Homes have always been a focus of technological change, from open fires to stovetops to microwave ovens, and from brooms to robot vacuum cleaners. The changes, however, have come slowly. But, as with all technological applications, changes are now hitting homes much faster. Each holiday season seems to bring dramatic opportunities, and vendors and consumers are struggling to figure out what makes sense.

These authors suggest that changes can best be examined, especially in cultural contexts, by making the familiar home look strange. They refer, for example, to a C.S. Lewis fantasy that describes twentieth-century domestic life from the eyes of the legendary Merlin, who, by the way, finds our “comparative luxury” (as described by Lewis) a mixed blessing (page 151).

Anthropology and ethnography are key resources in this paper. Since domestic technologies are most often used by women, cultural views of feminism come into play. Ethnographers, for example, have to ask their research subjects to describe our television habits and our use of a kitchen sink as though they were “talking to someone from Mars” (page 153). They ask questions like: “Imagine for a moment that men really did do twice as much housework as women. What would an iron look like if it were designed for a predominantly male market?”

The paper explains the research findings by telling stories about homes in America, England, and Asia. Factors such as use of space, time, labor, play, and community are considered and compared. In Asia, for example, it’s much more common to find multiple families and multiple generations living in a single dwelling. This obviously has a significant impact on implementations of space and tools.

The authors end with a section called “Designing Strange Homes.” Some of their suggestions are relatively obvious: for example, efficiency is overrated; all users are not alike; and design for the user, who may not be the buyer. But some of their observations show great insight: for example, spirituality is a huge factor in the adoption of home technology, especially in Asia; play is not the same as entertainment; and pornography is the “elephant in the room,” (page 169), whether we want to discuss it or not. This is a must-read paper for designers of home and business technology.