Query Suggestion for On-Device Troubleshooting

Abstract. This paper describes a novel query suggestion tool we have designed and implemented to help users of office printing devices better formulate their queries, while searching a troubleshooting knowledge base provided as a service on the device itself. The paper traces the main motivations of the design of the query suggestion tool and outlines its technical details with an emphasis on its combination of features in relation to prior work

"I can't get round": Recruiting Assistance in Mobile Robotic Telepresence

Via audiovisual communications and a controllable physical embodiment, Mobile Robotic telePresence (MRP) systems aim to support enhanced collaboration between remote and local members of a given setting. But MRP systems also put the remote user in positions where they frequently rely on the help of local partners. Getting or 'recruiting' such help can be done with various verbal and embodied actions ranging in explicitness. In this paper, we look at how such recruitment occurs in video data drawn from an experiment where pairs of participants (one local, one remote) performed a timed searching task. We find a prevalence of implicit recruitment methods and outline obstacles to effective recruitment that emerge due to communicative asymmetries that are built into MRP design. In a future where remote work becomes widespread, assistance through remote work technology like MRPs needs close examination at a fundamental interactional level, taking into account how communicative asymmetries are at play in everyday use of such technologies

The Practical Indispensability of Articulation Work to Immediate and Remote Help-giving

This paper argues that the design of remote help-giving systems should be grounded in the methods (articulation work) through which help-givers and help-seekers coordinate their problem solving activities through social interaction and cooperative work. Using examples from ethnographic studies of both immediate and remote help-giving, the paper explicates the common characteristic methods involved in seeking, producing and engaging with expert advice and then outlines how emerging technologies might best be used to support such articulation work in the design and development of computer support systems for remote troubleshooting of devices with embedded computing capabilities

Designing ubiquitous computing for reflection and learning in diabetes management

This dissertation proposes principles for the design of ubiquitous health monitoring applications that support reflection and learning in context of diabetes management. Due to the high individual differences between diabetes cases, each affected individual must find the optimal combination of lifestyle alterations and medication through reflective analysis of personal diseases history. This dissertation advocates using technology to enable individuals' proactive engagement in monitoring of their health. In particular, it proposes promoting individuals' engagement in reflection by exploiting breakdowns in individuals' routines or understanding; supporting continuity in thinking that leads to a systematic refinement of ideas; and supporting articulation of thoughts and understanding that helps to transform insights into knowledge. The empirical evidence for these principles was gathered thought the deployment studies of three ubiquitous computing applications that help individuals with diabetes in management of their diseases. These deployment studies demonstrated that technology for reflection helps individuals achieve their personal disease management goals, such as diet goals. In addition, they showed that using technology helps individuals embrace a proactive attitude towards their health indicated by their adoption of the internal locus of control.Ph.D.Committee Chair: Elizabeth D. Mynatt; Committee Member: Abowd, Gregory; Committee Member: Bruckman, Amy; Committee Member: Dourish, Paul; Committee Member: Nersessian, Nanc

Promoting Andean children's learning of science through cultural and digital tools

Conference Theme: To see the world and a grain of sand: Learning across levels of space, time, and scaleIn Peru, there is a large achievement gap in rural schools. In order to overcome this problem, the study aims to design environments that enhance science learning through the integration of ICT with cultural artifacts, respecting the Andean culture and empower rural children to pursue lifelong learning. This investigation employs the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) framework, and the Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology using an iterative process of design, implementation and evaluation of the innovative practice.published_or_final_versio