From my perspective, photography is a means to remember different important experiences in one’s life: from a new member entering the family, to a once-in-a-lifetime trip. But I feel people have come to abuse the privileges their smartphones have given them by taking pictures that are inappropriate or of things not meaningful at all. They have become obsessed with keeping up to date with “important” events to the point that the thought of unplugging themselves is somewhat nauseating.
I’d like to think that I am a part of the small percentage of people that can detach from reality and take time for myself without the need for updating my timeline or news feed. The way people depend on their phones for every little thing is comparable to having a crippling disability due to its grasp on young people.
Not having a phone on their person is shocking, an outrage even. The internet has made socialising a drug; it is toxic in the way it reels people in for more with different types of photography dragging people in. From “memes” to text posts, social media is flooded with images reaching from funny slip ups in politics to the latest game crazes and children’s television programmes. It is partially true that these sorts of things are melting the brains of teens as they are highly distracting, but they are also a positive outlet for body positivity and making awareness about certain topics. But what does photography have to do with all of this? Photography allows different topics to go viral on social media as it is a way to capture things in the moment allowing them to “trend”: it gives us something to laugh at, something to aspire to be but it’s not all positive. People use it as a platform to share their thoughts, good and bad, leading to people feeling hurt because they don’t agree with what is said. And having young people exposed to all of this can evidentially lead to depression and anxiety because of the negative effects it is having on them. The amount of judgement shared on social media these days is detrimental to people’s health, this then leads to people becoming unwell or even death.
Just last week an article from the widely read newspaper, The Telegraph (23 Jan 2019), released an article on how narcissistic people are becoming when they look to book holidays as a 36-year-old social media influencer, Gigi Wu, was found frozen to death while hiking as she reportedly fell more than 65ft into a narrow gorge. Wu tends to hike wearing bikinis and posts them on her Instagram page named, “Barefoot Bikini Hiker.” It is clear that checking off things on our bucket lists isn’t enough, we now need to be seen doing it.
In 2016, I was fortunate enough to travel to India where I visited schools and temples, taught school children English and distributed textbooks and basic living supplies. These children were happy; for some of them it was their first time seeing a camera and they were amazed at the technology. The experience has shaped the way I view the world, their innocence has made me grateful for what I have and has helped me become the person I am today. I noticed while I was there though that some people that accompanied me on the trip were taking pictures every moment they could, and they were taking selfies with sacred artefacts. I found this rather disrespectful and decided to not take my camera with us on our visits which allowed me to soak in the culture and the overall experience, it meant I didn’t have any images to show my family when I returned home or to keep for the future, but I wanted to live in the moment. Viewing the world through a lens limits how far you can see when you’re looking at those spectacular views. Encouraging people to put down their devices should be more of a priority now than what it is currently.
John Green, the writer of the famous book “The Fault in our Stars”, released an article last week (Washington Post – 23 Jan 2019) about how he feels his time is wasted on the internet and how he elected to remove himself from social media for a year as he feared his life was being controlled by his phone. I’m afraid to say I can relate to my life being dictated by my “boredom” and the internet as I have looked at my phone nearly three times in the time it has taken me to write this sentence. What has become of me? I used to be outside every minute of every day playing with my friends that now don’t acknowledge me if I pass them in the street. What has become of society? We are all on “social media” but we have our heads buried in our own lives to be able to ask for an eraser or we are too scared to ask our lecturers for guidance. Can I just be the first to say, “what the f***?”
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- “Dying for the perfect selfie: social media stars risking everything for likes” – Ross Silverman, the Telegraph (23-01-19)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/dying-perfect-selfie-ever-worth-risking-life/
- “I decided to take a year off from social media. Here’s what I’ve learned so far” – John Green, Washington Post (23-01-19)
WHY DO WE DO CONTEXTUAL INTERVIEWS?
Being put on the spot in an unfamiliar/public environment can make people anxious, effecting their responses. Therefore, having a ‘pop up’ interview in a café can only tell us so much about a person’s opinion. However, in a contextual interview conducted in a familiar/ private environment such as their own home, people may let their guard down and speak more openly when questioned. Contextual interviewing gives us a clearer view into potential users’ behaviours, needs and goals. This type of interview is generally unscripted and has a casual nature.
Having the interview in a more conversational setting allows for more truthful answers. They are observed from a person in relaxed state of mind. Where as a lab style interview may inhibit their response due to the clinical nature of this approach.
However, people generally do not understand why they act a certain way. Their reactions and body language are largely subconscious. When a person is observed in thought their eyes will both look diagonally upwards in their habitual direction. Unless a person observes this reaction within themselves, they are unaware of this movement. These “tells” are developed from habit over years. A person caught in a lie may brush their nose in a subconscious act to brush the comment made, away. It is difficult to guarantee you know you are being told the whole truth unless you have an understanding of the subject’s “tells”. This would require a long-term observation if the subject and thus unrealistic to conduct in a contextual interview. Even if a subject is wholly aware of their reactions, they may not be able to tell you as they may still be anxious, or they don’t feel they can open up. Even if they tell you the whole story they might be paraphrasing to ‘simplify’ their justifications. And, of course, people can lie.
Getting people to show you their goals and needs is the easiest way to draw it out. Asking people to show you how they achieve their goals is a good way to get closer to authentic behaviour because it’s hard to fake. Which is why the person that was interviewed was asked to join for a walk. This acted as an ice breaker and allowed the person to become more comfortable with the prospect of an interview. From this it was discovered that she enjoys taking photos outside. At the time, she didn’t happen to find anything that inspired her photography wise, but it was nice to meet her in a more relaxed setting. We also went out for lunch so we would be more comfortable by the time we got to the interviewing stage later that day. She preferred that we met at my flat rather than her house because she felt it would be more private as she stays with her family.
Before conducting the interview, I did some research on contextual interviews and design ethnography. I found a quote from Bronislaw Malinoski, an anthropologist whose writings on ethnography left a lasting impact on the discipline. He believed that, ‘The final goal is to grasp the native’s point of view … to realise his vision of his world.’ So by immersing yourself in the person’s work and life is the best way to find out more about their desired subject, be able to relate to the person and therefore design something that will actually be useful to them.
When starting to film the interview, we didn’t begin with any formalities like asking if she was ready or asking consent because we both ended up laughing nervously, and we’d already signed the consent form, went over the information sheet and answered any questions we each had about the topic.
When a hobby is being asked about in an interview setting there should be a smaller chance of it being lied about or the answers exaggerated. You should be able to see the person’s enthusiasm about the subject in their facial expressions. Whether it was the video camera making her uncomfortable or not, the Subject seemed on edge and the conversations were not natural. So, were the results reliable? If contextual interviews are supposed to reveal information people aren’t necessarily aware of, shouldn’t we turn off the cameras to reduce the pressure?
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