Assignment 2 Appendix A: Interviews

I213 User Interface Design and Development
Prof. Marti Hearst

Nathan Agrin
Jessica Kline
Andrew McDiarmid
Ken-ichi Ueda

Guidelines

• Briefly introduce the project (w/o getting into specifics).
• Describe how results will be used.
• Let interviewee know they can stop at any time and don't have to answer all the questions.
• consent form

Interviews

Birding/mushroom-hunting Background

• How long have you been birding/mushroom-hunting?
• • 1: 4-5 years
  • 2: new to birding; got first field guide in 2000 and would go with a friend in Seattle; has been going more regularly for about 2 years
  • 3: seriously hunting for 5 years; grew up with parents who hunted mushrooms
  • 4: ~15 years; leading GGAS and Oakland Birding Club trips for about 4 years

• How often do you bird/mushroom?
• • 1: normally twice a week; depends on the weather. Because this season has been so dry, he has only gone once or twice since December.
  • 2: about 5 times a year
  • 3: about twice a month through the fall & spring, when mushrooms are in season
  • 4: at least once a week

• Where do you bird/forage?
• • 1: mainly parks in the East Bay
  • 2:
  • 3: In the fall he stays in the Bay Area; in the spring he heads to the Sierra Nevada.  Half of the time he goes to a known location; half of the time he explores.  "Competition is an issue so exploration is necessary."
  • 4: East Bay; knows specific spots for leading tours/outings; would travel to bird if she had the money

• Do you bird/mushroom with others? If yes, with whom? How large a group?
• • 1: normally goes solo; but does hunt with his a friend. When he goes he is on a mission to find things, and when it rains he doesn't stop.
  • 2: usually by herself or with a small group
  • 3: half the time, goes with people he knows well; half the time he goes by himself
    
  • 4: leads trips of 2-30, avg. 15; also goes alone or in small groups

• What do you bring? (If you carry a field guide, which book to you use?)
• • 1: bag to carry the necessities: plastic grocery bags (to collect findings), a mushroom brush, field guide, digital camera, hiking pole
  • 2: binoculars, field guide, snacks/sunscreen/etc.
  • 3: usually brings an inconspicuous bag to hide the mushrooms in, and a paper bag to store the mushrooms;  brings Aurora field guide, basic food for hiking, and a camera
    
  • 4: binoculars, scope, guides (including family-specific guides); would bring camera if she had one

• Any general birding/mushroom-hunting stories?
• • 1: a fascinating story about how he started mushroom hunting: had gone for a hike with a friend and found a mushroom, took photos, and went to identify it at home. He ended up finding the MSSF site and discovered that they had a beginning identification class. After that he started going hunting everyday (because he was doing contract work from home). It had been 15 years since he had been active outdoors and this became his rediscovery of nature. He started fishing, he got interested in cooking and gardening (cultivates mushrooms at home). He also mentioned he wants to start dyeing material with natural dye made by certain colorful mushrooms. Essentially mushrooms served as a catalyst to engage in all this outdoor activity.
    
  • 2: Once she went to a spot in Seattle specifically to find a snowy owl she'd heard was around, and she saw it.
  • 3: One day hiking, he and a friend found some excellent Porcinis.  They started picking them (illegal in the park they were in) when another group who was descending on the trail confronted them claiming that they had originally spotted the mushrooms on their way up and that proper etiquette was to let them have the mushrooms.  Needless to say, the mushrooms were not relinquished to said group, which upset them.  That night the group called the rangers and reported him and his friend, though nothing came of it.  Take home: Foragers are crazy and territorial!
    
  • 4: a story of embarrassment at not remembering if she'd seen a bird before (mental list failure); once thought she had seen something extraordinary (Jaegers--sea birds) over the Bay and posted to a list, but turned out to be immature common gulls--more embarrassment.
    

Tracking Information

• Do you record your observations (including life lists)?
  
