Fumiko Ichikawa

Where's The Phone? A Study of Mobile Phone Location in Public Spaces

This paper presents the approach and the outcome of a study, called wheres-the-phone to identify characteristics of how mobile phones are carried whilst users are out and about in public spaces. A series of contextual interviews were conducted in public spaces of Helsinki, Milan and New York collecting 419 responses in total. The results show a strong tendency by gender, with females using bags and males using trouser pockets to place their mobile phones. Comments from participants suggested users did not place the phone wherever available, but rather considered many aspects, such as the convenience, tolerance to multiple postures, risk of theft, comfort, or impact to their appearance. We learn that bag users miss incoming alerts more often than with other carrying methods. Based on the outcome of the study, we discuss the challenges in designing mobile devices, in particular mobile phones

A cross culture study on phone carrying and physical personalization

The mobile phone has become one of the essential objects that people carry when they leave home. By conducting a series of street interviews in 11 cities on 4 continents, we attempted to identify the main carrying options in different cultures and how these options affected user experience in interacting with the phone. We also identified several cultural differences ranging from the prevalence of cases, straps, and other physical phone modification to other ways to personalize and protect the appearance of the phone. Phone straps and decorative stickers were more prevalent in cities such as Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing but seldom witnessed in other cultures. Based on findings from this research, we identified a number of factors that affected carrying position and style, which can be summarized as ease of access vs. the need to maintain security. Non-instrumental attributes include: identity, sociability, and aesthetics. Some practical implications on interaction and industrial design are also discussed.