Antti Oulasvirta

ContextPhone: a prototyping platform for context-aware mobile applications

Smart phones are a particularly tempting platform for building context-aware applications because theyre programmable and often use well-known operating systems. Theres a gap, however, between the operating systems functionality and the features that application developers need. To fill this gap, weve designed and developed ContextPhone, a software platform consisting of four interconnected modules provided as a set of open source C++ libraries and source code components. ContextPhone runs on off-the-shelf mobile phones using Symbian OS and the Nokia Series 60 Smartphone platform. ContextPhone was developed using an iterative, human-centered design strategy. It thus helps developers more easily create applications that integrate into both existing technologies and users everyday lives.

Habits make smartphone use more pervasive

Examining several sources of data on smartphone use, this paper presents evidence for the popular conjecture that mobile devices are “habit-forming.” The form of habits we identified is called a checking habit: brief, repetitive inspection of dynamic content quickly accessible on the device. We describe findings on kinds and frequencies of checking behaviors in three studies. We found that checking habits occasionally spur users to do other things with the device and may increase usage overall. Data from a controlled field experiment show that checking behaviors emerge and are reinforced by informational “rewards” that are very quickly accessible. Qualitative data suggest that although repetitive habitual use is frequent, it is experienced more as an annoyance than an addiction. We conclude that supporting habit-formation is an opportunity for making smartphones more “personal” and “pervasive.”

It's Mine, Don't Touch!: interactions at a large multi-touch display in a city centre

We present data from detailed observations of CityWall, a large multi-touch display installed in a central location in Helsinki, Finland. During eight days of installation, 1199 persons interacted with the system in various social configurations. Videos of these encounters were examined qualitatively as well as quantitatively based on human coding of events. The data convey phenomena that arise uniquely in public use: crowding, massively parallel interaction, teamwork, games, negotiations of transitions and handovers, conflict management, gestures and overt remarks to co-present people, and marking the display for others. We analyze how public availability is achieved through social learning and negotiation, why interaction becomes performative and, finally, how the display restructures the public space. The multi-touch feature, gesture-based interaction, and the physical display size contributed differentially to these uses. Our findings on the social organization of the use of public displays can be useful for designing such systems for urban environments.

Interaction in 4-second bursts: the fragmented nature of attentional resources in mobile HCI

When on the move, cognitive resources are reserved partly for passively monitoring and reacting to contexts and events, and partly for actively constructing them. The Re-source Competition Framework (RCF), building on the Multiple Resources Theory, explains how psychosocial tasks typical of mobile situations compete for cognitive resources and then suggests that this leads to the depletion of resources for task interaction and eventually results in the breakdown of fluent interaction. RCF predictions were tested in a semi-naturalistic field study measuring attention during the performance of assigned Web search tasks on mobile phone while moving through nine varied but typical urban situations. Notably, we discovered up to eight-fold differentials between micro-level measurements of atten-tional resource fragmentation, for example from spans of over 16 seconds in a laboratory condition dropping to bursts of just a few seconds in difficult mobile situations. By cali-brating perceptual sampling, reducing resources from tasks of secondary importance, and resisting the impulse to switch tasks before finalization, participants compensated for the resource depletion. The findings are compared to previous studies in office contexts. The work is valuable in many areas of HCI dealing with mobility.

Understanding contexts by being there: case studies in bodystorming

AbstractA thorough appreciation of physical, social, interactional, and psychological contextual factors is crucial in the design of ubiquitous computing applications. This paper investigates the benefits of a method called bodystorming for carrying out design sessions in the original context, `in the wild, instead of the office. A location is selected that is identical or similar to the original environment. Innovation, carried out on-site, is based on ethnographical data presented as concrete design questions. Individual solutions to design questions are brainstormed and discussed on-site. Facets of data collection and preparation, formulation of design questions, selection of locations, session administration, and evaluation of design ideas are presented. We found that bodystorming permits immediate feedback for generated design ideas, and can provide a more accurate understanding of contextual factors. Bodystorming sessions were found memorable and inspiring. It is best suitable for designing for activities that are accessible and unfamiliar to the researchers.n

