Observing Cassette Culture Online: User Interface Implications for Digital Music Libraries

Candidate: Jason Toal
Type: Master of Arts (MA), School of Interactive Arts and Technology
Date: April 16, 2007
Senior Supervisor: Ron Wakkary, Associate Professor
Thesis: Download Thesis Document

Abstract

Many people keep their collections of music on cassette tape even if they rarely listen to them. Images of these collections can be found online on photo sharing websites. What can we learn from such collections and what might they tell us about designing interfaces for new digital music libraries? The author conducts an online ethnographic study of over two hundred cassette tape collections, and over sixty participants with the aim of guiding future design of music collections. The author presents design heuristics and guidelines for interfaces of digital music libraries.