Patterns of Technology Usage in the Home: Domestic Legacy and Design

Pattern language frameworks are of increasing interest to human-computer interaction. Previous work has largely concentrated on the potential utility of patterns as a means of understanding the social and interactional context of technology usage. In this paper we cover untouched ground in the patterns debate, addressing how patterns might be found or uncovered. We do so in the context of the domestic environment, which is currently receiving a great deal of attention and whose needs are poorly understood. As in the workplace, design for the home will rely on an appreciation of the socially organized ways in which domestic technologies are woven into the fabric of daily life. We suggest that a pattern language framework will serve to make this legacy an available resource to designers. Accordingly, we present a methodological framework that grounds design in the socially organized patterns of technology usage that exist in the home.