Smartphones An Emerging Tool for Social Scientists

Recent developments in mobile technologies have produced a new kind of device: a programmable mobile phone, the smartphone. In this article, the authors argue that the technological and social characteristics of this device make it a useful tool in social sciences, particularly sociology, social psychology, urban studies, technology assessment, and media studies. The device is willingly carried by a large fraction of people in developed countries, integrates a number of technologies for automatic observation, can be programmed to interact with the user, and can communicate with remote researchers. This allows unobtrusive and cost-effective access to previously inaccessible sources of data on everyday social behavior, such as physical proximity of people, phone calls, and patterns of movement. The authors describe three studies in human behavior that have augmented existing methods with the smartphone, two of which the authors conducted themselves. Based on their experience, the authors critically evaluate the improvements and threats to validity and reliability of smartphone-augmented methods. These approaches are rapidly becoming feasible for the social scientist, since research software for smartphones have been published in open source, which lowers the technical and economic investment needed for their utilization in research.Recent developments in mobile technologies have produced a new kind of device: a programmable mobile phone, the smartphone. In this article, the authors argue that the technological and social char...

Like bees around the hive: a comparative study of a mobile augmented reality map

We present findings from field trials of MapLens, a mobile augmented reality (AR) map using a magic lens over a paper map. Twenty-six participants used MapLens to play a location-based game in a city centre. Comparisons to a group of 11 users with a standard 2D mobile map uncover phenomena that arise uniquely when interacting with AR features in the wild. The main finding is that AR features facilitate place-making by creating a constant need for referencing to the physical, and in that it allows for ease of bodily configurations for the group, encourages establishment of common ground, and thereby invites discussion, negotiation and public problem-solving. The main potential of AR maps lies in their use as a collaborative tool.

All My People Right Here, Right Now: management of group co-presence on a social networking site

A mundane but theoretically interesting and practically relevant situation presents itself on social networking sites: the co-presence of multiple groups important to an individual. This primarily qualitative study concentrates on the point of view of individual SNS users and their perspectives on multiple group affiliations. After charting the perceived multiplicity of groups on the social networking site Facebook, we investigated the relevance of multiple groups to the users and the effect of group co-presence on psychological identification processes. Users deal with group co-presence by managing the situation to prevent anticipated conflictive and identity-threatening situations. Their behavioral strategies consist of dividing the platform into separate spaces, using suitable channels of communication, and performing self-censorship. Mental strategies include both the creation of more inclusive in-group identities and the reciprocity of trusting other users and being responsible. In addition to giving further evidence of the existence of group co-presence on SNSs, the study sheds light on the management of the phenomenon. Management of group co-presence should be supported, since otherwise users may feel the urge to resort to defensive strategies of social identity protection such as ceasing to use SNSs altogether or, less dramatically, limit their use according to the least common denominator. Hence, the phenomenon merits the attention of researchers, developers, and designers alike.

ContextContacts: re-designing SmartPhone's contact book to support mobile awareness and collaboration

Acontextuality of the mobile phone often leads to a callers uncertainty over a callees current state, which in turn often hampers mobile collaboration. We are interested in re-designing a Smartphones contact book to provide cues of the current situations of others. ContextContacts presents several meaningful, automatically communicated situation cues of trusted others. Its interaction design follows social psychological findings on how people make social attributions based on impoverished cues, on how self-disclosure of cues is progressively and interactionally managed, and on how mobility affects interaction through cues. We argue how our design choices support mobile communication decisions and group coordinations by promoting awareness. As a result, the design is very minimal and integrated, in an unremarkable manner, to previously learned usage patterns with the phone. First laboratory and field evaluations indicate important boundary conditions for and promising avenues toward more useful and enjoyable mobile awareness applications.

Mobile kits and laptop trays: managing multiple devices in mobile information work

A study at a large IT company shows that mobile information workers frequently migrate work across devices (here: smartphones, desktop PCs, laptops). While having multiple devices provides new opportunities to work in the face of changing resource deprivations, the management of devices is often problematic. The most salient problems are posed by 1) the physical effort demanded by various management tasks, 2) anticipating what data or functionality will be needed, and 3) aligning these efforts with work, mobility, and social situations. Workers strategies of coping with these problems center on two interwoven activities: the physical handling of devices and cross-device synchronization. These aim at balancing risk and effort in immediate and subsequent use. Workers also exhibit subtle ways to handle devices in situ, appropriating their physical and operational properties. The design implications are discussed.