Using ethnography in the design of an explanation system

摘要

In order for knowledge-based explanation systems to be acceptable, they must be useful and understandable to users. This implies that first, they should satisfy users' information needs and take account of their perspective; and second, they should be able to engage in dialogue with users. Much more progress has been made toward meeting the second condition than the first. Systems are still being produced that can engage in dialogue with users, but whose design reflects no systematic investigation of what people actually want (or need) to know about a given domain. Such lack of attention to the information needs of potential users is bound to limit the utility of any system. Because this issue relates to the concerns of social science as well as artificial intelligence, social scientists can help designers address it. One way of obtaining reliable data on the needs and characteristics of future users is ethnography, an anthropological method for gathering data in complex real-world settings. This article discusses some of the ways in which ethnography can contribute to the design process, drawing examples form an ongoing project to build an explanation system in migraine. Four aspects of our experience in using ethnography in the design process are discussed: rethinking basic design assumptions, investigating information needs, addressing the problem of perspective, and developing explanatory material. Based on this experience, the article concludes with the suggestion that the concept of explanation needs to be broadened still further to include more types of knowledge in the dialogue.