Interactions "in the wild": Explorations in healthcare

Abstract

The real world is an essential laboratory for understanding people's interactions with technology. However, the real world is complex. Healthcare poses particular challenges; I highlight seven challenges faced by researchers conducting situated studies of healthcare technologies, from gaining access, through engaging with participants, to reporting findings. I draw on experiences of studies in hospitals and homes to propose ways to address these challenges, including engaging clinicians and patients early in study design and using Distributed Cognition to structure observation and analysis.