CS124: Investigation 7

iUbicomp

Due: Wednesay, April 28, 2:45pm on Sakai

This is a pair or individual investigation. You can work with anyone in the class or on your own. The only catch is that you need an iPod touch, iPad or iPhone to do this assignment, so if you don't have one, you'll have to partner with someone who does.

We'll discuss these assignments in class on Wednesday, April 28. If you choose to take an extension and therefore are not quite finished, that's fine.

Goals

The goals of this Investigation are:

To explore how new devices (the iPod touch/iPhone/iPad) support the dream of ubiquitous computing
To solidify your user interaction techniques (i.e. interviews, ethnography)
To have fun brainstorming about "future interfaces"

Before you Begin

You are ready to go on this investigation. Please get started right away!

Please read the whole assignment before you begin.

Assignment

In this assignment you will investigate how existing iPod/iPhone/iPad apps support the dream of ubiquitous computing. If you recall our reading on Ubiquitous Computing, you'll probably notice that the iPhone and the iPad look a lot like the tabs and pads described by Wieser in these articles. Others have made that connection. This page explores that idea in some detail. But just how close are we to the dream of Ubicomp? That's what you will explore in this investigation.

Your task is to choose a user population, explore their needs, and then find existing iPhone/iPad apps that support their needs. Keep reading for more details on this assignment....

Part 1: Choose your user population and task

Select a user population that you have access to. Note that for UBICOMP paying close attention to your user base is particularly important. In Investigation 2 we talked about several user characteristics such as age, gender, culture, comfort with technology, etc. All of these characteristics will be important here. For example, women who attend small private colleges have different lifestyle needs than retired men. For this investigation, try to narrow your user base as much as possible.

Next, select an application area in which a user potentially would be aided by iApps in a ubiquitous way (or at least as ubiquitous as an iPhone/iPad can be). In selecting your area, consider the types of activities that ubicomp interfaces are designed to support that we discussed in class, including "natural" input, (possibly) context awareness and data capture and review.

Your task area needs to be something that you can either observe people doing, or gather information about through interviews so this will restrict your choice (but hopefully not too much!).

Part 2: Observing and/or interviewing your potential users

After you have chosen your application area and your user base, you should observe OR interview two people from your target user group engaged in the activity that your system will support. If you are working with a partner, you may each interview/observe one person separately. If you are using observation, you should each observe your potential users for at least an hour, using the ethnographic methods you practiced in Investigation 2. If you are using interviews, you should use your methods from Investigation 3. You are welcome to use a combination of the two techniques. This time, however, you can be a little more focused in your observations/interviews. Your goal is specifically to determine how the iPhone/iPad might support their activity. Take notes as you did in your previous investigation. You will use those notes when you get together with your partner to design your system.

Part 3: Designing your "ubiquitous system"

Your task is to identify a set of iApps that support the activity that you have chosen. This part might seem a little bit vague at first, so please read this section and the next before you get started. You should do this by exploring the web, the iPhone store, talking to your friends, and downloading and trying out the apps on whichever device that you have. Your goal is to support as many of the user's activities as seamlessly as possible. You don't have to support everything you saw the user doing; you can select a subset of these activities, but you should justify how you selected this subset.

You might find that some of the apps you want to use cost money. You will be reimbursed for up to $5 per group for the purchase of apps. This is not a lot of money, so here are some tips:

Do your research first. Make sure the app is really what you think you want before you buy it.
Many apps have free versions. Try these out before you buy
If you really need a more expensive app, come talk to me about it.

You should select as many apps as you need to create a useful system to support the users and the activity you are focused on. There is no correct number of apps that you should work into your system. Use as many as needed.
In selecting your apps, keep in mind the following questions:

How much attention does the user need to give to the interface? Is this appropriate for the task?
How is context used to enhance the user experience (if at all)?
Is there any potential for input error? How will those errors affect the user experience?
Does the interface provide feedback to the user? If so, how? Is the feedback mechanism (or lack thereof) appropriate?
What metaphor is the interface relying on (if any)? Is this appropriate?
How does the interface use "natural" input? Is this appropriate?
Is the interface tangible (i.e., mixed reality)? Ambient? Is this appropriate?
How is privacy a concern? How will it be handled?

For each app you decide to include in your system, play with it enough that you can complete the writeup listed below.
Part 4: Writeup

Writeup Part 1
Now the fun part. You will present your new "system" as a futuristic scenario, as Weiser does in his desription of "Sal" in this paper. In your writeup, you will describe a typical user (from your user population) performing tasks using the set of tools you have identified. You should describe his or her activities and how he or she uses each system in detail, including specific details of his or her actions and screenshots of the interfaces, where appropriate. Here are some guidelines/rules for this writeup:

Be sure to include your user's characteristics in your scenario, either up front or scattered throughout the writeup. By the end of the scenario, I should have a good idea what your user looks like, what they do day to day, how old they are, etc.
You must include a lot of detail, including screenshots of the apps as your user "uses" them. Obviously, these screenshots would be created by you in support of this scenario.
You should include a footnote/endnote each time your scenario includes an action that is directly supported by your interview/observation. In the footnote/endnote briefly describe how your observation/interview supported this action. E.g, if you say "While skateboarding across campus, Sal realizes she left her homework in her room*" your footnote might say "*one of our users reported this as a problem he often faces".
Be creative and have fun!

Writeup Part 2
Describe each app that you chose to include in your system. Why did you choose that app? How does it fare from a ubicomp perspective? For each app, address at least two points from the list above.

What to Hand In

You only need to hand in your writeup from part 4

Grading

Investigation 7 Grading Rubric

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