Reflection-in-action

CS 352 Summer 2010

Why reflection-in-action?

• PRICPE is great! • …but how do I carry out each step of it, e.g.,

Prototyping?• Reflection-in-action may help!

What is reflection-in-action?

• Any guesses?• Reflection-in-action:– Describes how expert designers solve problem– It’s a process that helps reshape what we’re

working on while we’re working on it– It hinges on surprises

Steps in reflection-in-action• Framing

… to understand and define the problem• Acting

… to solve the problem or to move closer to solving it• Reflecting

… to assess the consequences of actions and to inform future moves

• RIA is an iterative process

Schön’s Theory ofReflection-In-Action (RIA)

5

Framingunderstand & define problem

Actingsolve problem / learn more

Reflectingassess consequences & implications

How reflection-in-action works in action?

• A study on end-user mashup programmers.• Task to create a movie mashup in Popfly.

Framing• Clip 1• Clip 2

Framing (cont’d)F4 (min 2): So I'm going to look at the tutorial thing. [Laughs. Reads reference guide] So I'm going to need a map for Corvallis.

M4: … So what I think I'm supposed to do is that I'm supposed to take my, um… first I'm gonna take movies… well that would be something they [the user] type in. I need to find Corvallis. Specify somewhere in there that is for Corvallis. I need to type somewhere in there where we're talking about theaters. And maybe connect that to theaters. Something would have to tell it like a list, to list more things. May be the one we went through on the options menu. It's like text. Maybe one of those would have more information on the movie. I don' t think I would necessarily need a map, if I had just Corvallis.

Framing (cont’d)F4 (min 2): So I'm going to look at the tutorial thing. [Laughs. Reads reference guide] So I'm going to need a map for Corvallis.

M4: … So what I think I'm supposed to do is that I'm supposed to take my, um… first I'm gonna take movies… well that would be something they [the user] type in. I need to find Corvallis. Specify somewhere in there that is for Corvallis. I need to type somewhere in there where we're talking about theaters. And maybe connect that to theaters. Something would have to tell it like a list, to list more things. May be the one we went through on the options menu. It's like text. Maybe one of those would have more information on the movie. I don' t think I would necessarily need a map, if I had just Corvallis.

Acting• Clip 1• Clip 2

Acting (cont’d)

•F4 (min 3): I'm gonna… [Laughs. Opens Maps, hovers over geoNames ] Virtual Earth [Adds it to workspace] Settings [in Virtual Earth] I don’t think I'm doing this right. [laughs]… [Fiddling with blocks’ settings] Ok I'm doing this wrong… [Keeps on fiddling but and did not execute the program in 20 minutes]

•M3: I'm just trying to figure out how to get the program to run to show movies around CITY but I can't figure it out... I'll just keep clicking around ’till I get it… Try a different operation to see if it works… So far I've found out the theaters within CITY…

Acting (cont’d)

•F4 (min 3): I'm gonna… [Laughs. Opens Maps, hovers over geoNames ] Virtual Earth [Adds it to workspace] Settings [in Virtual Earth] I don’t think I'm doing this right. [laughs]… [Fiddling with blocks’ settings] Ok I'm doing this wrong… [Keeps on fiddling but and did not execute the program in 20 minutes]

•M3: I'm just trying to figure out how to get the program to run to show movies around CITY but I can't figure it out... I'll just keep clicking around ’till I get it… Try a different operation to see if it works… So far I've found out the theaters within CITY…

Reflecting

• Clip 1• Clip 2• Clip 3• Clip 4

Reflecting• F4(min 31): Let's run it. [Runs and zooms in on Corvallis] Why

doesn't it show. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Zoom in. This thing [inaudible] … Show me Corvallis. [Zoom in on Corvallis] Didn't work. Edit. Click to get mashing ideas [ of Virtual Earth. Clicks it ]

• M1 (min 11): Run that see what happens [Runs and sees nothing] Theater addresses may not be right.

• M3 (min 10): [Runs and nothing happens] I guess those two blocks didn't work or I didn't use the right options.

• M5 (min 24): Simplicity [Runs. Shows theaters and movie info] Oh Ok there we go. I was getting way too complicated.

Reflecting• F4(min 31): Let's run it. [Runs and zooms in on Corvallis] Why

doesn't it show. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Zoom in. This thing [inaudible] … Show me Corvallis. [Zoom in on Corvallis] Didn't work. Edit. Click to get mashing ideas [ of Virtual Earth. Clicks it ]

• M1 (min 11): Run that see what happens [Runs and sees nothing] Theater addresses may not be right.

• M3 (min 10): [Runs and nothing happens] I guess those two blocks didn't work or I didn't use the right options.

• M5 (min 24): Simplicity [Runs. Shows theaters and movie info] Oh Ok there we go. I was getting way too complicated.

Reflecting (cont.)

• Surprise reflection• Reflect upon…

…why didn’t it work?…how can I make it better?

• What happens after reflecting?… more acting?… back to framing?

Exercise

• An on-line “virtual” grocery. You order from home, and this translates into food.

• Pick a step in Predisposition Research Insights Concepts Prototypes Evaluation and apply reflection-in-action to that step

• Imagine yourself thinking about what you’re doing while doing it…

• Write down what you do for each of the following stages:– Framing: what is the problem– Acting: what to do to solve the problem or move closer to solving it– Reflecting: what went right/wrong and why

Applying reflection-in-action…

• Framing: to understand and define the problem– What are some important features /components of

the problem? • Acting: to solve the problem or to move closer

to solving it– What would you do about the problem?

• Reflecting: to assess the consequences of actions and to inform future moves– Will your actions produce the results you want? If

not what would you do?