Principles of Smart Home Control

CURRENT RESEARCH

Smart home control systems

provide control of devices

Technical Perspective DISCIPLINARY GAP

CURRENT RESEARCH

CAMP (Truong et al, 04)

DISCIPLINARY GAP microCommander (Jahnke et al, 02) Speakeasy (Newman et al, 02) Jigsaw (Humble et al, 03)

CURRENT RESEARCH

Families are struggling to gain control of their lives Anthropological Perspective Technical Perspective DISCIPLINARY GAP

CURRENT RESEARCH

Families are struggling to gain control of their lives Anthropological Perspective Technical Perspective DISCIPLINARY GAP How can smart home control systems help users regain control of their devices

CURRENT RESEARCH

Families are struggling to gain control of their lives Anthropological Perspective Technical Perspective DISCIPLINARY GAP How can smart home control systems help users regain control of their devices families lives

Recast the problem of smart home control

Suggest new evaluation metrics for smart home control systems

Provide rich description of nuanced notion of control

Produce design principles to serve as signposts

CONTRIBUTIONS

Increased obligations

“ Multi-contexting” across roles

A skill parents want to gracefully master

Parents want to pass this skill on

Darrah 2000, 2002 RELATED WORK BUSYNESS AS A MORAL GOOD

A “house of cards”

“ The rush hour of life”

Fear of the sick child

Beech 2004, Frissen 2000, Darrah 2002 RELATED WORK LESS THAN IDEAL CONTROL

Systems for family life control will have to co-exist with busyness

RELATED WORK IMPLICATIONS

Goal: develop an opportunity map for technology to aid families

12 dual-income families

Large audience, lots of needs, early adopters

FIELDWORK SUMMARY

“ Wicked problem” of activity management

Flexibility as a coping strategy

Relationship between control and flexibility

Activities construct identity

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS * Rittel 1973

FINDINGS “ WICKED” PROBLEM OF ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT

EXAMPLE GAME OR PRACTICE? HOME OR AWAY? WHAT TIME?

EXAMPLE WHO PICKS UP? WHO DROPS OFF? WHERE?

EXAMPLE SHIN GUARDS, KNEE PADS. CLEATS OR FLATS?

EXAMPLE PRACTICE UNIFORM? HOME OR AWAY UNIFORM?

EXAMPLE CLEAN CLOTHES THE NIGHT BEFORE

EXAMPLE JUICE BEFORE OR AFTER? ORANGES AT HALFTIME?

EXAMPLE LOST ON THE CALENDAR

BREAKDOWNS LAST MINUTE CARPOOL DECISIONS

BREAKDOWNS MOM’S OUT OF TOWN SO DAD’S IN CHARGE

BREAKDOWNS CREEPING RESPONSIBILITY

BREAKDOWNS UNPREDICTABLE ORANGES

BREAKDOWNS SICK CHILD

BREAKDOWNS CASCADE EFFECTS

Incremental precision

Improvisation

Technological infrastructure

Lifestyle choices

FINDINGS FLEXIBILITY AS A COPING STRATEGY

FINDINGS CONTROL AND FLEXIBILITY

FINDINGS ACTIVITIES CONSTRUCT FAMILY AND INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY Activities mean more than the work behind them People derive meaning from their participation

Now what?

RELATED WORK

DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Allow for the organic evolution of routines and plans

Participate in the construction of family identity

The home is more than a location

Understand periodic changes, exceptions and improvisation

Design for breakdowns

Easily construct new plans and routines, and modify existing ones

Account for multiple, overlapping and occasionally conflicting goals

PRINCIPLE ALLOW FOR THE ORGANIC EVOLUTION OF ROUTINES AND PLANS Hard to specify a priori Incremental precision Many routines are “unremarkable” * Tolmie 2002

PRINCIPLE PARTICIPATE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FAMILY IDENTITY Some tasks are more than work They constitute how we interpret who we are

PRINCIPLE THE HOME IS MORE THAN A LOCATION Opportunistic planning occurs in many locations A smart home is more than a physical space Also includes “information space”

PRINCIPLE UNDERSTAND PERIODIC CHANGES, EXCEPTIONS AND IMPROV Routines are often not routine Vary by season Routines change with exceptions Rigid model of routines would not fit observation

CONCLUSIONS Family is a place of busyness where identity and life control collide Opportunity for technology to improve quality of family life Design principles help address this space Evaluate smart home technology in terms of life control

FUTURE WORK Develop an activity manager system Evaluate system in terms of identity and control Develop end-user programming method

smarthome.cs.cmu.edu

Scott Davidoff Min Kyung Lee John Zimmerman Anind Dey PROJECT ON FAMILIES, CONTROL AND THE SMART HOME

PRINCIPLE EASILY CONSTRUCT AND MODIFY PLANS AND ROUTINES Sheer frequency should merit attention Input should be low-cost

PRINCIPLE DESIGN FOR BREAKDOWNS Exceptions happen frequently Complete solution is impossible

PRINCIPLE DESIGN FOR BREAKDOWNS

PRINCIPLE ACCOUNT FOR MULTIPLE, OVERLAPPING AND CONFLICTING GOALS More than one person May not agree on task performance metrics “ Thermostat Predicament” Support v. Independence

METHOD Directed storytelling Shadowing Artifact walkthrough Role-playing: Fictitious school field trip Predictable days Predictable exceptions Unpredictable days: miss-the-bus days CONTEXTUAL FIELDWORK

METHOD

Stimuli questions

Free response text

Camera

Stressors and pleasures of waking up and arriving home

What makes parents feel like good parents

CULTURAL PROBES

METHOD

Stress and rush levels

Principal activities

Immediate needs

Preoccupations

ACTIVITY LOGS

RELATED WORK

iCAP

aCAPpella

CAMP

Jigsaw

Alfred

microCommander

Speakeasy

Dey et al 2006 Dey et al 2004 Truong et al 2004 Humble et al 2003 Gajos et al 2002 Jahnke et al 2002 Newman et al 2002 END-USER PROGRAMMING SYSTEMS

RELATED WORK

Comprehensive

Communication

Routines

Task specialization

Refrigerator magnets Meaning of place ICT’S Technology use Darrah 2001 Beech et al 2004 Crabtree + Rodden 2003 Tolmie et al 2002 Rode et al 2005 Taylor + Swan 2005 Elliott et al 2005 Frissen 2000 Venkatesh et al 2000 STUDIES OF HOME LIFE

PRINCIPLE ACCOUNT FOR MULTIPLE, OVERLAPPING AND CONFLICTING GOALS

PRINCIPLE ALLOW FOR THE ORGANIC EVOLUTION OF ROUTINES AND PLANS

PRINCIPLE PARTICIPATE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FAMILY IDENTITY

PRINCIPLE UNDERSTAND PERIODIC CHANGES, EXCEPTIONS AND IMPROV

PRINCIPLE THE HOME IS MORE THAN A LOCATION