New paper on observing mobile groups
We have published a new technical report:
Axup, J., & Viller, S. (2005). Conceptualizing New Mobile Devices By Observing Gossip and Social Network Formation Amongst the Extremely Mobile - Mobile Information Sharing 1 (MIS-1) Study, ITEE Technical Report (No. 459). University of Queensland: Brisbane, Australia. http://eprint.uq.edu.au/archive/00003287/
For those of you who don't know: technical reports are a great way to see cutting edge research about a year before it actually gets published in journals (see the FAQ section to find out why). E-prints is a cool system a lot of universities offer to promote self-publishing and open access to research (unlike many journals and conference proceedings).
The paper is about our experiences observing groups of backpackers on tourist activities. This was done to elicit requirements for the design of a mobile travel assistant simialr to a guidebook. It will shortly be followed by another report on the second iteration of the study which introduced foam prototypes of various wearable devices.
Here's the abstract:
Backpackers are a large number of young, budget travellers that move through Australia and the rest of the world each year. They tend to seek new experiences, travel cheaply, and many prefer to let chance occurrences guide their journey. Backpackers primarily flow in a bi-directional North-South current through the East Coast cities of Australia. They often form eddies to unknown locations, or pause to rest in pools of other backpackers. Backpackers often wish to organize group activities, but have few collaboration methods available. They regularly explore unfamiliar locations quickly, but have only basic resources to inform them about those places. Despite the desired collaboration, only a trickle of communication is possible between them as they move. Many opportunities exist for mobile devices to assist them with their difficulties.
We used a combination of mobile group ethnography, contextual group interviews and participatory activities, to explore current communication behaviour between backpackers engaged in a typical tourist activity. Research methods were also evaluated to determine their utility for studying mobile groups. Results indicate a long list of inconveniences backpackers face, which have translate into a list of 48 user requirements and a table of 35 product ideas. Ethnographic observation worked well in person and with audio recorders, but not well with video. Participatory methods allowed rapid, inexpensive exploration of a social pairing system and provided redesign data. We also learned how different phases of mobility can effect communication and behaviour of groups of backpackers.
Axup, J., & Viller, S. (2005). Conceptualizing New Mobile Devices By Observing Gossip and Social Network Formation Amongst the Extremely Mobile - Mobile Information Sharing 1 (MIS-1) Study, ITEE Technical Report (No. 459). University of Queensland: Brisbane, Australia. http://eprint.uq.edu.au/archive/00003287/
For those of you who don't know: technical reports are a great way to see cutting edge research about a year before it actually gets published in journals (see the FAQ section to find out why). E-prints is a cool system a lot of universities offer to promote self-publishing and open access to research (unlike many journals and conference proceedings).
The paper is about our experiences observing groups of backpackers on tourist activities. This was done to elicit requirements for the design of a mobile travel assistant simialr to a guidebook. It will shortly be followed by another report on the second iteration of the study which introduced foam prototypes of various wearable devices.
Here's the abstract:
Backpackers are a large number of young, budget travellers that move through Australia and the rest of the world each year. They tend to seek new experiences, travel cheaply, and many prefer to let chance occurrences guide their journey. Backpackers primarily flow in a bi-directional North-South current through the East Coast cities of Australia. They often form eddies to unknown locations, or pause to rest in pools of other backpackers. Backpackers often wish to organize group activities, but have few collaboration methods available. They regularly explore unfamiliar locations quickly, but have only basic resources to inform them about those places. Despite the desired collaboration, only a trickle of communication is possible between them as they move. Many opportunities exist for mobile devices to assist them with their difficulties.
We used a combination of mobile group ethnography, contextual group interviews and participatory activities, to explore current communication behaviour between backpackers engaged in a typical tourist activity. Research methods were also evaluated to determine their utility for studying mobile groups. Results indicate a long list of inconveniences backpackers face, which have translate into a list of 48 user requirements and a table of 35 product ideas. Ethnographic observation worked well in person and with audio recorders, but not well with video. Participatory methods allowed rapid, inexpensive exploration of a social pairing system and provided redesign data. We also learned how different phases of mobility can effect communication and behaviour of groups of backpackers.
posted by axup at 11:57 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home