The Best (and Worst) of Mobile Connectivity

Mobile phone owners like the convenience and ease of connectivity, but rue that they can be interrupted more easily, have to pay the bills, and face bad connections.Some 85% of American adults now own a cell phone of some kind, and these devices mean many things to their owners: an always-available link to friends and family, a pocket computer, or a time-saving tool -- even an actual telephone. When asked to describe in their own words what they like most about owning a cell phone:17% of cell owners say the best thing about their phone is that it is convenient.12% like the ability to call or talk with others at any time.11% like that their cell phone can help them get assistance in an emergency.9% say that using the internet, email, or apps is the best thing about their mobile phone.8% cite the ability to connect with family

SLOWPIXELS: Slow-design for reflective retrieval of personal photos

Department of Creative Design EngineeringWe introduced the design and findings in our user study of SLOWPIXELS, a photo printer which aims to stimulate reflection & memory recall through the re-materialization of digital photos. Photos were serendipitously retrieved dependent upon position of two sliders: When did I take the photo (photo date slider) & Where did I take the photo (distance from home slider). SLOWPIXELS used its owner???s Instagram account metadata. We tested SLOWPIXELS to 20 participants for 11 days to investigate how the Slow-design could support reflective retrieval of personal photos. Findings revealed that SLOWPIXELS encourage users to reflect their past by unexpected pictures and promote their social bond. We also found that SLOWPIXELS has a design possibility in the public space for event-like situation. For example, in caf?? or student community centre. These findings suggested several contributions, such as designing for revisiting serendipitous memories on the past, empowering social communication, and new way of retrieval of photography while exploring the slow-design agenda within the Design Research community.clos

Consumer perceived benefits and value in apparel m-retail

Within the UK retail sector, fashion shopping via mobiles is one of the fastest developing forms of online retail, yet recent research has shown that apparel retailers have been slow to implement appropriate mobile platforms into overall marketing strategies, thereby failing to satisfy consumer expectations and missing opportunities emerging through this channel. This research analyses mobile apparel retail from the consumer’s perspective. The aim is to understand fashion shopping experiences via smartphones. Research questions relate to the benefits fashion consumers are seeking through mobile shopping channels, how consumers shop, why they use smartphones and what influences their decision-making process. Consequently, a theory of interactive relationship between m-retail and consumer purchase behaviour has been developed. A mixed methods approach was adopted guided by Grounded Theory methodology complemented by experimental work. It applied 200 questionnaires, 1,313 mobile app reviews, 23 eye tracking experiments involving websites, mobile apps and mobile websites, 6 focus group discussions and 8 case studies. A conceptual model of Essential Features of Mobile Channel (EFMC) was developed by triangulating data gathered from a range of sources: eye tracking experiments, mobile app reviews and focus groups. Case studies of commercial platforms, implementing 43 features of EFMC, were used to evaluate mobile websites and apps developed by apparel retailers. This research contributes to knowledge by developing a Benefits-Value Theory (BVT), which addresses the relationship between levels of benefits and their influence on shopping involvement, by examining the ways consumers perceive mobile platforms and respond with distinctive behaviours and attitudes. This conceptual framework devotes what companies are doing on mobile and what consumers think about it. BVT provides a base for fashion consumer segmentation. Consumer profiles have been developed to account for shifts in consumer behaviour led by mobile technologies. This research proposes a model for diagnosing the strengths and weaknesses of mobile platforms. Shopping journey and behaviour models establish how to segment the consumer base, capturing a complexity of their behaviours, by assigning value to fashion retail. This research helps apparel retailers to develop appropriate marketing strategies in m-retail focusing on maximizing customer benefits and satisfaction by fulfilling retailers’ value creation and delivery

