At your service: using butlers as a model to overcome the mobile attention deficit

ABSTRACT

Advances in mobile phones and cellular network capabilities have enabled many opportunities for information access on the move. These capabilities provide instant access for the mobile user, but have exacerbated the problem of interaction in a mobile context. Mobile users are often engaged in another task that makes it difficult for them to filter and interact with their mobile device at the same time. Mobile multitasking creates an attention deficit for the user. This paper proposes using butlers as a model to overcome this problem by offloading the burden of interaction from the user to the device. We describe how a suite of butlers can opportunistically and proactively offer information to the user in the moment, allowing mobile users to stay focused on their task at hand.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: User-centered design

General Terms:
Human Factors

Keywords:
attention, butlers, mobile agents