research-article

Publics in practice: ubiquitous computing at a shelter for homeless mothers

Authors:

Christopher A. Le Dantec,

Robert G. Farrell,

Jim E. Christensen,

Jason B. Ellis,

Wendy A. Kellogg,

W. Keith EdwardsAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '11: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Pages 1687 - 1696

https://doi.org/10.1145/1978942.1979189

Published: 07 May 2011 Publication History

Abstract

Today, commodity technologies like mobile phones - once symbols of status and wealth - have become deeply woven into social and economic participation in Western society. Despite the pervasiveness of these technologies, there remain groups who may not have extensive access to them but who are nonetheless deeply affected by their presence in everyday life. In light of this, we designed, built, and deployed a ubiquitous computing system for one such overlooked group: the staff and residents at a shelter for homeless mothers. Our system connects mobile phones, a shared display, and a Web application to help staff and residents stay connected. We report on the adoption and use of this system over the course of a 30 week deployment, discussing the substantial impact our system had on shelter life and the broader implications for such socio-technical systems that sit at the juncture of social action and organizational coordination.

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Index Terms

Publics in practice: ubiquitous computing at a shelter for homeless mothers
1. Human-centered computing
2. Social and professional topics

Index terms have been assigned to the content through auto-classification.

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cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '11: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

May 2011

3530 pages

ISBN:9781450302289

DOI:10.1145/1978942

General Chair:
Desney Tan
Microsoft Research
,
Program Chairs:
Geraldine Fitzpatrick
Vienna University of Technology
,
Carl Gutwin
University of Saskatchewan
,
Bo Begole
PARC
,
Wendy A. Kellogg
IBM Research

Copyright © 2011 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

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New York, NY, United States

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Published: 07 May 2011

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CHI '11: CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

May 7 - 12, 2011

BC, Vancouver, Canada

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CHI '11 Paper Acceptance Rate 410 of 1,532 submissions, 27%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 6,199 of 26,314 submissions, 24%

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Cited By

Cook SSemaan B(2024)Mod Installation as Reclaiming Representational Diversity: The Role of Aesthetic Agency in Stardew ValleyProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36770898:CHI PLAY(1-33)Online publication date: 15-Oct-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3677089
Martinez RSquire K(2024)Engaging recently incarcerated and gang affiliated Black and Latino/a young adults in designing social collocated applications for mixed reality smart glasses through community-based participatory design workshops.Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642895(1-17)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642895
Puja SNoor Neha NRahman Alif OJahan Sultan TGolam Zel Asmaul Husna MJahan INoor J(2024)Exploring the Barriers to Feminine Healthcare Access among Marginalized Women in Bangladesh and Facilitating Access through a Voice BotHeliyon10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33927(e33927)Online publication date: Jul-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e33927
Sabelli M(2023)Ethics and Social Responsibility in Information Behavior, an Interdisciplinary Research in UruguayOpen Information Science10.1515/opis-2022-01567:1Online publication date: 27-Sep-2023
https://doi.org/10.1515/opis-2022-0156
Abou Amsha KGronvall ESaad-Sulonen J(2023)Emergent Collaborations Outside of Organizational Frameworks: Exploring Relevant ConceptsProceedings of the 11th International Conference on Communities and Technologies10.1145/3593743.3593778(163-173)Online publication date: 29-May-2023
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Bopp CVoida A(2023)"Showing the Context": A Need for Oligopticonic Information Systems in Homelessness MeasurementProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35796227:CSCW1(1-24)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2023
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McCord CBecker C(2023)Beyond Transactional Democracy: A Study of Civic Tech in CanadaProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35794627:CSCW1(1-37)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2023
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Masrani THe HMessier G(2023)The Human Behind the Data: Reflections from an Ongoing Co-Design and Deployment of a Data-Navigation Interface for Front-Line Emergency Housing Shelter StaffExtended Abstracts of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544549.3585694(1-7)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
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Showkat DSmith ALingqing WTo A(2023)“Who is the right homeless client?”: Values in Algorithmic Homelessness Service Provision and Machine Learning ResearchProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581010(1-21)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
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Kuo TShen HGeum JJones NHong JZhu HHolstein K(2023)Understanding Frontline Workers’ and Unhoused Individuals’ Perspectives on AI Used in Homeless ServicesProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3580882(1-17)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
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