Teija Vainio

A 3D City Info for mobile users

Abstract For many applications, a three-dimensional representation improves the usability of data. Soon 3D rendering and broadband wireless communications will be embedded into various wireless handheld devices. We have built a web-based 3D city info connected to a data base and customized the system for mobile users. We also conducted field trials and usability studies on the added value of 3D graphics on navigation and wayfinding in cities. Our results show that search and visualization of location-based information of a city becomes more intuitive with life-like 3D.

Developing a questionnaire for measuring mobile business service experience

In this paper, three dimensions are conceptualized to represent elements of mobile business service experience. By combining these perspectives, namely usability, mobile working context and mobile work productivity, we aim to understand the nature of mobile work and how mobile business services could support users in this context. A questionnaire, MoBiS-Q, for measuring these dimensions has been developed and tested in three pilot studies during real service development processes. Iterative item generation and refinement were conducted through examination of the literature, interviews and pre-testing. MoBiS-Q is a multidisciplinary tool that provides a basis for joint development between relevant parties and departments in an organization, including user representatives, sales, marketing, product management, technology, and usability.

Crowdsourced news reporting: supporting news content creation with mobile phones

As news organizations are moving towards systematically using the power of crowds in news reporting, mobile phones are potential mobile tools for reader reporters. We conducted two user studies to support the development of future mobile crowdsourcing processes and mobile tools for news reporting. In a quasi-experiment on future mobile crowdsourcing process with location-based assignments, SMS messages were experienced as an easy and handy means for news assignments. A customized mobile client prototype was preferred for submission of multimedia content (photo and video), since submission was experienced simple to use and reliable especially for videos. Based on our findings and earlier research we discuss implications for the development of mobile crowdsourcing processes with mobile news reporting assignments.

Developing 3D information systems for mobile users: some usability issues

Location-based services, navigation and way finding in three-dimensional worlds are some challenges of current research in mobile computing and information systems. This paper introduces a prototype of future mobile city information systems. In 3D City Info research project, we integrated in one prototype system a three-dimensional city model, a map and a database, which includes information from the same area. In addition, we have built a fully working mobile laptop version of the 3D City Info with an integrated GPS receiver for our field tests. Our preliminary user study appears to support the conclusion that three-dimensional model integrated to a map appears to visualize motion better than a map alone. In the user interface design a users possibility to adapt separately a model and a map might be worth considering in the future.

Accessibility and Mobile Learning

During the Digital Learning and MOBIlearn projects, the authors have acknowledged a new gap in defining accessibility in the context of mobile learning. This document describes this gap and seeks a broader definition of accessibility. Accessibility is discussed in terms of 1) usability, 2) a digital divide and 3) evaluation. First they describe how accessibility is traditionally understood in usability design and what issues mobility brings to accessibility. Secondly, equality issues are discussed in the context of a digital divide. Then the mobile learning evaluation framework is introduced and the implications of accessibility on evaluation are discussed. Finally, these perspectives are integrated and future research topics are proposed.

Opportunities and Challenges of Designing the Service User eXperience (SUX) in Web 2.0

Developed countries are in a transition into service societies. In the past few years, there has been a significant rise in Internet services in people’s everyday lives. With the rise of the phenomenon called Web 2.0, users of the services are starting to experience new types of dynamically evolving services. New services enable user-created content and social awareness, and they are often dynamically composed of various service “mashup” components. Even though there are numerous success stories of such services, coherent design principles of user experience of these services are only starting to emerge. One significant aspect that affects the user-centered design of Web 2.0 services is the dynamic nature of service development, with the requirement of fast and continuous iteration of the services. In this chapter, we first explore the nature of Web 2.0 services from the users’ perspective. We then review the multidisciplinary nature of experience, service experience, and user experience, and summarize the essential elements of the service user experience (SUX). We then investigate the applicability of user-centered design principles to the service development life cycle and discuss users’ new roles in service development. We present a summary of SUX design opportunities and challenges. Our main conclusions are that new, agile methods to involve users in the service development process need to be developed, and that less technically advanced users should be involved in co-creation of Web 2.0 services.

MoBiS-Q: a tool for evaluating the success of mobile business services

Companies deploy mobile business services to enable efficient work processes and gain increases in productivity. However, the success of the services in fulfilling these goals depends on several factors from the usability of the service to its success in supporting the business processes of the companies. This paper reviews existing measures for the usability of services and measures for evaluating the effects of mobile business services on the productivity of the company. We discuss the usefulness of the existing measures in the mobile business context, where both mobility and work-context pose specific demands for the services. The review showed that existing measures rarely consider the great contextual variation caused by mobility of the services and the demands this poses on usability; which, in turn, affects productivity. To build a measurement tool that better meets the requirements of mobile business services, we completed case studies on two mobile business services, one used in passenger transport and the other in construction sites. Based on the understanding gained from the case studies, we propose a list of themes addressing both usability and productivity measures that work as the basis for a multidisciplinary measurement tool, MoBiS-Q.

Identifying Usability and Productivity Dimensions for Measuring the Success of Mobile Business Services

This paper reviews existing measures used for evaluating the usability of information systems and those used for evaluating the level of the productivity of a company. We discuss the usefulness of the existing measures in the mobile business context, where both mobility and work-context pose specific demands for the mobile business services. The review showed that the existing measures rarely consider the great contextual variation caused by the mobility of the services and the demands this poses on usability; which, in turn, affects productivity. To build a measurement tool that better meets the requirements of mobile business services, we completed case studies on two mobile business services, one used in passenger transport and the other in construction sites. Based on the understanding gained from the case studies, we propose a list of dimensions and items addressing both usability and productivity aspects that work as the basis for a multidisciplinary measurement tool.

Towards Scalable User Interfaces in 3D City Information Systems

A 3D revolution has taken place during the last few years, and it is shifting towards hand-held devices. In this paper, we adapted our 3D City Info for mobile users and built a demonstration of future mobile services. Our main purpose was to study navigation and way finding in a three-dimensional city model that is connected in real-time to a map of the same area and to a database, which contains information from the same area. We have built a fully working mobile laptop version of the 3D City Info with an integrated GPS receiver for our field tests. The three-dimensional model appears to illustrate motion and change of location more clearly than two-dimensional map alone. In the future the possibility to scale, zoom and drag modules and components of the interfaces seems to be useful for different contexts of use.

Exploring Multimodal Navigation Aids for Mobile Users

When navigating in real physical environments, as human beings we tend to display systematic or near-systematic errors with distance, direction and other navigation issues. To avoid making these errors, we choose different stratategies to find our way. While there have been a lot of HCI studies of navigation design guidelines for using maps or speech-based or tactile-based guidance in mobile devices, in this paper we introduce an initial study of multimodal navigation design utilising the design practice of episodes of motion originated from urban planning. The implications of designing cues and providing rhythm, as the design guidelines of episodes of motions suggests, are explored in this study with the subjects being pedestrians with wayfinding tasks in an urban area. The main contributions of this paper are in evaluating the design implications in the context of mobile wayfinding tasks and in reflecting the results according to human wayfinding behaviour. It is concluded that by designing predictive clues and rhythm into mobile multimodal navigation applications, we can improve navigation aids for users.