Published research on smart homes and their users is growing exponentially, yet a clear understanding of who these users are and how they might use smart home technologies is missing from a field ...being overwhelmingly pushed by technology developers. Through a systematic analysis of peer-reviewed literature on smart homes and their users, this paper takes stock of the dominant research themes and the linkages and disconnects between them. Key findings within each of nine themes are analysed, grouped into three: (1) views of the smart home—functional, instrumental, socio-technical; (2) users and the use of the smart home—prospective users, interactions and decisions, using technologies in the home; and (3) challenges for realising the smart home—hardware and software, design, domestication. These themes are integrated into an organising framework for future research that identifies the presence or absence of cross-cutting relationships between different understandings of smart homes and their users. The usefulness of the organising framework is illustrated in relation to two major concerns—privacy and control—that have been narrowly interpreted to date, precluding deeper insights and potential solutions. Future research on smart homes and their users can benefit by exploring and developing cross-cutting relationships between the research themes identified.
Despite considerable empirical research, results on the relationships among constructs related to information system (IS) success, as well as the determinants of IS success, are often inconsistent. A ...comprehensive understanding of IS success thus remains elusive. In an attempt to address this situation, which may partly be due to the exclusion of potentially important constructs from prior parsimonious models of IS success, we present and test a comprehensive theoretical model. This model explains interrelationships among four constructs representing the success of a specific IS (user satisfaction, system use, perceived usefulness, and system quality), and the relationships of these IS success constructs with four user-related constructs (user experience with ISs, user training in ISs, user attitude toward ISs, and user participation in the development of the specific IS) and two constructs representing the context (top-management support for ISs and facilitating conditions for ISs). To test the model, we first used meta-analysis to compute a correlation matrix for the constructs in the model based on 612 findings from 121 studies published between 1980 and 2004, and then used this correlation matrix as input for a LISREL analysis of the model. Overall, we found excellent support for the theoretical model. The results underline the importance of user-related and contextual attributes in IS success and raise questions about some commonly believed relationships.
Limited understanding exists regarding the methodologies behind designing interfaces for low-income contexts, despite acknowledging their potential value. The ERSA (Engineering design Research ...meta-model based Systematic Analysis) process, defined as a dynamic interactive multi-process system, proposes a new approach to constructing learnings to succeed in designing interfaces for low-income countries. ERSA is developed by integrating database searches, snowballing, thematic similarity searches for corpus of literature creation, multilayer networks, clustering algorithms, and data processing. ERSA employs an engineering design meta-model to analyze the corpus of literature, facilitating the identification of diverse methodological approaches. The insights from ERSA empower researchers, designers, and engineers to tailor design methodologies to their specific low-income contexts. Our findings show the importance of adopting more versatile and holistic approaches. They suggest that user-based design methodologies and computational design can be defined and theorized together.
► The first quantitative exploration of services innovation by users. ► 55% of today's computerized commercial banking services were initially developed by service users. ► 44% of today's ...computerized retail banking services were initially developed by service users. ► Our findings differ significantly from prevalent producer-centered views of service development.
Many services can be self-provided. An individual user or a user firm can, for example, choose to do its own accounting – choose to self-provide that service – instead of hiring an accounting firm to provide it. Since users can ‘serve themselves’ in many cases, it is reasonable to suspect that they can also innovate with respect to the services they self-provide – possibly without the assistance of service providers.
In this paper, we conduct the first quantitative exploration of the importance of services innovation by users, focusing on the field of commercial and retail banking services. We find that 55% of today's computerized commercial banking services were first developed and implemented by non-bank firms for their own use, and 44% of today's computerized retail banking services were first developed and implemented by individual service users rather than by commercial financial service providers. Manual precursors to these services – manual procedures that carried out functions similar to computerized services in our sample – were almost always developed by users as self-services.
Our empirical findings differ significantly from prevalent producer-centered views of service development. We speculate that the patterns we have observed in banking with respect to the major role of users in service development will prove to be quite general. If so, this will be an important matter: on the order of 75% of GDP in advanced economies today is derived from services. We discuss the implications of our findings for research and practice in service development.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a condition characterized by difficulties with social interaction and communication. Studies show that people with ASD tend to enjoy using technology, as it provides ...them with a safe and trustworthy environment. Evaluating User eXperience (UX) in people with disabilities has been a challenge that studies have addressed in recent times. Several studies have evaluated the usability and UX of systems designed for people with ASD using evaluation methods focused on end users without disabilities. In reviewing studies that evaluate systems designed for people with ASD, considering the characteristics of these users, we discovered a lack of particularized UX models. We present a proposal of nine UX factors for people with ASD based on two approaches: (1) the characteristics, affinities, and needs of people with ASD, and (2) design guidelines and/or recommendations provided in studies on technological systems for people with ASD and/or interventions with these users. The nine UX factors for people with ASD provide a theoretical basis from which to adapt and/or create UX evaluation instruments and methods and to generate recommendations and/or design guidelines that are adequate for this context.
