Kelly Caine

Why it works (when it works): success factors in online creative collaboration

Online creative collaboration (peer production) has enabled the creation of Wikipedia and open source software (OSS), and is rapidly expanding to encompass new domains, such as video, music, and animation. But what are the underlying principles allowing online creative collaboration to succeed, and how well do they transfer from one domain to another? In this paper, we address these questions by comparing and contrasting online, collaborative animated movies, called collabs, with OSS projects. First, we use qualitative methods to solicit potential success factors from collab participants. Then, we test these predictions by quantitatively analyzing a data set of nearly 900 collabs. Finally, we compare and contrast our results with the literature on OSS development and propose broader theoretical implications. Our findings offer a starting point for a systematic research agenda seeking to unlock the potential of online creative collaboration.

BENEFITS AND PRIVACY CONCERNS OF A HOME EQUIPPED WITH A VISUAL SENSING SYSTEM: A PERSPECTIVE FROM OLDER ADULTS

Monitoring technology has the potential to allow older adults to remain in their homes longer than may otherwise be possible. However, often this monitoring technology captures images which may cause privacy concerns, especially when these images are captured in a home environment. We used Likert scales within a structured interview to investigate privacy concerns in an aware or smart home environment. Specifically, we were interested in how the type of image that was captured and the level of functioning of the person being monitored affected privacy concerns in a home environment. The data suggest that both device type as well as level of functioning affect privacy concerns in a variety of situations, providing the first evidence that certain privacy concerns are not independent of situation variables.

DigiSwitch: A Device to Allow Older Adults to Monitor and Direct the Collection and Transmission of Health Information Collected at Home

Home monitoring represents an appealing alternative for older adults considering out-of-home long term care and an avenue for informal caregivers and health care providers to gain decision-critical information about an older adults’ health and well-being. However, privacy concerns about having 24/7 monitoring, especially video monitoring, in the home environment have been cited as a major barrier in the design of home monitoring systems. In this paper we describe the design and evaluation of “DigiSwitch”, a medical system designed to allow older adults to view information as it is collected about them and temporarily cease transmission of data for privacy reasons. Results from a series of iterative user studies suggest that control over the transmission of monitoring data from the home is helpful for maintaining user privacy. The studies demonstrate that older adults are able to use the DigiSwitch system to monitor and direct the collection and transmission of health information in their homes, providing these participants with a way to simultaneously maintain privacy and benefit from home monitoring technology.

Human Factors Considerations in the Design of Wearable Devices

Wearable devices have great potential to support several application domains ranging from medical and safety critical, to leisure and entertainment. Wearable devices’ solutions are promising, and extensive research has been conducted in this domain since the early 90’s. However most of these works focuses on the feasibility of individual solutions. As such, the human aspects are often neglected, which can decrease not only the acceptance levels for novel devices, but also their sustained engagement. To facilitate the consideration of human factors in the early design stage, we present and define a list of 20 human-centered design principles. We explain how each principle can be incorporated during the design phase of the wearable device creation process. By adopting these principles, we expect practitioners to achieve better wearable solutions, improving the user acceptance, satisfaction and engagement for novel applications.

Sacred imagery in techno-spiritual design

Despite increased knowledge about how Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) are used to support religious and spiritual practices, designers know little about how to design technologies for faith-related purposes. Our research suggests incorporating sacred imagery into techno-spiritual applications can be useful in guiding development. We illustrate this through the design and evaluation of a mobile phone application developed to support Islamic prayer practices. Our contribution is to show how religious imagery can be used in the design of applications that go beyond the provision of functionality to connect people to the experience of religion.

Users’ Privacy Concerns About Wearables

Wearables have become popular in several application domains, including healthcare, entertainment and security. Their pervasiveness, small size and autonomy, enlarges the potential of these devices to be employed in different activities and scenarios. Wearable devices collect data ubiquitously and continuously, about the individual user and also her surroundings, which can pose many privacy challenges that neither users nor stakeholders are ready to deal with. Before designing effective solutions for developing privacy-enhanced wearables, we need first to identify and understand what are the potential privacy concerns that users have and how they are perceived. To contribute to that purpose, in this paper we present findings from a qualitative content analysis of online comments regarding privacy concerns of wearable device users. We also discuss how form factors, sensors employed, and the type of data collected impact the users’ perception of privacy. Our results show that users have different levels and types of privacy concerns depending on the type of wearable they use. By better understanding the users’ perspectives about wearable privacy, we aim at helping designers and researchers to develop effective solutions to create privacy-enhanced wearables.

Local Standards for Sample Size at CHI

We describe the primary ways researchers can determine the size of a sample of research participants, present the benefits and drawbacks of each of those methods, and focus on improving one method that could be useful to the CHI community: local standards. To determine local standards for sample size within the CHI community, we conducted an analysis of all manuscripts published at CHI2014. We find that sample size for manuscripts published at CHI ranges from 1 -- 916,000 and the most common sample size is 12. We also find that sample size differs based on factors such as study setting and type of methodology employed. The outcome of this paper is an overview of the various ways sample size may be determined and an analysis of local standards for sample size within the CHI community. These contributions may be useful to researchers planning studies and reviewers evaluating the validity of results.

From checking on to checking in: designing for low socio-economic status older adults

In this paper we describe the design evolution of a novel technology that collects and displays presence information to be used in the homes of older adults. The first two iterations, the Ambient Plant and Presence Clock, were designed for higher socio-economic status (SES) older adults, whereas the Check-In Tree was designed for low SES older adults. We describe how feedback from older adult participants drove our design decisions, and give an in-depth account of how the Check-In Tree evolved from concept to a final design ready for in situ deployment.

Cell phone ownership and use among mental health outpatients in the USA

Cell phone technology is in the hands of millions of Americans, and early research indicates that this technology can be useful to help Americans who are suffering from some form of mental illness. Like with the design of any technology from a human-centered perspective, we aim to determine how to best utilize technology so that it is both easy to use and works for its intended purpose. To accomplish this, we surveyed 325 patients currently receiving treatment at community-based outpatient clinics for mental illness to determine their cell phone ownership and usage patterns. Our results showed that cell phone ownership among these mental health patients was comparable with ownership among a nationally representative sample, with the exception that more patients than non-patients shared their mobile phones. Among mental health patients, we found that texting was the most popular feature used and downloading apps was the least popular. Based on these results, we concluded that texting may be a feasible form of treatment aid for those with mental illness and may be useful as a supplementary treatment for those with low income or little to no access to treatment. Further research should investigate privacy measures for using mobile technology as a treatment aid, especially for those who share a phone, and explore the types of mHealth treatment aids that could be the most effective.

Privacy Perceptions of an Aware Home with Visual Sensing Devices

Homes that can collaborate with their residents rather than simply provide shelter are becoming a reality. These homes such as Georgia Techs “Aware Home” can potentially provide support to residents. Older adults in particular may benefit from the supports provided by these Aware Homes if they utilize the technologies they offer. The purpose of this study is to explore the privacy concerns that older adults may have about a home equipped with a visual sensing device. Using a structured interview approach we propose to investigate how variables such as the type of images the home captures and the physical and mental health of the residents of the home may affect privacy concerns. Findings from scenario-based structured interviews will be used to better understand the characteristics of these variables and how they relate to privacy concerns about visual sensing devices. Such data are critical for a model of home-based privacy concerns, for better design of home based visual sensing systems, and for providing information about sensing systems so that individuals may make informed choices concerning what devices to have in their homes.