When Ubiquitous Computing Meets Experience Design: Identifying Challenges for Design and Evaluation

Abstract

In this chapter we provide an overview of the main implications of emerging ubiquitous computing scenarios with respect to the design and evaluation of the user experience. In doing that, we point out how these implications motivate the evolution of the human-computer interaction discipline towards a more interdisciplinary field of research requiring a holistic approach as well as new adequate research methods. We identify challenges for design and evaluation and consider different classes of methods to cope with these challenges. These challenges are illustrated with examples in which ubiquitous technology is used both for its design and for the study of the users’ everyday life. In our discussion we support the idea that ubiquitous technology provides new means for the study of human experiences as well as human deliberate engagement with technology; the latter as an alternative to automation and invisible technology.