Of stovetops and laptops

Editor’s note: Maren Elwood is president of On-Site Research, Carmel, Calif.

Each year since 2004, to produce our Cyber Census - a syndicated cross-country ethnographic research study - members of our firm have boarded an RV and driven from coast to coast, covering 15 to 20 states each trip, to track a core group of 150 Americans and their use of and interaction with Web-based and other technology.

The interviews are designed to allow the researchers to embed themselves in the consumer’s real life, from a few hours to days spent living with the study participants. We also conduct a full exploration of the consumer’s online life via a surf-along, which lets us experience their cyber lives.

Our research shows that people are increasingly looking for a space in the home, most often the kitchen or family room, where they can interact with people and media in both physical and cyberspace. They want a highly interactive room that lets them socialize in physical space while using their handheld devices and computers to access their virtual environments.

This trend has manifested itself in number of ways: in some homes, dining rooms are rarely used for dining; computers are migrating out of the home office; and technology of all types has moved to the family kitchen.

Our observations led us to the acronym HIVE (highly interactive + virtual environment) and the associated term hiving, which is our way of characterizing this trend.

Our choice of HIVE to describe this consumer behavior was bolstered when we started researching beehives and found that bees behave in a similar fashion. Bees have various ways of communicating but they ultimately return to their hive to work together to produce honey - a task they could not do alone. Like bees, people come back to their HIVEs and want to share the efforts of their day with others both physically and virtually. This desire has prompted many consumers to move their tech into the family space.

Don’t want to be isolated

People report hiving for many reasons, but the most common reason is that they don’t want to be isolated from others. The home office/den filled with technology may give you the ability to communicate with others online, but it does little to connect you with the actual people in the home. Consumers report “catching grief” from spouses because they spend too much time on the computer away from the family, especially during dinner time. Parents are concerned about monitoring their children while they use the computer for homework or other activities. And, parents of older children really worry about all the time their teens spend alone on the computer and handheld devices.

Another factor driving hiving is Americans’ addiction to multitasking. When we started the Cyber Census in 2004, tech-based multitasking seemed like a 20-something behavior. Over the last few years our research shows that multitasking has become an American way of life, something practiced by all age groups.

For people who multitask using technology, increased productivity is often the primary benefit. While multitasking outside the home can be dangerous (distracted driving, etc.) multitasking in the HIVE is what the HIVE is all about. In a well-equipped HIVE, you can make dinner, talk on your phone via Bluetooth, help your kids on the computer do their homework, charge your handheld devices, download and sync your media, check your e-mail, watch television, check your stocks, pay bills and still feel that you are a part of the social activity in the home. The laptop has become as common as the toaster oven in the kitchen. And electric cords and chargers clutter countertops, making a different kind of spaghetti.

Integrated solutions

While we have been documenting the need for intelligent kitchen and family-room design for our Cyber Census sponsors for years, very few companies have taken the time to develop integrated solutions for the HIVE. At this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, several companies touted their “home of the future” initiatives and talked about the need for devices to get smaller (or in some cases, bigger), faster, prettier and deliver content on screens that jump out and grab your already overworked eyes in 3-D. There was talk about making tech easier for the busy mom, designing cars so that driving while on the phone is impossible, providing even more applications for handheld devices, and the ever-popular screen-on-the-refrigerator idea. But, was there a toaster oven with a plug for my phone charger? No. Was there a microwave with a screen so a busy mom can watch her favorite show while making dinner? No.

“MacGyvering”

There have been efforts through the years to come close to the home of the future, the kind so beautifully animated in the 1960s Jetsons television show. But the reality for the American consumer is closer to the adept jerry-rigging of TV’s MacGyver. Consumers are “MacGyvering” their own solutions to create effective HIVEs. They drag desktops, laptops and tech of all types into the kitchen and try to figure out where to put all these devices in a space designed for cooking, not teching. (The MacGyvering that goes on in vehicles to link music devices is another example of this behavior, but that’s a whole other article.) As a result, the power strip has become a kitchen standard and consumers move furniture about in an effort to redesign what could have been designed well to begin with. Consumers are looking for practicality and informed industrial design that blends physical reality with technological developments to create solutions that work in their real lives.

Briceson, a flooring contractor in San Antonio, is good example of a father struggling to keep up with his workload while socializing with the family in the evenings. “I get grief when I sit in the office and work on my computer. I bring my laptop out to the kitchen so I can be with my family while catching up on e-mails.” Briceson wishes the kitchen area of his home was equipped with a media center on the wall so he wouldn’t have to utilize multiple devices to watch television, go online and monitor his children’s online gaming activity.

Randy, a civil engineer and a Cyber Census panel member since 2006, is a good example of someone who’s addicted to multitasking. When we first met him he had just purchased a new condo and had set up a full home office. In 2007 he purchased a software package to try and link his big screen in the living room to his computer with a wireless keyboard and mouse. He was dissatisfied with that MacGyvered solution, so in 2008 he had moved most of his computers into the living-room area. “I want to be able to watch my shows, check my stocks and do work on my computer. So I have had to move my computers into the area where my media center is, and that’s the bar area.”

In 2009 we found that he’d moved all of his technology into the dining room area, which was convenient but a bit overwhelming for the space. Ultimately he’s trying to find a configuration for his various screens that works for his lifestyle. Over the last few years he just hasn’t managed to get it right despite his best efforts. Randy is getting married in 2010 and we look forward to seeing what changes he’ll make as he moves into married tech life.

Emerging technologies

As we approach the formal launch of the Cyber Census 2010 this month, one big question in the consumer electronics world is, will consumers adopt the new 3-D screen television technology? We will be revising this question to ask consumers about the role of 3-D screen technology in the American HIVE. We will also turn our ethnographic lens on other emerging technologies such as the iPad, continue to explore music culture, document mobile device use and needs, and embed ourselves on social and new-media platforms to interact with our study panel there as well. Ultimately, research in both physical and cyberspaces is critical to understanding consumer habitats, trends and how technology can become a more effective partner in our American culture.