• • 1: yes (but not as much as he would like)
  • 2: not methodically, though she will check things off on the list in her field guide and occasionally make a note about park/site name and date; More likely to record extraordinary sightings
  • 3: no (remembers finds in his head)
    
  • 4: casually in head; keeps life list

• If no, why not? Can you imagine tools or situations that might make you more likely to record your observations? If you used to and stopped, why did you stop?
• • 1:
  • 2: mentioned that having tools might be incentive to record data more methodically
    
  • 3: No, can't imagine using tools to record.  Getting out of the office / house is hid time away from computers so he doesn't see himself associating his outside time with computer time
    
  • 4:
    

 
    If yes:

• What do you keep track of? (How specifically do you record time and place?)
• • 1: Take photos; records location 
  • 2:
  • 3:
  • 4: species, sometimes numbers, habitat notes (more specific than place/park names)

• How do you log your information?
• • 1: used to blog it but this was problematic (Note: maybe because readers would go to the posted locations and take the mushrooms), sometimes posts it online, sometimes posts to MSSF (usually for identification purposes.)
  • 2: makes a mental list; might use field guide's checklist; walks her partner through the list upon getting home
  • 3:
  • 4: has 10 or so notebooks, but not organized about which one she picks up for a trip; has drawn detailed maps with classes, but doesn't do that herself now; life list maintained in head--can fail

• Do you ID your observations in the field or at home?
• • 1: IDs both at home and in the field. Typically he IDs at home when he can't figure out what something is.
  • 2: mostly on the fly in the field, will occasionally look up more difficult IDs at home, but this is "hard without the bird."
  • 3: generally in the field, though he only knows 2 or 3 species of mushrooms.  Others he typically photographs and sends the photos to other friends who can ID more species than he.
    
  • 4: in the field--told embarrassing story about home ID and list posting (see above: Jaegers)

• What criteria determine whether or not you record something?
• • 1:
  • 2: extraordinary sightings bear recording
  • 3:
  • 4: rarity, interest to others she knows on listservs

• Do you refer back to your notes? If yes, how often and for what purpose?
• • 1: yes. Refers back to determine what kind of mushrooms should be growing and where.
  • 2: not often
  • 3:
  • 4: no; would if she "got more serious. From a biologist's perspective," the notes would be more meticulous.  (Note: she most serious birder we talked to)

• Would you improve anything about your current system?
• • 1: would like to have additional data: firepatches, rainfall (it's difficult to look at past weather data), elevation (for micro-climate effects). Essentially when he refers back to his notes he doesn't have as much concrete data as he would like to plan hunting trips. For this purpose he would look at time of year, quantity found, location, and mushroom types (as well as the info listed above)
    
  • 2: There isn't currently much of a system!
  • 3:
  • 4: implement Big Day and Big Year totals; rare bird ID checklists; note status of birds
    

Information-sharing

• Do you / are you interested in sharing your data?
• • 1: yes and no. Will share will friends and fiancé. While he wants to share, be generous, and brag he also needs to be careful of commercial pickers. Definitely distrusts commercial pickers because they expand demand and don't appreciate the land in the same way. Story: when he picks something he doesn't take, he either throws it in a bush or replants it (doesn't want others to feel disappointed).
  • 2: She reluctantly said it might be nice to have a centralized source, though it is questionable as to how much she might use it.
  • 3: only with close friends and possibly researchers for academic use.
    
  • 4: posts interesting sightings to listserv

• Are you interested in other people's observations?  How would you use them?
• • 1: yes!
  • 2: She would be curious what other people had seen at the same sites she had visited.  Also got very excited about photo-sharing (we spent some time recounting our trip and searching Flickr for photos) and seemed interested in the idea of an "ID, please" forum.
  • 3: yes, to find new places to mushroom.  (is ok with free-loading)
    
  • 4: "Certain people in the birding community attract more attention than others." She watches for names to appear on lists; also looks for rarity in subject postings; has used postings for ID help

• How do you share? (e-mail, conversation, listservs?)
• • 1: notifies his friends through email, pictures, and status updates
  • 2: e-mail and conversation
  • 3: e-mail if at all
    
