Eija Kaasinen

Two approaches to bringing Internet services to WAP devices

Abstract The next big challenge of the Internet is mobile access. More and more information is available on the Internet and intranets and mobile users will also need access to it. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) based devices make it possible to access Wireless Markup Language (WML) based services with mobile browsers. The first WAP compliant devices have already been released on the market and more are to come. In the future there will be a need for Web services that are specially targeted for mobile users. We have studied this mobile-aware approach to service design by implementing a WML application and evaluating it on three different WAP platforms. Based on our evaluation results, we recognize challenges for future WAP devices and mobile-aware services. We have also studied if it would be possible to access the already existing Internet information with WAP devices. We have developed an HTML/WML conversion proxy server, which converts HTML-based Web contents automatically and on-line to WML. This approach gives the mobile users transparent access to their familiar Web pages from their mobile phones and other mobile devices. Our study indicates that if HTML-based Web services follow certain guidelines, they can be converted automatically to WML and adapted to the client device. In principle these guidelines already exist as World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Content Accessibility Guidelines and W3C Note for HTML 4.0 Guidelines for Mobile Access.

User acceptance of location-aware mobile guides based on seven field studies

Location-awareness provides mobile users with topical and personal contents that may increase the appeal of mobile guides in different application fields. Based on the results of seven field studies, this paper identifies factors of usability, utility and user trust that affect the user acceptance of location-aware mobile guides. The results indicate that on-the-move use sets high requirements for ease-of-use and, in particular, ease of taking the services into use. The need for location-aware mobile guides turned out to be occasional, but in many of those occasional usage situations the guides proved extremely useful. The trade-off between privacy protection and effortless use requires careful consideration, even though in these studies the users turned out to be trusting towards the service providers. The results indicate that location-awareness can provide the users with easy-to-use and situationally relevant mobile guides.

User Acceptance of Mobile Services

Personal mobile devices are increasingly being used as platforms for interactive services. Ease of use is important, but the services should also provide clear value to the user and they should be trustworthy and easy to adopt. These user acceptance factors form the core of the Technology Acceptance Model for Mobile Services introduced in this article. The model has been set up based on field trials of several mobile services with altogether more than 200 test users. This article presents the technology acceptance model and introduces two case studies of implementing the model as a design and evaluation framework in practice.

Defining user experience goals to guide the design of industrial systems

The key prerequisite for experience-driven design is to define what experience to design for. User experience (UX) goals concretise the intended experience. Based on our own case studies from industrial environments and a literature study, we propose five different approaches to acquiring insight and inspiration for UX goal setting: Brand, Theory, Empathy, Technology, and Vision. Each approach brings in a different viewpoint, thus supporting the multidisciplinary character of UX. The Brand approach ensures that the UX goals are in line with the companys brand promise. The Theory approach utilises the available scientific knowledge of human behaviour. The Empathy approach focuses on knowing the actual users and stepping into their shoes. The Technology approach considers the new technologies that are being introduced and their positive or negative influence on UX. Finally, the Vision approach focuses on renewal, introducing new kinds of UXs. In the design of industrial systems, several stakeholders are involved and they should share common design goals. Using the different UX goal-setting approaches together brings in the viewpoints of different stakeholders, thus committing them to UX goal setting and emphasising UX as a strategic design decision.

Mobile-centric ambient intelligence in health- and homecare—anticipating ethical and legal challenges

Ambient Intelligence provides the potential for vast and varied applications, bringing with it both promise and peril. The development of Ambient Intelligence applications poses a number of ethical and legal concerns. Mobile devices are increasingly evolving into tools to orientate in and interact with the environment, thus introducing a user-centric approach to Ambient Intelligence. The MINAmI (Micro-Nano integrated platform for transverse Ambient Intelligence applications) FP6 research project aims at creating core technologies for mobile device based Ambient Intelligence services. In this paper we assess five scenarios that demonstrate forthcoming MINAmI-based applications focusing on healthcare, assistive technology, homecare, and everyday life in general. A legal and ethical analysis of the scenarios is conducted, which reveals various conflicting interests. The paper concludes with some thoughts on drafting ethical guidelines for Ambient Intelligence applications.

