ARCAA - a Framework to Analyse the Artefact Ecology in Computer Music Performance.

This paper presents ARCAA (Actors, Role, Context, Activity, Artefacts), a framework that supports designers in understanding the artefact ecology in the music performance scenario, in particular, allowing to frame the role of the different actors. The ARCAA framework is the result of the combination of two different areas of HCI: artefact ecology concept, and design framework for digital musical instruments. The model borrows three categories from MINUET an established design framework and rethinks them from an ecological perspective. In ARCAA, these three categories are used as three lenses to connect each human actor to her artefact ecology. Finally, the framework allows comparing how the various artefacts create connections among the different people involved. The second part of the paper describes a case study that shows a practical adoption of the framework.