1,721,309 research outputs found
Macrotask Crowdsourcing:An Integrated Definition
No full textThe conceptual distinction between microtasks and macrotasks has been made relatively early on in the crowdsourcing literature. However, only recently a handful of research works has explored it explicitly. These works, for the most part, have focused on simply discussing macrotasks within the confines of their own work (e.g., in terms of creativity), without taking into account the multiple facets that working with such tasks involves. This has resulted in the term “macrotask” to be severely convoluted and largely meaning different things to different individuals. More importantly, it has resulted in disregarding macrotask crowdsourcing as a new labor model of its own right. To address this scholarly gap, in this paper we discuss macrotask crowdsourcing from a multitude of dimensions, namely the nature of the problem it can solve, the crowdworker skills it involves, and the work management structures it necessitates. In view of our analysis, we provide a first integrated definition of macrotask crowdsourcing
Exploring Older Adults' Acceptance, Needs, and Design Requirements towards Applying Social Robots in a Rehabilitation Context
No full textThis paper presents a qualitative study that uses video prototypes and interviews to explore older adults' acceptance, needs, and design requirements towards a social robotic application for physical rehabilitation. Our study identified the benefits of applying social robots (SR) in physical rehabilitation. Further, we discovered participants' preference for an anthropomorphic social robot design. The data revealed a desire for social interaction could increase motivation for older adults to engage in an active lifestyle and social robot acceptance. However, participants showed low motivation for technology adoption and negatively anthropomorphize the social robot, which lowers acceptance for their application. This work complements the current user-centered explorations with SR in rehabilitation, and provides considerations for SR design for rehabilitative applications
Design and evaluation of intentionally enriched awareness
No full textIn this chapter we introduce and explore the notion of “intentionally enriched awareness”. Intentional enrichment refers to the process of actively engaging users in the awareness process by enabling them to express intentions. We initially look at the phenomenon if sharing intentional information in related collaborative systems. We then explore the concept of intentional enrichment through designing and evaluating the AnyBiff system which allows users to freely create, share and use a variety of biff applications. Biffs are simple representation of pre-defined activities. Users can select biffs to indicate that they are engaged in an activity. We summarise the results of a trial which allowed us to gain insights into the potential of the AnyBiff prototype and the underlying biff concept to implement intentionally enriched awareness. Our findings show that intentional disclosure mechanisms in the form of biffs were successfully used in a variety of contexts. Users actively engaged in the design of a large variety of biffs and explored many different uses of the concept. The study revealed a whole host of issues with regard to intentionally enriched awareness which give valuable insight into the conception and design of future applications in this area
Neckio: Motivating Neck Exercises in Computer Workers
Full text linkNeck pain is common among computer workers who may spend too much time in a static posture facing their display. Regular breaks and variety in one’s posture can help to prevent discomfort and pain. In order to understand how to support computer workers to do so regularly, we surveyed a convenience sample of computer workers (N = 130) regarding their work habits and their attitudes towards neck exercises at the workplace. The survey showed that they are highly motivated, but not able to comply with a neck exercise program. To address this challenge, we designed Neckio, a system that is aimed at encouraging posture variation and facilitating neck exercises at work. Neckio consists in an interactive application and a wireless angulation sensing appliance that can be mounted on the headset that office workers often use for reasons of privacy. Next to providing an interactive exercise program suitable for the workplace, its design places emphasis on an engaging user experience. We report a short-term user experience valuation of Neckio in an actual office environment (N = 10). Participants rated the overall user experience positively and reported to be intrinsically motivated to do the neck exercises. These results indicate the potential of the Neckio as a behavior change support technology to reduce the risk of developing neck pain in computer workers
Reconsidering End-User Development Definitions
Full text linkWe consider definitions that End-User Development and related fields offer for end-user developers, and identify the persistence of viewing end-user development as antithetical to professional development across the years, even as focus has shifted from the identity and then to the role of the developer, and later to the intent of the development effort. We trace the origins of this antithesis to the days of End-User Computing in organizational settings, and argue that modern software development resides in a different paradigm, where end-user Development is part and parcel of any programming endeavour, in professional or other settings. We propose that current development practice, both for those traditionally regarded as end-user and as professional developers, can be better served by EUD as a field, if the focus is shifted to the nature of the task itself, and how technical it needs to be, by way of the platforms that development takes place on.</p
The evolving field of tangible interaction for children : the challenge of empirical validation
Full text linkThis special issue is devoted to the topic of tangible user interfaces and children. It
emphasizes research on tangibility that transcends system descriptions, focusing on the empirical
support of theories and design guidance. The papers result from the organization of a workshop at
the CHI 2009 ACM conference in Boston, USA. As an introduction to this issue, empirical
evidence is discussed for the potential benefits that using TUIs may have for children. In
particular, we focus at the impact of tangibility in terms of usability, learning, collaboration and
fun. Finally, we suggest directions for future work and outline the papers that are included in this
special issue
Results from a Large-Scale IoT-based Intervention for Energy Saving and Sustainability Awareness via Behavior Change in 25 K-12 Schools in Europe
No full textThe unfolding climate crisis has resulted in a rising interest for increasing sustainability awareness and achieving energy savings worldwide. Several interventions within educational environments have been aimed at mobilizing younger audiences toward such goals. However, most of the interventions carried out so far are based on a subset of possible tools (e.g., IoT monitoring and gamification) and offer “all or nothing” approaches, which do not cope well with the uniqueness of schools and the need to adapt interventions to specific contexts (e.g. school size, building, curriculum, and teacher involvement). We present a large-scale intervention in 25 school buildings in Europe over the course of two school years. Our intervention was based on the installation of a relatively low-cost IoT infrastructure in schools, that produced real-time energy-related data from the school buildings involved, and the application of a strategy combining, in a flexible and customizable way, educational activities, monitoring tools, gamification, and competition to motivate behavior change and achieve energy savings. Overall, 2983 students and 204 educators were directly involved to a variable degree of participation. Our results indicate a positive overall result in terms of short-term energy savings in most schools involved, with an average reduction of 20%–25% in the energy that could be affected by end-users, as well as a 32.9% increase after the intervention in students self-reporting good or very good sustainability awareness. These findings suggest that such interventions can be a valuable step toward educating young students regarding sustainability and toward sustainable schools, if designed and implemented properly.</p
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