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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Design opportunities for personalized proactive notification management Janzen, Izabelle Foster
Abstract
Mobile devices deliver ‘notifications’ that interrupt the user for events like receiving text messages and emails. However, frequent interruptions reduce productivity and can increase stress. Notification management tools can reduce this distraction but substantial barriers, such as time and effort, prevent most users from managing their notifications. In this dissertation, I present three projects that aim to understand how to better support proactive notification management and I systematically design a novel notification management tool to better address user needs. We used a qualitative, user-centered approach consisting of interviews (N=71) and surveys (N=140). First, we explored how the notification management needs of older adults compared to the general population because other forms of distraction disproportionately impact older adults but their notification management needs had not been studied. Through semi-structured interviews (N=20) with both younger and older adults, we identified that many users desire a sense of control and agency over their attention that was difficult to achieve with current notification management technology. Second, we characterized how users could proactively control notifications through four design axes. We created five notification management design concepts that included design elements from under-explored areas of our design axes. Through semi-structured interviews (N=30), we probed user reactions to our design concepts to identify what design elements help address user concerns, such as a lack of control in notification management. The results of this study suggested there was strong interest to include reflective design elements within notification management. Lastly, we leveraged these results and a supplementary survey of users’ notification preferences (N=140) to design a novel notification management tool. The Reflective Spring Cleaning design supported infrequent notification management with visualizations of notification usage data and suggestions for personalization. We evaluated this design through a longitudinal study organized around semi-structured interviews (N=21). Our results demonstrated how the concept encouraged and supported users to proactively manage notifications through critical reflection on the impact of notifications. Our work outlines key design directions for how notification management tools can support proactive notification management and provide users a sense of control over their attention.
Item Metadata
Title |
Design opportunities for personalized proactive notification management
|
Creator | |
Supervisor | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
2022
|
Description |
Mobile devices deliver ‘notifications’ that interrupt the user for events like receiving
text messages and emails. However, frequent interruptions reduce productivity
and can increase stress. Notification management tools can reduce this distraction
but substantial barriers, such as time and effort, prevent most users from managing
their notifications.
In this dissertation, I present three projects that aim to understand how to better
support proactive notification management and I systematically design a novel
notification management tool to better address user needs. We used a qualitative,
user-centered approach consisting of interviews (N=71) and surveys (N=140).
First, we explored how the notification management needs of older adults compared
to the general population because other forms of distraction disproportionately
impact older adults but their notification management needs had not been
studied. Through semi-structured interviews (N=20) with both younger and older
adults, we identified that many users desire a sense of control and agency over
their attention that was difficult to achieve with current notification management
technology.
Second, we characterized how users could proactively control notifications
through four design axes. We created five notification management design concepts
that included design elements from under-explored areas of our design axes.
Through semi-structured interviews (N=30), we probed user reactions to our design
concepts to identify what design elements help address user concerns, such as
a lack of control in notification management. The results of this study suggested
there was strong interest to include reflective design elements within notification
management.
Lastly, we leveraged these results and a supplementary survey of users’ notification
preferences (N=140) to design a novel notification management tool.
The Reflective Spring Cleaning design supported infrequent notification management
with visualizations of notification usage data and suggestions for personalization.
We evaluated this design through a longitudinal study organized around
semi-structured interviews (N=21). Our results demonstrated how the concept encouraged
and supported users to proactively manage notifications through critical
reflection on the impact of notifications.
Our work outlines key design directions for how notification management tools
can support proactive notification management and provide users a sense of control
over their attention.
|
Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2022-12-12
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0422492
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
2023-05
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International