ABSTRACT Title of Document: COOPERATIVE DESIGN, COOPERATIVE SCIENCE: INVESTIGATING COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH THROUGH DESIGN WITH FLORACACHING Anne Elizabeth Bowser, PhD, 2016 Directed By: Professor Jennifer Preece, College of Information Studies This dissertation presents a case study of collaborative research through design with Floracaching, a gamified mobile application for citizen science biodiversity data collection. One contribution of this study is the articulation of collaborative research through design (CRtD), an approach that blends cooperative design approaches with the research through design methodology (RtD). Collaborative research through design is thus defined as an iterative process of cooperative design, where the collaborative vision of an ideal state is embedded in a design. Applying collaborative research through design with Floracaching illustrates how a number of cooperative techniques—especially contextual inquiry, prototyping, and focus groups—may be applied in a research through design setting. Four suggestions for collaborative research through design (recruit from a range of relevant backgrounds; take flexibility as a goal; enable independence and agency; and, choose techniques that support agreement or consensus) are offered to help others who wish to experiment with this new approach. Applying collaborative research through design to Floracaching yielded a new prototype of the application, accompanied by design annotations in the form of framing constructs for designing to support mobile, place-based citizen science activities. The prototype and framing constructs, which may inform other designers of similar citizen science technologies, are a second contribution of this research. COOPERATIVE DESIGN, COOPERATIVE SCIENCE: INVESTIGATING COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH THROUGH DESIGN WITH FLORACACHING By Anne Elizabeth Bowser Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2016 Advisory Committee: Professor Jennifer Preece, Chair Professor Tamara Clegg Professor Derek Hansen Professor Kent Norman Professor Andrea Wiggins © Copyright by Anne Elizabeth Bowser 2016 Dedication To Dana, as a second leaf on the same tree. ii Acknowledgments A dissertation is a community endeavor. I thank Jenny Preece for nurturing the work (and the scholar behind it) through this thesis, and beyond. Aspiring to become Jenny’s colleague, above any other motivation, has fueled this endeavor. It has been a joy and privilege for both of us to have Derek Hansen on our team. In many ways Derek has become a second advisor to me. Andrea Wiggins, a mentor from DataONE through present, modeled success (and the value of taking time to breathe) from early on. I also thank the other members of my committee, Tammy Clegg, and Kent Norman, for their guidance and support. Tammy’s stance as a collaborative researcher inspired me to formulate my own. Kent’s humor and perseverance is a life lesson for all. Within the UMD community, Katie Shilton shaped this work and related trajectories. I am grateful to the Biotracker research group- Yurong He, and Carol Boston; Liz Warrwick, Alina Goldman, and Marina Caracas; Dana Rotman; and, David Jacobs, Cyndy Parr, and Jen Hammock. Zahra Ashktarob and Elizabeth Bonsignore offered inspiration, encouragement, and support. Within the larger HCI community, I cherish Elizabeth Churchill’s mentorship and friendship. I am lucky to have collaborated with Oliver Haimson, Eddie Melcer, and Janice Tsai, who helped shape my approach to research. I owe tremendous gratitude to Richie Zweigenhaft, who nurtured my curiosity in the undergraduate years. Within the citizen science community, I am most indebted to Elizabeth Tyson, who inspires me daily to consider the 20,000-foot view. Elizabeth is an amazing travel companion, who accompanied me on my first Geocaching expedition in Spain, and a dear iii friend. I also thank Jay Benforado, Rick Bonney, Darlene Cavalier, Caren Cooper, Claudia Goebel, Ruthanna Gordon, Muki Haklay, Sandra Henderson, Rachel McMonagle, Greg Newman, Dave Rejeski, Lea Shanley, Jennifer Shirk, Rob Stevenson, and the ECSA Data, Tools, and Technology Working Group. You have inspired me to do better for the field. Finally, I thank my family. My parents, Jim and Nancy Bowser, offered decades of support and also walls to deface with sticky notes (see: Figure 8). I am who I am because of: Jocelyn Bossie, Kiah Conover, Sara DG, Eric & MO Hansen, Natasha Harrington, Colleen McGlory, Sara PMJ, and Katie Mae Steward. Lastly, thanks to Ted Livermore, the most loving and supportive partner I could ever imagine: “‘It’s a thin line ‘tween heaven and here.” iv Table of Contents List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: Introduction to the Study ....................................................................................1 Introduction to research through design .......................................................................2 Introduction to the citizen science problem space .........................................................3 Project Budburst ............................................................................................................4 Motivation and technology in citizen science ................................................................6 Research design .............................................................................................................9 Key terms .....................................................................................................................12 Summary and chapters ahead ......................................................................................17 Chapter 2: Methodological Background ............................................................................20 Research through design (RtD) ...................................................................................20 Cooperative design ......................................................................................................30 Role definition in cooperative design ..........................................................................36 Common techniques in cooperative design ..................................................................39 Towards collaborative research through design .........................................................45 Chapter 3: Problem space: Citizen science, Motivation, and Floracaching ......................47 Introduction..................................................................................................................47 