HaaS : drivers that customers value in a smartphone subscription model base

Subscription models are more and more well-liked by consumers as smartphone usage rises. For a smartphone subscription model program to maintain long-term client loyalty and profitability, it is crucial to comprehend the motivations that customers appreciate. The present paper aims to understand customers’ motivations in a smartphone subscription model. This paper investigates the factors that motivate consumers to subscribe to smartphone subscription models. Data was collected through surveys and in-depth interviews. The main goal of this research was to develop a thorough understanding of consumer values and preferences with regard to smartphones and potential future smartphone subscription models. The survey and interviews revealed information about the features and factors that customers value in smartphones and revealed their preferences for subscription-based business models. Through interviews and surveys, it uncovers key factors influencing consumer choices in the smartphone market and provides valuable insights into potential features of smartphone subscription models. According to the research, factors such as smartphone build quality, camera quality, and ecosystem compatibility have a big impact on buying decisions. In addition to appreciating the convenience and financial advantages of recurring upgrades without significant upfront costs, consumers value upgrade options and early access to new products. Competitive pricing and brand loyalty play crucial roles in selecting a smartphone subscription service.Modelos de subscrição estão cada vez mais populares entre os consumidores à medida que o uso de smartphones aumenta. De forma que um modelo de subscrição de smartphones mantenha os consumidores fiéis a longo prazo, é crucial compreender as suas motivações. O presente relatório tem como objetivo estudar as motivações dos consumidores num modelo de subscrição de smartphones. Este paper visa estudar os fatores que motivam os consumidores a aderir a um modelo de subscrição de smartphones. Os dados foram recolhidos através de questionário e entrevistas. O objetivo principal desta pesquisa foi desenvolver uma compreensão aprofundada dos valores e preferências dos consumidores em relação aos smartphones e potenciais futuros modelos de subscrição. O questionário e as entrevistas revelaram informações sobre as características e os fatores que os clientes valorizam nos smartphones e revelaram as suas preferências por modelos de negócio baseados em subscrições. Através das entrevistas e do questionário, são identificados fatores-chave que influenciam as escolhas dos consumidores no mercado de smartphones e fornecem informações valiosas sobre as características potenciais dos modelos de subscrição de smartphones. De acordo com o estudo, fatores como a qualidade do smartphone e compatibilidade com o ecossistema têm um grande impacto nas decisões de compra. Além de apreciarem a conveniência e as vantagens financeiras de atualizações periódicas sem custos iniciais significativos, os consumidores valorizam a possibilidade de atualizar o hardware e o acesso antecipado a novos produtos. Preços competitivos e fidelidade à marca desempenham papéis cruciais na seleção de um serviço de subscrição de smartphone

An Examination Of Community Members\u27 Reactions To Violent Viral Media And Their Perceptions Of Its Impact On Black Chicago Communities

The City of Chicago has always been known for its violence and high crime rates. Traditional media has portrayed Chicago as a war zone in terrifying headlines and news stories. While traditional media has portrayed a distorted view of senseless murders and gang violence in Black Chicago communities, residents of these communities have used social media to tell their deepest truths. The existence of social media platforms has provided an outlet for Black Chicago residents to show their daily realities to connect with others. Community members upload or share violent viral media as a way of expressing their environment, their daily frustrations, and entertainment. The qualitative data for this study suggests that violent viral media is used as an escape route, a way to gain influence, and a way to inform and make others aware of their own terms and conditions. This study led to the understanding of how violent viral media changes the lens of Black Chicago communities on social media platforms, and the positive and negative impact it has on community members

タイの高齢者の作業活動におけるスマートフォン使用の有効性

首都大学東

Content and Context-Aware Interfaces for Smarter Media Control

Since the arrival of the computer at home during the '80s, the importance of the digital world in our daily lives has hugely increased. First centralized on a unique computer, the digital world spread over several devices that surround us: smartphones, tablets, cameras, music players, etc. However, despite the increasing number of devices around our digital lives, the way we interact with them has barely evolved. Digital devices are not aware of their surrounding environment, and they often use interfaces and mechanisms which are computer-oriented. The next step in the evolution of our digital life will be centered on a better integration of the digital world with the ecosystem of devices that surrounds it. In this work, we illustrate this upcoming evolution through the development and evaluation of original interfaces dedicated to the control of digital media. Based on our research, we organize these interfaces in three areas of improvement: unification, automation and familiarity. This thesis is divided in four main chapters. The first chapter presents the evolution of our digital world over the last 30 years. The next three chapters are centered on the three areas of improvement that we defined: unification, automation and familiarity. Unification corresponds to the fusion of digital worlds as a unique and coherent whole that devices should interact with. Automation consists in using information obtained from the user and her environment in order to simplify or automate the interaction with the digital world. Finally, familiarity allows benefiting of users' past experiences in order to create friendly and intuitive interfaces

Understanding the Influencing Factors and Mechanism of Social Compensation for Chinese Older Adults Using Social Media in the Context of Smart Home: A Qualitative Analysis

As a new generation of necessary terminals for future homes, smart homes have become one of the essential mediums for smart aging at home. This paper aims to explore how older adults who age at home can overcome the digital divide of the new medium and achieve social participation in the home context to realize active aging. Based on the theory of social compensation, we select the smart-home smart screen, a representative new medium product in China, and carry out open coding, spindle coding, selective coding, and theoretical construction of the original interview data through the grounded theory research method. The results show that the main factors affecting the social compensation of older adults to smart home social media include user interface quality, interaction quality, content quality, and service quality, and these four factors are used as external variables to compensate older adults socially, thereby stimulating the emotional experience and perception changes at the cognitive level of older adults and then affecting the adoption and acceptance of smart home social media by older adults. This study refines the factors influencing the older adults' use of smart home social media from the perspective of social compensation. It explains the mechanism of acceptable behavior of older adults, bridging the gap in previous literature on the influencing factors and behavioral mechanisms of older adults of smart home social media. This paper provides a theoretical basis and guidance for the subsequent academic research and software development practice of social media under new technological devices to further help older adults in China achieve active and healthy aging