SnowGlobe: the development of a prototype awareness system for longitudinal field studies

Awareness systems are a novel class of communication systems that enable people to be conscious of each other in a peripheral way. To better understand how people experience these systems over time, and how they blend in the user context, longitudinal field studies are needed. Although tangible awareness systems are considered to be more intimate and aesthetically pleasing than screen based awareness systems, they are not often evaluated in a longitudinal setting. This may be due to several factors that complicate the field evaluation of such systems, including the robustness and reliability of the prototype. This paper describes how the challenges of designing and evaluating a prototype have been addressed in the design of SnowGlobe. The system was evaluated in a longitudinal field setting with 12 users. The prototype enabled extensive data collection on the user experience and usage of such a tangible awareness system. Keywords Awareness systems, social connectedness, research throu...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: ACMDIS
• Authors: Thomas Visser, Martijn H. Vastenburg, David V. Keyson
• Keywords: ACMDIS 2010, Awareness Systems, Human Computer Interaction, Longitudinal Field, Tangible Awareness