70 research outputs found
End User Development in the IoT: a Semantic Approach
No full textThe Internet of Things (IoT) is, nowadays, a well recognized paradigm. In this field, End User Development (EUD) is a promising approach that allows users to program their devices and services. The representation models adopted by contemporary EUD interfaces, however, are often highly technology-dependent, and the interaction between users and the IoT ecosystem is put to a hard test. The goal of my research is to explore new approaches and tools for helping end-users to program their technological devices and services. For this purpose, I proposed EUPont, an ontological model able to represent abstract and technology independent trigger-action rules, that can be adapted to different contextual situations. EUPont has been evaluated in terms of understandability, completeness, and usefulness. Currently, I am using the semantic features of the model in different research projects, e.g., to optimize the layout of EUD interfaces, and to design a recommender system of trigger-action rules. Preliminary results are promising, and confirm the benefit of using the semantic information of EUPont for helping end-users to better deal with the forthcoming IoT world
End-User Development in the Internet of Things
No full textL'abstract è presente nell'allegato / the abstract is in the attachmen
A Debugging Approach for Trigger-Action Programming
No full textNowadays, end users can customize their technological devices and web applications by means of trigger-action rules, defined through End-User Development (EUD) tools. However, debugging capabilities are important missing features in these tools that limit their large-scale adoption. Problems in trigger-action rules, in fact, can lead to unpredictable behaviors and security issues, e.g., a door that is unexpectedly unlocked. In this paper, we present a novel debugging approach for trigger-action programming. The goal is to assists end users during the composition of trigger-action rules by: a) highlighting possible problems that the rules may generate, and b) allowing their step-by-step simulation. The approach, based on Semantic Web and Petri Nets, has been implemented in a EUD tool, and it has been preliminary evaluated in a user study with 6 participants. Results provide evidence that the tool is usable, and it helps users in understanding and identifying problems in trigger-action rules
On the Benefit of Adding User Preferences to Notification Delivery
No full textNotifications may have a disruptive effect on users and the vision of a smart notification delivery is still an open question. Alternatively to existing user-opaque solutions, we identify the lack of significant end-user personalization features as one of the main issues in the "traditional" notification management. In this paper, we explore a preference-based approach towards smart notification delivery. By considering existing in-the-wild studies that directly involve users, we defined a set of preferences to customize the notification delivery, and we built a mobile application for their set up. We evaluated the understandability of such preferences, and the acceptance of our preference-based approach in a user study with 10 participants. Preliminary results show that the preferences were easily understood, and that users are willing to set them up
Personalizing IoT Ecosystems via Voice
No full textIntelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs), embedded in smart speakers, allow users to set up some trigger-action rules, via their mobile apps, to personalize the IoT ecosystem in which they are located. Vocal capabilities might be involved in such rules as triggers or actions, but the actual rule composition and execution flow is totally segregated into the mobile app. This position paper reflects on the challenges and opportunities brought by IPAs if they played a more prominent and integrated role in this personalization scenario
Designing Technology That Promotes Users' Digital Wellbeing
No full textExisting tools for digital self-control strongly rely on users' self-regulation strategies and capabilities. Recent work, however, highlights the importance of proactively assisting users in learning how to use technology through customizable and adaptable interventions
Towards Detecting and Mitigating Smartphone Habits
No full textSmartphones have the potential to produce new habits, i.e., habitual phone usage sessions consistently associated with explicit contextual cues. Despite there is evidence that habitual smartphone use is perceived as meaningless and addictive, little is known about what such habits are, how they can be detected, and how their disruptive effect can be mitigated. In this paper, we propose a data analytic methodology based on association rule mining to automatically discover smartphone habits from smartphone usage data. By assessing the methodology with more than 130,000 smartphone sessions collected in-the-wild, we show evidence that smartphone use can be characterized by different types of complex habits, which are highly diversified across users and involve multiple apps. To promote discussion and present our future work, we introduce a mobile app that exploits the proposed methodology to assist users in monitoring and changing their smartphone habits through implementation intentions, i.e., "if-then" plans where if's are contextual cues and then's are goal-related behaviors
The Race Towards Digital Wellbeing: Issues and Opportunities
No full textAs smartphone use increases dramatically, so do studies about technology overuse. Many different mobile apps for breaking "smartphone addiction" and achieving "digital wellbeing" are available. However, it is still not clear whether and how such solutions work. Which functionality do they have? Are they effective and appreciated? Do they have a relevant impact on users' behavior? To answer these questions, (i) we reviewed the features of 42 digital wellbeing apps, (ii) we performed a thematic analysis on 1,128 user reviews of such apps, and (iii) we conducted a 3-week-long in-the-wild study of Socialize, an app that includes the most common digital wellbeing features, with 38 participants. We discovered that digital wellbeing apps are appreciated and useful for some specific situations. However, they do not promote the formation of new habits and they are perceived as not restrictive enough, thus not effectively helping users to change their behavior with smartphones
Coping with Digital Wellbeing in a Multi-Device World
No full textWhile Digital Self-Control Tools (DSCTs) mainly target smartphones, more effort should be put into evaluating multi-device ecosystems to enhance digital wellbeing as users typically use multiple devices at a time. In this paper, we first review more than 300 DSCTs by demonstrating that the majority of them implements a single-device conceptualization that poorly adapts to multi-device settings. Then, we report on the results from an interview and a sketching exercise (N=20) exploring how users make sense of their multi-device digital wellbeing. Findings show that digital wellbeing issues extend beyond smartphones, with the most problematic behaviors deriving from the simultaneous usage of different devices to perform uncorrelated tasks. While this suggests the need of DSCTs that can adapt to different and multiple devices, our work also highlights the importance of learning how to properly behave with technology, e.g., through educational courses, which may be more effective than any lock-out mechanism
Teaching and learning “Digital Wellbeing”
No full textNowadays, the traditional approach to supporting people's digital wellbeing is providing them with digital self-control tools that can delay or block access to websites and mobile apps. As recent works demonstrate, however, such an approach is often ineffective, and developing proper boundaries to technology (over)use is still a challenge. In this paper, we support the idea that achieving digital wellbeing is a path of personal growth that requires education rather than restrictions, and that education may foster the emergence of a new generation of designers and practitioners that considers digital wellbeing and social good. To this end, we report on the results of a case study (N=93) in an Italian university during which we measured the impacts and outcomes of a multidisciplinary course on the digital wellbeing topic. The course introduced the digital wellbeing research area from the HCI and psychology perspectives, and challenged students in the design and prototype of technological solutions respecting and promoting people's digital wellbeing. Results from the case study confirm that educational solutions may positively impact students' digital wellbeing and inspire them to prototype technologies for the social good, opening the way to exploring and establishing more sustainable design practices
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