Living with an autonomous spatiotemporal home heating system: exploration of the user experiences (UX) through a longitudinal technology intervention-based mixed-methods approach

Rising energy demands place pressure on domestic energy consumption, but savings can be delivered through home automation and engaging users with their heating and energy behaviours. The aim of this paper is to explore user experiences (UX) of living with an automated heating system regarding experiences of control, understanding of the system, emerging thermal behaviours, and interactions with the system as this area is not sufficiently researched in the existing homes setting through extended deployment. We present a longitudinal deployment of a quasi-autonomous spatiotemporal home heating system in three homes. Users were provided with a smartphone control application linked to a self-learning heating algorithm. Rich qualitative and quantitative data presented here enabled a holistic exploration of UX. The paper's contribution focuses on highlighting key aspects of UX living with an automated heating systems including (i) adoption of the control interface into the social context, (ii) how users' vigilance in maintaining preferred conditions prevailed as a better indicator of system over-ride than gross deviation from thermal comfort, (iii) limited but motivated proactivity in system-initiated communications as best strategy for soliciting user feedback when inference fails, and (iv) two main motivations for interacting with the interface – managing irregularities when absent from the house and maintaining immediate comfort, latter compromising of a checking behaviour that can transit to a system state alteration behaviour depending on mismatches. We conclude by highlighting the complex socio-technical context in which thermal decisions are made in a situated action manner, and by calling for a more holistic, UX-focused approach in the design of automated home systems involving user experiences

University support and online learning engagement during the Covid-19 period: The role of student vitality

The study investigates the moderating role of students' vitality on the nexus between university support and online learning engagement among tertiary students during the era of Covid-19 pandemic. A sample of 310 business students chosen randomly completed a self-reported questionnaire for the research. Data processing and analysis were done using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 and SmartPLS 3.3.9, respectively. Results reveal that university support positively and significantly predict students' online learning engagement. Furthermore, students' vitality enhances the positive effect of university support on students’ online learning engagement. This study appears to be one of the first to have investigated a model linking university support, online learning engagement and student vitality from the perspective of higher institutions of learning. The findings suggest higher education managers must build students' states of vitality in order to enhance their online learning engagement during periods of pandemic