Smart devices such as mobile phones, tablets, and smart watches are designed under the assumption that they will be used by a single user. In contrast, many other devices, such as smart thermostats and smart speakers, are inherently sharable. This paper presents results from a diary study that we conducted with 20 participants to gain a nuanced understanding of the purposes, motivators, and constraints involved in the sharing of smart devices, which are cumulatively referred to as the Internet of Things. We also report on users' practices of coordinating their shared use with sharees/co-users, the impact of not understanding a smart device's behavior and the context of shared use, the differences between sharing personal and inherently sharable devices in terms of content that is available and accessible, trust between sharees, and measures taken to ensure accountable use. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings and provide guidelines for the design of future smart devices.

Over the past few years, the technological vision of the HCI and UbiComp communities regarding conversational devices has become manifest in the form of smart speakers such as Google Home and Amazon Echo. Even though millions of households have adopted and integrated these devices into their daily lives, we lack a deep understanding of how different members of a household use such devices. To this end, we conducted interviews with 18 families and collected their Google Home Activity logs to understand the usage patterns of adults and children. Our findings reveal that there are substantial differences in the ways smart speakers are used by adults and children in families over an extended period of time. We report on how parents influence children's use and how different users perceive the devices. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings and provide guidelines for improving the design of future smart speakers and conversational agents.

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There is racial diversity as well as economic inequality in the United States (U.S.). To gain a nuanced understanding of how households from different socio economic and racial backgrounds integrate technology into their lives, we conducted a diary study with 22 parents who were Asian Indian (the fastest-growing immigrant population in U.S.) and 18 who were White American (the largest racial group in U.S.) parents from the working and middle classes. The participants logged in-situ instances of using smart phones and speaker use by, with, and around children for 8 weeks, and were interviewed once every four weeks (two times in total). Our findings reveal differences and similarities in parents' attitudes and practices of using or not using these devices around and with children, in parental restrictions of children's use of technology, and children's daily use patterns. The paper concludes with a discussions of the implications of our findings and suggestions for future design improvements in smart phones and speakers.

Purpose This study aimed to understand adolescents’ experiences, negative feelings and coping mechanisms associated with the major disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to develop a baseline for understanding adolescents and their environment to assist future developments of technological and other solutions to mitigate adolescents’ loneliness, improve their wellbeing and strengthen their resilience. Design/methodology/approach The data about adolescents’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic was collected through virtual interviews conducted via Zoom. A total of 39 adolescents (aged 12 through 18 years) primarily from the North East of the USA participated in the study. The transcripts of the interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings This study found evidence of negative disruptions to adolescents’ social, learning and emotional routines. This study also found that in dealing with the effects of COVID-19 disruption, most of the participants exhibited five key attributes of individual resilience, including social competence, problem-solving, critical consciousness, autonomy and a sense of purpose. External factors supporting resilience were also mentioned, including technology resources, family, school and broader community. Originality/value This study relied on first-hand adolescents’ reports of their experiences, feelings and coping strategies during the pandemic. This study applied a resilience framework to interpret the findings and translate them into recommendations for further development of support systems for adolescents.