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Getting the point: The role of gesture in managing intersubjectivity in a design activity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2011

Jared Donovan
Affiliation:
Sønderborg Participatory Innovation Research Centre, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark
Trine Heinemann
Affiliation:
Sønderborg Participatory Innovation Research Centre, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark Institute of Business Communication and Information Science, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark
Ben Matthews
Affiliation:
Sønderborg Participatory Innovation Research Centre, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark
Jacob Buur
Affiliation:
Sønderborg Participatory Innovation Research Centre, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark

Abstract

This paper illustrates the complexity of pointing as it is employed in a design workshop. Using the method of interaction analysis, we argue that pointing is not merely employed to index, locate, or fix reference to an object. It also constitutes a practice for reestablishing intersubjectivity and solving interactional trouble such as misunderstandings or disagreements by virtue of enlisting something as part of the participants’ shared experience. We use this analysis to discuss implications for how such practices might be supported with computer mediation, arguing for a “bricolage” approach to systems development that emphasizes the provision of resources for users to collaboratively negotiate the accomplishment of intersubjectivity rather than systems that try to support pointing as a specific gestural action.

Type
Special Issue Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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