expected information needs of parents for pervasive awareness systems 08.11.07 vassilis-javed khan,...

EXPECTED INFORMATION NEEDS OF PARENTS FOR PERVASIVE AWARENESS

SYSTEMS

08.11.07

Vassilis-Javed Khan, Panos Markopoulos,

Boris de Ruyter, Wijnand IJsselsteijn

INDEX

• PhD background info,• Definition of Awareness Systems (AS),• Examples of AS,• Motivation & Study Method,• Results & Conclusions.

OVERALL GOAL

• How can Awareness Systems support intra-family communication?

MY FOCUS

• Communication between “busy parents”

• Couples:– Both working,– Have at least one dependent child,

• Goal is to support their communication with Awareness Systems

AWARENESS SYSTEMS

• Awareness Systems are a class of CMC systems having as a goal to help people keep in touch about their activities and whereabouts over long periods of time.

AWARENESS SYSTEMS FOR COUPLES

Strong & Gaver

Tollmar & Joakim

Vetere et.al.

NEED OF MORE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH

• Is a constant information flow between parents wanted at all?

• Are there any other communication needs except intimacy?

• Should the information flow be symmetric?

INTERVIEW STUDY RESULTS

• 20 Dutch “busy parents”,

• Results:– While at work, refrain from initiating communication for fear of interrupting,

– Not much need for directly communicating affection,

– Most cases a practical reason is used as a carrier for communicating affection as well.

METHOD

• Through literature review of papers describing AS & our interview transcripts we formed 41 statements representing Awareness Information that can be exchanged.

METHOD: EXAMPLE OF STATEMENT

METHOD: EXAMPLE OF STATEMENT

METHOD: EXAMPLE OF STATEMENT

METHOD: EXAMPLE OF STATEMENT

METHOD: ASKING IN 2 STEPS

METHOD: ASKING IN 1 STEP

METHOD

• 69 participants,• Group 1: 34 in 2 steps,• Group 2: 35 in 1 step.

• H1: When parents are asked in a way representing an asymmetrical exchange of information they would be willing to exchange more information than when asked in a way representing a symmetrical one.

• H2: Parents are willing to receive more information than they are willing to send.

ANALYSIS

• Rerated each of the 41 statements for the 2-step for each participant of Group 1,

• calculated the proportion of participants choosing a statement,

• did a significance interval test at 95% for each statement comparing with the 1-step.

• Did a significance interval test at 95% for both sending and receiving.

RESULTS

• Method: In both cases no statistically significant difference between the two,

• =>There is no difference in asking in a 1 step or 2 steps,

• =>There is a symmetry in communication needs.

CONTENT OF INFORMATION

• Most wanted statements to be shared:

– My spouse is informed that I am wishing him/her a good day,

– My spouse is informed about how I am feeling today,

– My spouse is informed that I do not want to be disturbed now.

CONTENT OF INFORMATION

• Most wanted statements to be received:

– I am informed that my spouse is wishing me a good day,

– I am informed about how my spouse is feeling today,

– I am informed that my spouse does not want to be disturbed now.

LESSONS LEARNED

• Empirical evidence that there is a symmetry in communication needs,

• Empirical evidence of more expressive means for affective communication,

• Informing about availability,

• Combine requirements elicitation methods to validate their results.

MORE INFO

• HTTP://WWW.AWARENESS.ID.TUE.NL

• v.j.khan@tue.nl