Publications
Following are some of my publications, including downloads where available. If you are interested in copies of publications that do not appear below, email me at b [dash] foucault [at] northwestern [dot] edu.
Foucault, B. and Melican, J. (2007). The Digital and the Divine: Taking a Ritual View of
Communication and ICT Interaction. Proceedings of the 2007 Human Computer Interaction International Conference. Beijing, China.
Drawing upon James Carey’s ritual model of communication as a framework, we argue that rituals, especially religious rituals, are important resources for technology design. We suggest that a ritual view of ICT interaction represents an alternative and significant model for ICT development and evaluation, and that the observance of religious rituals affords researchers the opportunity to see cultural values at the peak of their expression. To illustrate, we describe several examples and three case studies of religious rituals that involve technology. For each, we discuss the ritual’s enactment, where and how it intersects with technology, and the broader cultural values it embodies. We conclude with remarks about how religious values are meaningful for the design of culturally relevant consumer technologies and we offer advice on how other researchers can use ritual observation to inform and inspire their technology designs. .pdf
Cramer, M., Zutty, D., Foucault, B., Huffaker, D., Derby, D., and Cassell, J. (2007). Everything in Moderation: The Effects of Adult Moderators in Online Youth Communities. Proceedings of the 2007 Communities & Technologies conference. East Lansing, Michigan. Selected for Presentation in Best Paper session.
There is considerable debate over the appropriate role for adults in youth online communities. Although many within the mass media argue for adult supervision of youth online, our research suggests that many young people are using the Internet to communicate productively with peers, to solve problems and learn collaboratively online. However, without studies that explicitly explore the positive aspects of youth online community involvement and the actual effects of adult intervention and oversight, only misguided and chilling stories may hit the news. In this study, we examine the 1998 Junior Summit, a well-studied, early example of a large-scale international community for youth, in order to look at the effects of moderator involvement on several measures of positive youth involvement. Children who participated in the Junior Summit were asked to identify and write white-papers about the ways in which technology could help young people. We have selected the Junior Summit as our community of focus because we have access to data that is mostly otherwise unavailable to researchers – the content of all of the community’s posts as well as information about each participant, follow-up interviews five year’s after the community’s launch, and questionnaire data about self-efficacy and well-being. In this study, we compare the content of three different sub-forums, with different adult moderators and different involvement levels, in order to evaluate the impact of adult moderation on the community. Results demonstrate that adult moderation has a mixed effect on the participation, network formation, and concrete solutions proposed by the youth participants in online communities. Our findings indicate that medium level adult moderation works best in mediating youth participation in online communities. Our conclusions bear on the nature of youth participation online, and the design of future youth online communities. .pdf
Foucault, B., Mentis, H., Sengers, P., and Welles, D. (2007). Provoking Sociability. Proceedings of the CHI2007 conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. San Jose, CA, USA.
In this study, we explore the potential usefulness of disturbing, uncomfortable systems, demonstrating that provocative technology can have a positive effect on social relationships. We designed and evaluated an agent-based system that collects user information by asking seemingly benign questions, and then uses it to spread false, strange gossip throughout an office space. We show that provocative interaction on-line can improve off-line sociability. .pdf
Woodruff, A., Augustin, S., and Foucault, B. (2007). Sabbath Day Home Automation: “It’s Like Mixing Technology and Religion.” Proceedings of the CHI2007 conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. San Jose, CA, USA. CHI Honorable Mention.
We present a qualitative study of 20 American Orthodox Jewish families’ use of home automation for religious purposes. These lead users offer insight into real-life, long-term experience with home automation technologies. We discuss how automation was seen by participants to contribute to spiritual experience and how participants oriented to the use of automation as a religious custom. We also discuss the relationship of home automation to family life. We draw design implications for the broader population, including surrender of control as a design resource, home technologies that support long-term goals and lifestyle choices, and respite from technology. .pdf
Foucault, B. E. (2005). Contextualizing Cultures for the Commercial World: Techniques for Presenting Field Research in Business Environments. Proceedings of the 2005 Human Computer Interaction International Conference. Las Vegas, NV.
This paper describes four new techniques for presenting ethnographic research to corporate product development teams. The techniques discussed are Mood Boards for quickly disseminating information from the field, Culture Cards for tangibly disseminating research results, Culture-Scapes for developing empathy during research presentations, and Culture Capsules for accessibly representing unfamiliar cultures within office spaces. All four techniques were used to effectively showcase field research conducted in Asia, as well as work conducted with various sub-cultures in the United States. Examples from these studies are used to demonstrate how the techniques ease understanding and incorporation of ethnographic research results in corporate product development teams. They are also used to highlight which techniques most successfully impacted product development and provided business value. .pdf
Foucault, B. E., Russell, R. S., and Bell, G. (2004). Techniques for Researching and Designing Global Products in an Unstable World: A Case Study. Proceedings of the CHI2004 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Vienna, Austria.
The value of ethnographic field work for guiding and inspiring product design is indisputable, especially for development teams working on products for other cultures. However, global instability can make it difficult or impossible for researchers and product designers to travel to foreign countries to conduct field work, leaving them ill equipped to guide culturally-appropriate product design. In this paper, we present a series of ethnographically-inspired techniques that allow researchers and development teams to gather a range of culturally relevant information for product design without visiting the countries for which they are designing. These techniques are not intended to substitute for on-the-ground ethnographic fieldwork, rather, they are intended to serve as a surrogate until further in-situ research can be conducted. .pdf
Foucault, B., and Scheufele, D. A. (2002). Web vs. Campus Store? Why Students Buy Textbooks Online. The Journal of Consumer Marketing, 19 (5), 409-423.
This study proposes and tests several social and perceptual motivations for shopping online. Using online textbook purchasing as a model, we outline predictors of online purchasing based on motivations theories drawn from traditional online consumer motivation research, social motivation theory, social influence theory and uses and gratifications theory. Our research adds a social and perceptual dimension to much of the typical online motivation research that deals with availability and cost issues. Data were collected using a pencil-and-paper survey of 156 students from a large Northeastern university. Findings of this study indicated that previous online purchase, positive social environment, professor support, knowledge of online retailers, and perception that needs will be met online are all predictors of online textbook purchasing. Implications for advertisers, online textbook retailers and e-commerce, more generally, are discussed. .pdf