Rahmen und Routinen der Techniknutzung: was kann man aus Experimenten über alltägliche Techniknutzung lernen?

Abstract

Experiments are characterized as highly reliable instruments in the development of technology, while the validity and transferability of corresponding findings to everyday usage are insufficient and rarely reflected. Starting from this shortcoming, this paper answers two questions based on the qualitative analysis of video data from a usability experiment. First, how does the situation of the experiment influence the test person? Drawing on Goffman's frame analysis, this paper examines how the frames of the experiment and the testing of the technology modify the behavior in a different way for each test person. On the other hand, the laboratory is not an isolated space, people bring their habits and routines with them. Based on this argument, the second question is answered: what can be learned from experiments regarding the everyday use of technology, despite the influence of the experiment framing? Applying Giddens' concepts of actor and routine, habits of the use of technology are outlined that can be expected to occur also in everyday life and are nearly not affected by the frame of the experiment and the testing of the technology.