Creativity Greenhouse: Digital Brain Switch

数字技术使用的增加对工作生活的界限提出了挑战，尤其是越来越多的人在不同的地点工作，经历频繁的中断，并感到需要通过多种沟通渠道保持联系。这个项目要探索的中心研究问题是：现代通信如何影响我们管理跨越工作生活边界的过渡的能力？这将帮助我们理解技术是否支持管理更灵活的过渡，创造更具渗透性的边界和更少分割的角色，或者它是否鼓励跨越边界的泄漏和困难的身份管理任务。我们的最终愿景是通过新的数字技术支持个人身份之间的切换。然而，本提案的重点是了解交换机。然而，作为对这一愿景的比喻，我们设想一种“数字大脑切换”，如以下场景所示：艾伦刚刚创办了自己的社会企业，以鼓励当地的交易实践。对于他来说，这是一个充满挑战的时期，因为他必须同时处理各种身份-商人、丈夫、社区冠军、朋友。他没有办公室可去，只能在家里的厨房里工作。当他的妻子在家工作时，她很乐意接受别人的打扰--她有一种不可思议的一心多用的能力。然而，即使是在独自一人的时候，艾伦也会发现很难在家里集中精力工作--经常查看Facebook很容易打断商业计划。但他并不阻止自己这样做，因为他利用Facebook来推广当地社区团体。有时，当他从一个令人兴奋的商务会议回来时，艾伦发现不可能再回到家庭生活中。他只想在大脑中轻弹一个开关，让所有的工作想法都停下来，让他和妻子一起放松。这个场景说明了让管理身份之间的切换变得具有挑战性的三个关键属性：身份之间的界限模糊(工人、居家男人、社区冠军)；每个人都是个人，有不同的处理切换的方法(参见这个项目将深入研究人们如何在物质世界和数字世界中管理交换机，重点是现代通信的作用及其对交换实践的影响。该项目将开发一个研究平台，允许人们捕捉他们的切换体验，并与其他人一起反思他们是如何管理这些体验的。该项目还将开发一系列干预措施，旨在探索数字技术如何支持人们管理交换机。

The rise in the use of digital technologies challenges work life boundaries, particularly as individuals increasingly work from a range of locations, experience frequent interruptions and feel required to 'stay connected' through multiple communication channels. The central research question to be explored in this project is: How do modern communications affect our ability to manage transitions across work life boundaries? This will help us to understand whether technology supports the management of more flexible transitions, creating more permeable boundaries and a less segmented persona, or whether it encourages leakage across boundaries and a difficult identity management tasks.Our ultimate vision is for individuals' switches between identities to be supported through new digital technologies. However, the focus in this proposal is on understanding switches. As a metaphor for the vision, however, weimagine a "digital brain switch", as illustrated in the following scenario:Alan has just started his own social enterprise to encourage local trading practices. It is a challenging time for him, as he has to juggle various identities - businessman, husband, community champion, friend. He doesn't have an office to go to and works from home in the kitchen. When his wife works at home, she is comfortable receiving interruptions - she has an uncanny ability to multi-task. However, even when alone, Alan finds it difficult to concentrate on work at home - it's just too easy to interrupt a business proposal by checking Facebook constantly. But he doesn't prevent himself from doing this because he uses Facebook to promote local community groups. Sometimes, when he comes home from an exciting business meeting, Alan finds it impossible to switch back into family life. He just wants to flick a switch in his brain that would stop all the work thoughts from whizzing around and let him relax with his wife.This scenario illustrates three key attributes that make managing switches between identities challenging: the blurring of boundaries between identities (worker, family man, community champion); the fact that everyone is an individual and has different ways of dealing with switches(cf. Alan and his wife); and the changes in control that modern ways of working can promote.This project will undertake an in-depth study of how people manage switches both in the corporeal and digital worlds, focusing on the role of modern communications and their impact on switching practices. The project will develop a research platform that will allow people to capture their switching experiences and to reflect with others on how they manage them. The project will also develop a number of interventions designed to explore how digital technologies can support people to manage switches.