Network Problem Solving

The home network is growing in complexity. Visions of the home have us listening to music, watching video, or browsing web pages from any location in the home, all while our smart network appliances make our lives easier by anticipating our day to day activity. However, the reality of the home network is far from the visions. The reality is that networks and networked devices were designed largely assuming that users would have networking expertise. Many people struggle with setting up and managing the growing complexity of the home network.

The network problem solving project is exploring how people solve the problems that they encounter with devices on their home network.

Research Papers

McDonald, D. W., K. A. Smith, and N. Karlova (2008) Problem Solving Probes: A Method for Discovering Conceptual Disconnects with Digital Living Technologies. Presented at the “Designing for Families” Workshop at the 2008 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW'08).