Video self-ethnography

The study of device ecologies in-the-wild presents challenges for researchers. This study builds on previous research using ethnographic techniques with low researcher involvement and real-time collection of data. It seeks to determine how suitable video filming is by users of their own activities in the wild, using first person point of view head-mounted cameras, to provide rich information about their use of an ecology of devices, apps and online services. How does such filming affect the perceived enjoyment of their activity (compared to when not using the video capturing device)? Two geocachers recorded 11 hours of video covering 7 days of activities over a month and the video captured, combined with semi-structured follow-up interviews, indicated that such a method may have value when studying users in- the-wild as a complement to existing methods, especially as a method for enhancing rapid ethnography.