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Ubiquitous and embodied user experience:Design cases with children, dogs and

families

Kaisa Väänänen-Vainio-MattilaINUSE seminar, Espoo, 7.11.2011

Contents

• IHTE’s research areas in the field of UX• Recent design studies

- PawTracker for mediated human-dog interaction- Teddy Bear for supporting emotions and care

between young kids and their remote parents- FAMEX for technology-based memory creation to

motivate family members to come together• Discussion

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• Research in TUT since 1990’s on usability and user needs- Focus on user experience (UX) since 2006- Strong emphasis on mobile and ubiquitous systems

• Part of department of software engineering, faculty of computing and electronic engineering- Teaching on BSc, MSc and doctoral levels (30 doctoral students)

• Multidisciplinary staff- ~25 researchers and research assistants- Professors in usability & UX and in human-centered design, two

assistant professors, two adjunct professors

• Major funding sources are Tekes and industry- Focus on applied research

Human-Centered Technology (IHTE) in a nutshell

IHTE’s cooperation• Multidisciplinary cooperation with several research

groups- Information management, signal processing, industrial design, …

• Industrial research cooperation - Consumer products and services- Work-related products and services

• One of the most active members of Nokia InnovationCenter, Tampere

• Close cooperation with Tampere Unit for HCI (Tauchi)- Strategic alliance since 2007 – altogether ~70 HCI researchers!

• International researcher exchange- Mobile Life Centre @ Stockholm University, Uppsala, Delft,

Cambridge, Ilmenau, …

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Identifying user needs and values for successful innovations

INTERNET AND SOCIAL

MEDIA SERVICES

WORK AND BUSINESSSYSTEMS

MOBILE AND UBIQUITOUS

APPLICATIONS

IHTE’s research themes and domains

Developing and applying methods for human-centered design

User experience research and design

Sociability

Engagement

Fun

Enjoyment

Pride

Trust

Meaning

PleasureUtility

Excitement

Surprise

Identity

User Experience (UX) approach

Value

Flow

User Experience

Satisfaction

Usability

Effectiveness

Efficiency

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IHTE’s main research projects in 2011Mobile and ubiquitous interaction:• Mobile Mixed Reality services – MMR / DIEM• Subjective assessment of experienced multimedia quality –

Mobile 3DTV• Human Emotional Interaction – HEI• Haptic perception and interaction in multimodal automotive

contexts – HapticAuto• Smart Spaces for Spatial Guidance – SPAGU

UX of internet services and social media:• Product internationalization with firm-hosted online

communities – PROFCOM• Delightful Long-Term User Experience: Creating Customer

Loyalty – DELUX

Consumer and business systems:• UX and user-centered design of Cloud SW – CS• User eXperience of Complex Systems – UXUS

http://www.cs.tut.fi/ihte

The Secret Life of My Dog – Design and Evaluation of Paw Tracker Concept

MobileHCI 2011, 1.9.2011

Susanna Paasovaara1

Mikko Paldanius2

Petri Saarinen1

Jonna Häkkilä2

Kaisa Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila1

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Contents of the talk• Motivation• The concept design of Paw Tracker• User study: Focus groups and field study with a

mock-up• Main findings• Summary and conclusions

Motivation• Significance of the market

- Estimated 400 million dogs in the world- Dogs are seen as “extended family members”

• Technology-mediated interaction with dogs is very little explored in HCI- Related systems exist, e.g. Garmin, ISeePet, Dogbook- Some related studies, Yonezava et al., Weilenmann & Juhlin

• Our earlier research on dog owner’s needs and motivations (Paldanius et al., CHI 2011)

• Interesting, fun, hedonic!

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Paw Tracker concept design• Goals

- To understand pet dog owners’ needs for • technology-mediated tracking of the dog’s life• sharing dog-related information with friends

- To explore what kind of system would providepet dog owners relevant information and functionality

“Paw Tracker is used for remotely checking that everything is fine with the dog, communicating dog related issues with friends, recording and viewing data about outdoor activities and met dogs, viewing updated data and statistics about the dog’s long-term progress”

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User study: The participants

• Human participants- Three ”main participants” + 3 additional dog owners

per main participant (27-43 yrs, 10 F / 2 M)

• The dogs

Bondi, M, 2 yrs Nemo, M, 1 year(and a cat)

Enni, F, 2 yrsHeimo, M, 7 yrs

User study: Focus groups• 3 x 4 participants in the main participants’ homes• Stimulus materials: Concept figure, story boards

and example blog entriesDoggie is panting. Do you want to fill the water cup automatically?Doggie is super social! It has met 50 new dogs during the last 30 days.Doggie: I just ate a cookie and a balloon.Doggie: I chased my tail for 1 minute 32 seconds. Doggie has been in horizontal position for one hour. Do you want to activate radio for entertainment? Doggie’s heart rate is 100 bpm. Doggie’s temperature is 38,5 degrees centigrade.Doggie made I’m waiting for my family to come homecombo by running five times between the door and the kitchen window. It gained 25 points for the CanineClangame.

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User study: Field study with a mock-up• Mock-up

- Laptops with Skype video installed in the main participants’ homes- A blog (on Blogger, www.blogger.com)- Study period of 3.5-7 hours during one day (owners were away)- Sports Tracker app on the mobile (attached to the collar) to track

one walk with the dog

• Wizard-of-Oz type setup- Researchers followed video feed and created blog entries of the

dog’s activity as if created by sensor-based data• Movement, voice, activity, eating

- Owners and their friends followed the blog remotely

• Interview & questionnaire

Example mock-up blog (Nemo)- created by the researcher while following the video feed

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Findings of the user study

1. User expectations2. Reasons for using Paw Tracker3. Appealing aspects4. Less appealing aspects5. The ”ideal” system

User expectations

• Assumed that dogs sleep alot – is that so?• Finding reasons for barking or

misbehaviour• Giving feedback (voice commands, treats)

to the pet dogs

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Appealing aspects of Paw Tracker• Following the dog’s situation and condition in real time

- Special situations (sickness, misbehaviour, puppies)- Observing physical activities in general- Everyday dog life: Emotional connection, reassurance

• Outdoor positioning for finding a runaway dog• Some interest in long-term data of the dog’s wellbeing• Mobile viewing, control and notifications

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Less appealing aspects and concerns• Recognizing met dogs• Sharing dog-related information not a strong interest• Following food-related information• Concerns:

- Using PawTracker might take too much time- Using a collar all the time- Long-term usage – will the interest last?- Price, robustness

The ”ideal” system

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Summary and conclusions• Paw Tracker concept was experienced as nice, fun and

interesting- 11/12 would use at least sometimes to follow their own dogs- Confirmation that the dogs mostly rest; reassurance about their

wellbeing- New information e.g. about barking, play with the cat

• The social media aspect was not highly appreciated- It could be an add on, or linked to other social media services

• Main features of a successful system could be:- Indoor tracking together with wearable sensors: voice,

motion and biosensors- Video feed is needed to get a detailed view of the dog’s life

Research and Mock-Up of Teddy Bear Concept

Supporting Non-Verbal Communication of Presence and Care between Young Children

(4-6 years) and Their Parents

Kaisa Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila, Tomi Haustola, TUTJonna Häkkilä, Minna Karukka, Katja Kytökorpi, NRC

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INUSE 7.11.2011: Discussion issues• What was interesting in the three studies?

- Was something unclear?• How should user experiences be taken into

account in design efforts?• What kind of user involvement works best for

innovative designs?• What is specific about UX design for

ubiquitous and sensor-based systems?• What are the results (publishable outcomes)

of design-inclusive research?• Any other issues that came to your mind?