  • 4: listserv; people love to show off with photos

• With whom do you share your observations?
• • 1: (answered above)
  • 2: will e-mail friends, relatives interested in birding about trips/sightings.
  • 3: close friends / associates
    
  • 4: listservs--the birding community

• Privacy concerns?
• • 1: yes (expressed above); If specificity in terms of location could be limited to a three mile radius then maybe it wouldn't be a huge concern. Would be okay with researchers using his data. (But they poach too! But they do have a more benevolent relationship with land.)
  • 2: none about birding data; more concerned about personal privacy.
  • 3: yes; not concerned with being arrested (mushroom-hunting is often illegal), but he doesn't want to reveal his spots.
    
  • 4: If it were for research, she would keep data to herself; might be concern for sensitive species in area that can't tolerate a crowd, but thought this isn't often a concern--birders tend to be v. sensitive about surroundings; very few are clueless and ruin the birding for others

Background Information

• General information:
• • 1: male, mid thirties, mushroom forager
  • 2: female, late twenties, birder
  • 3: male, early thirties, mushroom forager
  • 4: female, early forties, birder
    

• Profession? Formal science education?
• • 1: software engineer; currently full time with some contract work; got his engineering degree from Harvey Mudd College (very close to getting his masters)
  • 2: statistician; no formal biological training; academic/genetic research
  • 3: post-doc in Biochemistry
    
  • 4: evironmental consultant; studied IBE at Cal, but no degree; interested in going back to school and working as a pro biologist

• Other hobbies/activities of interest?
• • 1: jazz guitar, music production (use to dj house parties), fishing (data he would be interested in: temp of water and tidal data.)
  • 2:
  • 3: interested in getting into looking for edible wild veggies
    
  • 4: conifers--working on handheld field identification system; other naturalism

• How computer-savvy are you? (anonymized and shuffled)
• • advanced
  • "just ok, I guess."
  • above average
    
  • average: "2/5 Stars"
    

• Have you used web site with maps?
• • Which one?
  • What for?
  • What was your experience?
  • 1: Google. (He even explained back-end Google Maps information to us.)
  • 2: loves Google Maps; has no problems with the interface
  • 3: yes, Google, searching for local things
    
  • 4: yes; loves it. specifically mentioned TopoZone for work; also Google
    

Other Notes

Quote from e-mail

"Unfortunately, I don't have much personal information on recording findings.  If I were to keep them though, ideally, I'd like to cross-reference the findings with rainfall over the prior two weeks, humidity, and recent temperature as well as actual gps coordinates and similar fruitings.  And, of course, it would be near impossible to publicly record the findings of some species, such as chanterelles =)"

Other thoughts on mushroom hunting

• rediscovered nature through mushroom hunting
  
• people who say they don't record things might actually record things 
  
• both fishes and mushroom hunts
• data that he's interested in: weather, location, time of year, mushroom type
  
• other concerns for mushroom collection: circumstances for hallucinogenic mushrooms and for picking findings on private property
• other applications/data of possible relevance: sharing recipes, identifying particular vegetation
• some use mushroom-hunting to get outdoors
• some concerned with privacy, not because of legal issues, but because of free-loaders
• some would really like to be able to share recipes
• some would like a resource to be able to positively ID findings

Notes on the birding community

• generally older
• • retired and have time
    
• "hot birders" are pretty comp savvy
• • lots of resources on the web
• a lot of birders make their own web sites
• a lot of different kinds of people
• younger recruitment
• • because of web
  • digital cameras

Rare bird committees

• vetting rare bird observations.
• set of characters you must be able to identify and report for a sighting to qualify

AviSys ( www.avisys.net )

• bird-logging software
• world list of birds, big checklist
• commonly used
• where and when

Autogen lists

• "You've seen 24 of the 56 birds in this county."

A lot of the appeal (for her and others) is the problem solving aspect.

• searching through the guide
• consulting others