Why an emergency alert system isn't adopted: the impact of socio-technical context

The purpose of this study is to understand the laggard adoption of an SMS-based emergency alert system on a university campus. Based on findings from in-depth interviews and a focus group, we discuss some critical issues in designing and implementing such alert systems, with a focus on the sociocultural factors that de-motivate people to use them. Our findings show that, even for a system with simple technology, the adoption process involves complex interactions between individual perceptions and the social context in which the system is situated. Categories and Subject Descriptors

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2008
• Where: BCSHCI
• Authors: Philip Fei Wu, Yan Qu, Jennifer J. Preece
• Keywords: Alert Systems, BCSHCI 2008, Emergency Alert System, Human Computer Interaction, Laggard Adoption