Since their introduction in the early 1990’s, automated recommender systems have revolutionized the marketing and delivery of commerce and content by providing personalized recommendations and ...predictions over a variety of large and complex product offerings. In this article, we review the key advances in collaborative filtering recommender systems, focusing on the evolution from research concentrated purely on algorithms to research concentrated on the rich set of questions around the user experience with the recommender. We show through examples that the embedding of the algorithm in the user experience dramatically affects the value to the user of the recommender. We argue that evaluating the user experience of a recommender requires a broader set of measures than have been commonly used, and suggest additional measures that have proven effective. Based on our analysis of the state of the field, we identify the most important open research problems, and outline key challenges slowing the advance of the state of the art, and in some cases limiting the relevance of research to real-world applications.
In this study, joint users selection and beamforming based on users positioning are proposed for enabling non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) in the millimetre-wave (mmWave) transmissions. In the ...proposed scheme, the mmWave users are arranged in descending order based on their estimated distances from the mmWave base station (BS), which guarantees the users ordering based on their line-of-sight availability, as well. Out of the ordered users, the two users having the minimum pairing angle and expected to lie within the specified mmWave beamwidth are selected as the two NOMA users. In this study, the users' pairing angle is defined as the maximum expected difference angle between two users considering their location-uncertainty areas. Consequently, the BS antenna beam is formed towards the two selected NOMA users by adjusting its boresight angle to lie in between their estimated location angles. Then, the fixed power allocation scheme is used to adjust the power allocation coefficients of the selected NOMA users. Mathematical analysis is performed to bound the performance of the proposed mmWave NOMA scheme. Also, numerical simulations are conducted to prove the mathematical findings and to show the superior performance of the proposed scheme over the well-known technique of using random beamforming.
Technical innovations have the potential to compensate for loss of upper-limb motor functions after stroke. However, majority of the designs do not completely meet the needs and preferences of the ...end users. User-centered design methods have shown that the attention to user perspectives during development of assistive technology leads to devices that better suit the needs of the users.
To get more insight into the factors that can bring the design of assistive technology to higher levels of satisfaction and acceptance, studies about user perspectives on assistive technology for the upper limb after stroke are systematically reviewed.
A database search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus from inception to August 2017, supplemented with a search of reference lists. Methodological quality of the included studies was appraised. User perspectives of stroke survivors, carers, and health care professionals were extracted. A total of 35 descriptive themes were identified, from which 5 overarching themes were derived.
In total, 9 studies with information gathered from focus groups, questionnaires, and interviews were included. Barriers and enablers influencing the adoption of assistive technology for the upper limb after stroke emerged within 5 overarching but highly interdependent themes: (1) promoting hand and arm performance; (2) attitude toward technology; (3) decision process; (4) usability; and (5) practical applicability.
Expected use of an assistive technology is facilitated when it has a clear therapeutic base (expected benefit in enhancing function), its users (patients and health care professionals) have a positive attitude toward technology, sufficient information about the assistive technology is available, and usability and practical applicability have been addressed successfully in its design. The interdependency of the identified themes implies that all aspects influencing user perspectives of assistive technology need to be considered when developing assistive technology to enhance its chance of acceptance. The importance of each factor may vary depending on personal factors and the use context, either at home as an assistive aid or for rehabilitation at a clinic.
Sharing lessons learned and barriers overcome, this book will spur you towards new ways of serving your patrons during unprecedented times.When the pandemic suddenly forced many public libraries to ...close their doors or limit patron access, library staff redoubled their efforts to serve their communities in every way possible. Demonstrating their resilience by quickly pivoting to new modes of service, public libraries are continuing to offer innovative yet practical ways to connect patrons to the information and services they need and enjoy. Offering real-life examples of what it means to be a 24/7 library, this collection from the Public Library Association (PLA) and ALA Editions shares how several libraries transitioned to virtual and socially-distanced services. No matter your library's current situation or outlook for the future, you'll be inspired to adapt their ideas to suit the needs of your own organization. Among the initiatives and topics explored arehomebound delivery;citizen science programs;virtual reference advice;services to small businesses;remote readers' advisory and book chats;early literacy storytimes;health services outreach;tech guidance for patrons;wifi hotspot lending; andtips for social media and marketing.
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