LetUsConnectYou!Useourapp,connectwithyourlovedone,andgetpaid!

Summary

Researchers at Simon Fraser University are looking for families, andparticularly for grandparents and young grandchildren, to participate inresearch about remote communication between grandparents and younggrandchildrenoverdistance. In this researchweask families touseourappforafewweeks.Ourappisparticularlydesignedforchildrenandolderadults.This summary should be enough to give you some ideas but if youwant toknowourfullstory,hereyougo.

Background

We started our research on connecting grandparents and younggrandchildreninSummer2012.Weextensivelystudiedresearchinthisareaaswell as themajority of research and commercial products developed forgrandparents and grandchildren. Our goal was understanding theexpectations and needs of grandparents and grandchildren that were notaddressed in these systems. We ran different studies, talked to severalfamilies includinggrandparents,parents and children coming fromdifferentbackgrounds and a variety of family situations who are separated over

distanceeitherinclosecitiesoracrosstheworldtounderstandthechallengesandthebarrierstheyfaceintheircommunication.Thisknowledgeguidedusto design our current app. In this app we are trying new design ideas tounderstandhowwelltheywork.

Whythisresearchmatters?

Studiesshowthatthegrandparent-grandchildbondisanimportantemotionalrelationship in humans life that can benefit grandparents, parents andchildren. However, if you are reading this, most likely you are either agrandparentorparentandyouprobablydon’tneedscientificfactstobelievehowimportantit isforyoutobeconnectstoyourgrandchildrenorforyourchildrentobeconnectedwiththeirgrandparents.

Not long ago, most families had more chances to live close by and enjoybuilding emotional bonds. Look at these pictures and you probably recallmemoriesofthetimeyouspentwithyourgrandparentsandhowyoucherishthesemoments.

However, nowadays it doesn’t seem that simple. Families are living furtherapartdueto jobor lifeopportunitiesandthereisoftenlesschancetospendtimewithextendedfamilymembersinperson.

Yes, all sorts of telecommunication apps are enormously helpful to keep usconnected…

…butmanyarenoteasyforyoungchildrenorolderadultstouse.

Overtheyearsofdoingthisresearch,westudiedchildren’sandolderadult’sneeds as well as expectations and challenges of building this relationshipremotelyoverdistance.

AbouttheApp

Our app is an interactive communication system where distance separatedgrandparents and grandchildren can update each other about their dailyfeelings/activities/statusbyusingstickersandemojis.Theycanalso initiatecommunication by sending video messages back and forth to catch upregularlyortofollowupabouttheactivitiesaddedtothesystem. Themaingoalofthesystemistoengagechildrentoupdatetheirremotegrandparentsabouttheirdailylifeandgetupdatesabouttheirgrandparents’life.

YourContributionmatters

Wehadour families, childrenandourcolleaguesuseourappand,basedontheir feedback,we iterated it tosatisfyuserneedsevenmore.However, it isimportantforustotryitoutwithabroadersetoffamiliessowecanfurtherlearnhowtobestdesigntechnologytosupporttheneedsofgrandparentsandgrandchildren.Weknowthatfamilieshavedifferentvalues,familysituations,needs,andexpectations.

Yourcontributionwouldbeagreathelp forus toreachourgoalof learningmoreabouthowtodesigntechnologyforgrandparentsandgrandchildren.

Areyouagoodfit?

Youareagoodfitforourstudyif

Youareagrandparentand:

- Have at least one grandchild between the ages of5 and12 years oldwhomthereisnoissuetoconnectwith

- Have at least very basic knowledge of computers (or have somebodywhocanhelpyou)

- Your grandchild’s family and the child themselves are willing to takepartinthisstudywithyou

Youareaparentand:

- Haveatleastonechildbetweentheagesof5and12yearsoldwhohasatleastonegrandparentlivinginadifferenthousehold

- Yourchildandthegrandparentarewillingtotakepartinthestudy- Your child and the grandparent have at least basic knowledge ofcomputersorhavesomebodywhocanhelpthem

- Yourchildandthegrandparenthavenoissuesinbeingconnected

StudyProcedure

WecanprovideyouwithatablettodedicatetothestudyappifyouarelivinginGreaterVancouverArea.Wewillhelpyousetuptheapponyourdeviceor

ours.Wewillbeavailabletohelpyouinperson(ifpossible),overthephone,videochatoremail.

Wewillhaveashortinterviewwithyoubeforethestudystarts,inthemiddleof the study, and at the end of the study andwill ask you to answer somequestions.Wemightalsoaskyoutosendusyourexperienceofusingtheappasaweeklydiaryoranotherformthatyouarecomfortablewith.

Gratuity

Thecompensationwillbe$250intotal($125grandchildren’sfamilyand$125grandparents’family).Incaseyouareinterestedtotakepartinthestudybutyouoryourstudypartnerdonothavetablet(orextraones)oritwouldbecumbersometoshipatablettoyourlocationforthedurationofthestudy,wecanprovideyouanewtabletinsteadofcashasyourcompensation.

AbouttheResearchers

Azadeh Forghani is a PhD candidate attheSchoolofArtsandTechnology,SimonFraser University. Her background is insoftware engineering and video gameresearch. She joined the Connections Labin 2012when she started her PhD aboutconnecting grandparents andgrandchildren over distance throughtechnology. Since then she has beenworkingondifferentresearchprojectsontechnologies for families. She has severalyears of work and research experienceincluding working as a user experienceresearcher at Microsoft Research andGoogle.

Email:azadehf@sfu.caTel:604.354.4097

Dr. Carman Neustaedter is an AssociateProfessor in the School of InteractiveArts andTechnology at Simon Fraser University.He isthe director of the Connections Lab, aninterdisciplinaryresearchgroupfocusedonthedesign and use of technologies for connectingpeople through technology.This includesdesign for families and friends, and bringingpeople together through pervasive games. Dr.Neustaedterwas formerly aResearch ScientistatKodakResearchLabsandAdjunctProfessorin the Department of Computer Science at theUniversityofRochester,NY.Email:carman@sfu.caTel:778.782.9034