A User-Centric View of Intelligent Environments: User Expectations, User Experience and User Role in Building Intelligent Environments

Our everyday environments are gradually becoming intelligent, facilitated both by technological development and user activities. Although large-scale intelligent environments are still rare in actual everyday use, they have been studied for quite a long time, and several user studies have been carried out. In this paper, we present a user-centric view of intelligent environments based on published research results and our own experiences from user studies with concepts and prototypes. We analyze user acceptance and users’ expectations that affect users’ willingness to start using intelligent environments and to continue using them. We discuss user experience of interacting with intelligent environments where physical and virtual elements are intertwined. Finally, we touch on the role of users in shaping their own intelligent environments instead of just using ready-made environments. People are not merely “using” the intelligent environments but they live in them, and they experience the environments via embedded services and new interaction tools as well as the physical and social environment. Intelligent environments should provide emotional as well as instrumental value to the people who live in them, and the environments should be trustworthy and controllable both by regular users and occasional visitors. Understanding user expectations and user experience in intelligent environments, and providing users with tools to influence the environments can help to shape the vision of intelligent environments into meaningful, acceptable and appealing service entities for all those who live and act in them.

Supporting independent living of the elderly with mobile-centric ambient intelligence: user evaluation of three scenarios

Mobile-centric ambient intelligence refers to systems, where personal mobile device is used to access ambient information and services. In this paper, we present three scenarios describing how independent living of elderly can be supported with mobile-centric ambient intelligence services. The scenarios have been prepared in the MINAmI project, which is developing an open technology platform for mobile-centric ambient intelligence. The scenarios focus on supporting self-care and safety at home. The three scenarios have been evaluated by groups of elderly people and the two self-care related scenarios also by medical experts, in both Spain and Finland. We report the results of these evaluations, and draw conclusions for user acceptance of mobile-centric ambient intelligence supporting independent living of the elderly.

User acceptance of mobile TV services

Mobile digital television technology facilitates broadcast TV on a mobile phone as well as interactive add-on services provided on top of the selected TV channel. In this paper we describe the results of a six-month field trial where 27 users were evaluating commercially available mobile TV services and 10 different pilot services. Mobile TV found a role in the everyday lives of the users as an extension to ordinary TV. The users appreciated easy and continuous access to TV contents. The results highlight that short usage situations typical to mobile TV use are hindering the adoption of new add-on services. The adoption can be supported by using content, appearance or functionality familiar from other media. The main problems with add-on services were related to knowing about the mere existence of these services and their contents as well as understanding the concept of services available only during a certain TV show.

Ubimedia based on readable and writable memory tags

Ubimedia is a concept where media files are embedded in everyday objects and the environment. We propose an approach where the user can read and write these files with his/her personal mobile phone simply by touching the physical objects. This facilitates easy access and storage of, e.g. video and audio files related to the physical object in question. This paper describes our work in developing a technical solution for ubimedia and studying user acceptance of forthcoming ubimedia services. Our technical development of the ubimedia concept has been focused on a mobile phone platform with a tag reader/writer, memory tags with large storage capacity, and the communication between the phone and the tags. Currently, the technical design is in test and evaluation phase. The preliminary results show that the concept works and it can be implemented technically. In parallel with the technical development, we have studied usage possibilities for ubimedia and user acceptance of future ubimedia services. User acceptance has been studied in a web survey and in user evaluations of proofs-of-concept. In addition, an ethical assessment has been carried out. The users appreciated especially the simplicity, speed, low cost and reliability of ubimedia. Ethical concerns were related to control over the download with regard to viruses and other unwanted content.

The second international workshop on mobile internet user experience

Mobile access to the Internet is increasing but still dominated by early adopters. To attract more users, user experience of mobile Internet needs to be improved. This requires understanding better mobile users and usage contexts to identify the kinds of services that users will be ready to use. In addition to increasing the attractiveness of services, successful user experience also requires improvements in devices and infrastructures such as networks, browsers and proxies and means to find situationally relevant services. This workshop calls developers and researchers of mobile Internet to exchange experiences and ideas how user experience of mobile Internet could be improved.