This paper introduces the Designing for Extended Latency (DELAY) Framework meant to inspire new systems that support social interaction in high-latency settings such as interplanetary communication, intermittent internet access, and time-zone incompatibilities. The framework includes six dimensions: Goal, Communication Genre, Sequencing, Cardinality, Mutability, and Responsiveness. We describe the iterative design process used to create the Framework, as well as three novel prototypes designed to increase social connectedness and social presence in high-latency situations: 1) the InSync app that allows partners to perform activities simultaneously even though they only see proof of their synchronicity later; 2) the After the Beep system that lets users leave IoT messages that are triggered by the recipients; and 3) the Surrogate platform where players play group battle games against "surrogate" artificial intelligence avatars that mimic unavailable individuals. Data from two design workshops validates the usefulness of the framework for generating new solutions to high-latency scenarios.
Quick service restaurants (QSRs) are high tempo work environments that require collaboration and communication between crew. In a number of respects, head-worn displays (HWDs) might seem a promising technology to support QSR crew, but on close inspection they raise challenging issues for design. We conducted fieldwork studies at two large QSRs to understand how work is organised, how existing systems are used, and how information is displayed to and communicated between crew. We observed the crew working both routinely and with improvisation, collaboratively and individually, physically and digitally. From our analysis of the field study, we identify tentative use cases for HWDs, but with these also design tensions—that is, opportunities coupled with challenges that appear difficult to circumvent even with modest design proposals. These tensions would require careful consideration if HWDs were to be deployed in in QSRs, given that HWDs are ubiquitous, potentially private, digital, mobile, and able to collect behavioural data.
People with visual impairments often require mobility assistance of sighted guides but they are not always available. Recent technological strides have opened up new directions for sighted guidance services, assigning guides from a network of remote workers to provide real-time assistance via audio/video communication. However, little has been known regarding desirable support characteristics of remote guides or challenges experienced in guide practices without the requisite expertise. To recommend support strategies that contribute to facilitating a successful platform for remote sighted guidance, this paper presents a comparative study of the performance of trained and untrained sighted guides who are recruited for a remote scenario in assisting people with visual impairments in indoor navigation. As an outcome of this research, we provide a deeper understanding of design opportunities for HCI to scaffold requirements of remote guides, such that their collaborative efforts and environmental knowledge influence the user experience. Based on our empirical insights, we suggest to develop the expertise of remote guides through: a) preliminary guidance cooperation awareness b) guidelines for verbal description methods, and c) approaches to compensate for the lack of environmental knowledge.
The worldwide deployment of rental electric scooters has generated new opportunities for urban mobility, but also intensified conflict over public space. This article reports on an ethnographic study of both rental and privately-owned e-scooters, mapping out the main problems and potentials around this new form of 'micro-mobility'. While it suffers from problems of reliability and conflict, user experience is an important part of e-scooters' appeal, an enjoyable way of 'hacking the city'. E-scooters have a hybrid character: weaving through the city, riders can switch between riding as a pedestrian, a car or a bicycle. Building on these results, we discuss how e-scooters, ridesharing services, and their apps could develop further, alongside the role for HCI in re-thinking urban transport and vehicle design.
Trust is the lubricant of the sharing economy. This is true especially in peer-to-peer carsharing, in which one leaves a highly valuable good to a stranger in the hope of getting it back unscathed. Nowadays, ratings of other users are major mechanisms for establishing trust. To foster uptake of peer-to-peer carsharing, connected car technology opens new possibilities to support trust-building, e.g., by adding driving behavior statistics to users' profiles. However, collecting such data intrudes into rentees' privacy. To explore the tension between the need for trust and privacy demands, we conducted three focus group and eight individual interviews. Our results show that connected car technologies can increase trust for car owners and rentees not only before but also during and after rentals. The design of such systems must allow a differentiation between information in terms of type, the context, and the negotiability of information disclosure.