G ROUP PROBE DIARIES

Table 4-5 Five phases of group probe diaries results Daily activities on sport

events

A. Multi devices and media usage

B. Conservative attitude toward strangers C. Sharing activities in daily life

D. Similar media usage pattern among sport peers The interrelationship and

interaction among sport peer groups

A. Belonging to separate groups

B. Similarity between two best sport peers C. Active role on favorite issues

D. Latest viewing experience with collocate viewer Activities during the game A. Context of viewing and social activities

B. Sharing activities just after the important moments Building a sport club A. Tendency to enlarge the members of the club

B. Facilitating a better relationship through sport events C. Sharing activities with peers’ preference

Viewing environment A. Current viewing environments B. Ideal viewing environment

4.2.1 Daily activities on sport events

In the first tasks, questions are focus on their routine activity around sport events, such as the device and network they use, the sharing and communication activity with others during their everyday life. We also compare the two peers’ routine activity and assume if there are any relations between them. (Figure 4-1)

Figure 4-1 A participant recorded his abundant daily activities around sport events

A. Multi devices and media usage

Most of the participants would regularly pay attention to the sport events they loved, especially their favorite player or team. Through the daily checking and browsing several familiar media related to sport events, such as BBS board, or official sport website, they could receive and update the latest news they care about.

Our participants also use different devices to accesses these network sites under different contexts, in most of our case are lab tops or computers, but there some participants also referred that they use their mobile device to watch the live score or news about the game their care, especially while commute, such as taking the bus.

B. Conservative attitude toward strangers

Another robust fact among the diaries, all of the participants massively pay attention to the comments from other unknown sport fans on the BBS, and they would usually have some thoughts about those comments, but there are no record shows that they have shared their thoughts on to the BBS broads.

C. Sharing activities in daily life

In probe diaries, the share and communication activities between peers did not frequently happened in most of our participants’ daily life. Some of the participants are more active, but in most case, they only share information which is about important moments, especially about their favorite players or teams.

D. Similar media usage pattern among sport peers

Interestingly, when compare the two diaries from the same group, we found that the sources of information about sport event are highly overleaping between two peers, especially the closest peers. Some of the pair received many similar information form the same media, such as from the same board on the BBS, official website or sport news. (Figure 4-2)

Figure 4-2 Two peers’ similar media usage pattern related to sport events

4.2.2 The interrelationship and interaction among sport peer groups

As we discover some interesting issues about the sport fans’ peers groups form the previous interviews, it is believed that there are more subtle facts which might influence the interaction and interrelation between them. Therefore, we try to design some tasks to make our participants have a deeper consideration about their interrelation and interaction with their peers.

A. Belonging to separate groups

Based on the relationship map they draw, most of our participants are not belong to a single peer group, but rather belonging to many separate peer groups at same time (Figure 4-3).

These groups usually small-sized and the relationship within the group members are identical.

Some of the peers even share one or more common relationship. For example, they might be high school classmate and basketball teammate at same time. Conversely, different peers in the separate groups did not know each other, and their relationships between our participants are usually diverse and different.

B. Similarity between two best sport peers

Then we focus more on our participants’ best sport events peers, we found many similarity between them. First of all, the sport events they watched and the players or team they supported are usually highly overleaping, such as them both watch two kinds of sport events and support the same teams. Another factors is the physically close distant, some of our participants’ best peers are really close to them in their daily life, such as colleague or even

lived together. Finally, many participants and their peers play the same sport which related to the sport events they both watch. Some of them play together, or at least they know what kind of sport their peers play.

Figure 4-3 Two peers’ own sport peer groups

C. Active role on favorite issues

In the sport peer group, people would tend to play an actively role on the interaction related to their favorite sport event issues. When we ask the two peers within the same group to recall the information the other one usually share, the content they noted almost match to each other’s favorite sport events, players or teams. Many of them also regard the other one is a more professional sport fan.

D. Latest viewing experience with collocate viewer

Additionally, when ask to the last viewing experience of sport events with collocate viewers, the game they recorded are always the game player by their favorite players or a crucial game, such as championship series. On the other hand, the viewing activities often took in living room, some of the participants even record a sport bar which providing a better viewing environment. Besides, one participant even notes the reason he watch a game is because everybody in the lab are gathering to watch the game.

4.2.3 Activities during the game

A. Context of viewing and social activities

As we ask our participant to record their viewing context during watching sport events, the data shown on the diaries are no different to the result we have found in the interviews. The reason they watch the game, the activities they do during the game, the reason and timing they switch, even the media they use are exactly match to previous result which we found in the interviews.

B. Sharing activities just after the important moments

Sharing activity during sport events did not frequently found in our participants’ diaries, and the few sharing activities we found are all happened right after “important moments” or at the end of the game, and the contents are also mainly about the “important moments” itself.

4.2.4 Building a sport club

In the probe diaries, we also add few innovation tasks to investigate their subtle needs and expectations of the interaction with their peer groups. In a “building a sport club” task, we ask our participants to imagine a sport club for them and their peers, they could invite anyone they wants, and hold any kinds of activities they wish to do together with the club members.

A. Tendency to enlarge the members of the club

Coincidently, except from their peer groups, our participants all shows a tendency to enlarge the members of the club. Most of the participant expressed that them want to invite friends or family member around them. Moreover, some of the participants even want to invite people they want to know about but not known or not familiar with.

B. Facilitating a better relationship through sport events

Though the activities our participants want to hold are various, they all related to sport events. They also wish to talk more and much freely about sport events in the club, and expecting this club could enlarge their peer groups and facilitate a better relationship between the people around them.

C. Sharing activities with peers’ preference

On another task, we ask our participants to share information to each of the peers they have referred in the relationship map. Throughout the diaries, our participants all tend to share the information which their peers might interest, and they all try to share through the media their peers frequently use, instead of the media them familiar with.(Figure 4-4)

Figure 4-4 One participant recorded how he share information to sport peers

Additionally, those information people tend to share with their peers are slices from the game. For instance, about half of them would like to share the highlight reels about important moments to their friends.

4.2.5 Viewing environment

Since the setting of the environment might influence our participants’ viewing and social behavior, in the last task of the probe diaries, participants are asked to draw out two kinds of viewing environment: the current and the ideal. (Figure 4-5)

Figure 4-5 A participant’s viewing environment; the left is the current one and the ideal one presented on the right side

A. Current viewing environments

In the current viewing environment task, most of our participant use pc or lab top to watch the sport events and some of them also use other device as the secondary screen to do other activity around sport events, such as checking scores or browsing BBS boards. One participant writes a note beside the iPhone he draws “I don’t want to reduce the screen size of the game!” Besides, some of them also put many websites and social platform sticks around the pc screen they draw to show the media they use during the sport events.

B. Ideal viewing environment

In the ideal viewing environment task, a robust strong eager to pursuit a higher sensation experience is telling by their drawing: 3D IMAX, supersize screen, high resolution projector, premium sound equipment with comfortable space. Half of the participants also draw out different devices around the environment and one even put a basketball ring right on the screen he draws.