure is the Mini-Grid, a local peer-to-peer system used for computational analysis of DNA. The speed of analysis increases as more users join the Mini-Grid. However, the invisible nature of such an infrastructure hinders adoption, as it is difficult for users to participate in an infrastructure they are not aware of. This paper introduces GridOrbit, a system designed to increase user awareness, fostering contributions to this infrastructure. We designed GridOrbit using a participatory design process with biologists, and subsequently deployed it for use in a biology laboratory. Our results indicate that the number of contributors to the Mini-Grid increased with the use of awareness technologies. In addition, our analysis presents their motives and behaviors. Finally, a characterization of user interaction with GridOrbit emerged, which enabled us to understand how awareness systems can be better designed. We see GridOrbit as an example of a broader class of technologies designed to create "Infrastructure Awareness" as a means to increase the contributions to technological infrastructures.