Awareness systems are a novel class of communication systems that enable people to be conscious of each other in a peripheral way. To better understand how people experience these systems over time, and how they blend in the user context, longitudinal field studies are needed. Although tangible awareness systems are considered to be more intimate and aesthetically pleasing than screen based awareness systems, they are not often evaluated in a longitudinal setting. This may be due to several factors that complicate the field evaluation of such systems, including the robustness and reliability of the prototype. This paper describes how the challenges of designing and evaluating a prototype have been addressed in the design of SnowGlobe. The system was evaluated in a longitudinal field setting with 12 users. The prototype enabled extensive data collection on the user experience and usage of such a tangible awareness system.
Awareness systems have shown to be an effective channel for supporting social relationships. Prototype systems that support communication with intimate relationships are typically stand-alone systems. This paper describes the design of an awareness system that is linked to an online social network, allowing users to reach a broader network of friends and acquaintances when using the system. The system enables posting sound bites from daily life to one's Facebook wall. The user may record them actively, or they may let the system randomly capture environmental sounds. A final prototype was evaluated with three small friendnetworks. Results support the expectation that the linked awareness devices on a social network, enhances social awareness beyond a network of physical devices. The paper further presents design insights for the development of the link between awareness systems and existing online social networks.
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