Principles of Smart Home Control Carnegie Mellon University HCI Institute School of Design smarthome.cs.cmu.edu Scott Davidoff Min Kyung Lee John Zimmerman

Principles of Smart Home Control

Carnegie Mellon UniversityHCI InstituteSchool of Design

smarthome.cs.cmu.edu

Scott DavidoffMin Kyung LeeJohn ZimmermanAnind Dey

Family Control Smart Home

Ubicomp 2006

Scott Davidoff, Min Kyung Lee, John Zimmerman, Anind Dey | Carnegie Mellon Family Control Smart Home

CURRENT RESEARCH

Smart home control systems

provide control of devices

Technical Perspective

DISCIPLINARY GAP


CURRENT RESEARCH

CAMP (Truong et al, 04) microCommander (Jahnke et al,

02)

Speakeasy (Newman et al,

02)

Jigsaw (Humble et al, 03)

DISCIPLINARY GAP

Focused on device control: visually, verbally what you can do with the system; not what the system can do for..


Families are struggling

to gain control of their lives

CURRENT RESEARCH



Anthropological PerspectiveTechnical Perspective

DISCIPLINARY GAP




CURRENT RESEARCH




How can smart home control systems help

users

regain control of their devices

DISCIPLINARY GAP




CURRENT RESEARCH




How can smart home control systems help

users

regain control of their devices

families

lives

DISCIPLINARY GAP


CONTRIBUTIONS

Recast the problem of smart home control

Suggest new evaluation metrics for smart home control systems

Provide rich description of nuanced notion of control

Produce design principles to serve as signposts


Increased obligations of daily life

Context switching across roles (home/work)

A skill parents want to gracefully master

Parents want to pass this skill on

Darrah 2000, 2002

RELATED WORK BUSYNESS AS A MORAL GOOD


Busyness leads to stress

Managing busyness is tough, if fails..

A “house of cards”

“The rush hour of life”

Fear of the sick child

Beech 2004, Frissen 2000, Darrah 2002

RELATED WORK LESS THAN IDEAL CONTROL


Systems for family life control will have to co-exist with busyness

RELATED WORK IMPLICATIONS


Goal: develop an opportunity map for technology to aid families

12 dual-income families

Dual-income families:

Large audience, representing 46% of the US population

Lots of needs, early adopters

FIELDWORK SUMMARY


“Wicked problem”* of activity management

(= main source of family busyness)

Flexibility as a coping strategy

Relationship between control and flexibility

Activities construct (individual/family) identity

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

* Rittel 1973


FINDINGS “WICKED” PROBLEM OF ACTIVITY MANAGEMENT


EXAMPLE GAME OR PRACTICE? HOME OR AWAY? WHAT TIME?


EXAMPLE WHO PICKS UP? WHO DROPS OFF? WHERE?


EXAMPLE SHIN GUARDS, KNEE PADS. CLEATS OR FLATS?


EXAMPLE PRACTICE UNIFORM? HOME OR AWAY UNIFORM?


EXAMPLE CLEAN CLOTHES THE NIGHT BEFORE


EXAMPLE JUICE BEFORE OR AFTER? ORANGES AT HALFTIME?


EXAMPLE LOST ON THE CALENDAR


BREAKDOWNS LAST MINUTE CARPOOL DECISIONS


BREAKDOWNS MOM’S OUT OF TOWN SO DAD’S IN CHARGE






BREAKDOWNS CREEPING RESPONSIBILITY


BREAKDOWNS CREEPING RESPONSIBILITY


BREAKDOWNS UNPREDICTABLE ORANGES


BREAKDOWNS SICK CHILD


BREAKDOWNS CASCADE EFFECTS


Incremental precision

Improvisation

Technological infrastructure

Lifestyle choices

FINDINGS FLEXIBILITY AS A COPING STRATEGY


FINDINGS CONTROL AND FLEXIBILITY


FINDINGS ACTIVITIES CONSTRUCT FAMILY AND INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY

Activities mean more than the work behind

them

People derive meaning from their

participation


Now what?

RELATED WORK


SEVEN DESIGN PRINCIPLES

Allow for the organic evolution of routines and plans

Participate in the construction of family identity

The home is more than a location

Understand periodic changes, exceptions and improvisation

Design for breakdowns

Easily construct new plans and routines, and modify existing ones

Account for multiple, overlapping and occasionally conflicting goals


PRINCIPLE 1:ALLOW FOR THE ORGANIC EVOLUTION OF ROUTINES AND PLANS

Hard to specify a priori

Incremental precision

Many routines are “unremarkable”

* Tolmie 2002


PRINCIPLE 2:PARTICIPATE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF FAMILY IDENTITY

Some tasks are more than work

They constitute how we interpret who

we are


PRINCIPLE 3:THE HOME IS MORE THAN A LOCATION

Opportunistic planning occurs in many

locations

A smart home is more than a physical

space

Also includes “information space”


PRINCIPLE 4:UNDERSTAND PERIODIC CHANGES, EXCEPTIONS AND IMPROV

Routines are often not routine

Vary by season

Routines change with exceptions

Rigid model of routines would not fit

observation


PRINCIPLE 5:DESIGN FOR BREAKDOWNS

Exceptions happen frequently

Complete solution is impossible


PRINCIPLE 6:EASILY CONSTRUCT AND MODIFY PLANS AND ROUTINES

Daily basis task planning and

coordination

Frequent interaction should merit

attention

Input should be low-cost


7:ACCOUNT FOR MULTIPLE, OVERLAPPING AND CONFLICTING GOALS

More than one person

May not agree on task performance

metrics

“Thermostat Predicament”

Support v. Independence

PRINCIPLE


CONCLUSIONS

Family is a place of busyness where

identity and life control collide

Opportunity for technology to improve

quality of family life

Design principles help address this

space

Evaluate smart home technology in

terms of life control

Documents

Principles of Smart Home Control Carnegie Mellon University HCI Institute School of Design smarthome.cs.cmu.edu Scott Davidoff Min Kyung Lee John Zimmerman