Motivation in citizen science ........................................................................................47 The use of gamification in citizen science ....................................................................52 Geocaching games .......................................................................................................57 Early research with Floracaching ...............................................................................59 Summary ......................................................................................................................72 Chapter 4: Research Methods ............................................................................................73 The current implementation of Floracaching ..............................................................74 Roles in the co-design process .....................................................................................77 Workshop procedure ....................................................................................................83 Data Collection ............................................................................................................91 Data Analysis ...............................................................................................................93 Writing Conventions ....................................................................................................99 Methodological limitations ..........................................................................................99 Summary ....................................................................................................................103 Chapter 5: Findings on Key Themes for Floracaching ....................................................104 Key constructs for understanding perceptions of Floracaching................................104 Personal relevance .....................................................................................................104 Design. .......................................................................................................................107 Gamification and reward ...........................................................................................111 Awareness and exploration ........................................................................................114 Knowledge and learning ............................................................................................118 Socialization ...............................................................................................................122 Community and contribution .....................................................................................125 v Towards a new articulation of Floracaching ............................................................129 Summary ....................................................................................................................131 Chapter 6: A New Iteration of Floracaching ....................................................................132 Integrating key themes through experiential learning ...............................................133 Integrating key themes through as sense of place .....................................................138 Applying the reader-to-leader framework to Floracaching ......................................151 Designing to support research and theory.................................................................156 Summary ....................................................................................................................163 Chapter 7: Findings on Collaborative Research through Design .....................................167 The process of collaborative research through design ..............................................168 Evaluating collaborative research through design with Floracaching .....................187 Suggestions for other researchers and practitioners .................................................191 Summary ....................................................................................................................195 Chapter 8: Conclusions, Limitations, and Future work ...................................................197 Research questions revisited ......................................................................................197 Limitations .................................................................................................................201 Other open questions for future work ........................................................................203 Appendix A: Demographic Questionnaire .......................................................................211 Appendix B: Contextual Inquiry Worksheet ...................................................................212 Appendix C – Screen Shots from Floracaching ...............................................................213 Appendix D - Floracaching Codebook ............................................................................214 Appendix E – Key features of Floracaching design ........................................................216 References ........................................................................................................................218 vi List of Tables Table 1. Three citizen science projects that collect plant phenology data ...........................5 Table 2. Sample findings from research on motivations for engaging in citizen science or playing gamified citizen science apps ................................................................................56 Table 3. Select demographics of co-design participants ...................................................81 Table 4. Floracaching procedure .......................................................................................85 Table 5. Seven key themes in Floracaching .....................................................................106 Table 6. Workarounds for GPS issues ............................................................................110 Table 7. Applying the reader-to-leader framework to Floracaching .............................154 Table 8. Framing constructs, themes, and theory ..........................................................166 Table 9. Codebook .........................................................................................................214 Table 10. Key features of Floracaching design .............................................................216 vii