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Negative effects of aging populations in modern societies and the growing impact of a novel modality of social interaction through social networking sites (SNS) on interpersonal relationships and social interaction of especially elderly individuals are the setting and motivation of the underlying research. This thesis identifies expectations, needs, and concerns of elderly individuals towards online social networking; empirically analyzes socio-psychological benefits potentially realized through adoption and use of SNS; and investigates means of leveraging these benefits through adequately designed SNS functionalities for the elderly. The conducted studies intertwine behavioral and design science research and apply a broad range of qualitative and quantitative methods. Empirical and experimental findings could support developers of social systems that are targeted to an elderly audience in appropriate design decisions and thinking. Negative Auswirkungen des demografischen Wandels und der wachsende Einfluss sozialer Netzwerke im Internet auf zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen und sozialer Interaktion bei älteren Menschen bilden den Rahmen und die Motivation dieser Dissertation. Die empirische und gestaltungsorientierte Arbeit identifiziert Erwartungen, Bedürfnisse und Bedenken älterer Menschen gegenüber sozialen Netzwerken, analysiert sozialpsychologische Effekte, die aus der Adoption und Nutzung von sozialen Netzwerken resultieren, und untersucht, wie Erkenntnisse in der Konzeption von Funktionalitäten für ältere Menschen genutzt werden können. Die durchgeführten Studien verbinden verhaltens- und gestaltungsorientierte Forschung und bedienen sich verschiedener qualitativer und quantitativer Forschungsmethoden. Die hierbei empirisch und experimentell gewonnenen Erkenntnisse könnten Entwickler von sozialen Systemen, im Allgemeinen und für ältere Nutzer im Speziellen, in ihren gestalterischen Entscheidungen und Denkweisen unterstützen.

In: "Personenbezug als Ressource und als Problem einer systematischen Dienstleistungsentwicklung", S. 85-296

On May, 9th 2013, the concentration of CO particles in the atmosphere reached 400 parts per million for the first time since its measurements began [1]. Reaching this psychological threshold marks the latest alarming trend of the negative human impact on the environment. 2 Climate change is only one of several major challenges that humanity faces. Policy makers and social entrepreneurs aware of these challenges and opportunities have gradually increased their efforts to address these problems, unfortunately without a measurable impact on a global scale. Policies attempting to address the challenges predominantly focus on institutions and organizations. However, many of these problems are a direct result of human actions, and therefore call for human behavioral change to overcome such challenges. Previous research in the area of persuasive design indicates that a certain behavior is usually a result of the corresponding attitude towards the behavior. Therefore, there is a need to promote the right attitudes towards “proper” behaviors among people. Such attitudes can be influenced by providing people with the relevant information that enhances their awareness regarding the consequences of their actions, and ways of overcoming or reducing such consequences. Interaction designers and human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers adopted this bottom-up approach of designing interfaces and intervention mechanisms that focus on bringing about individual behavior changes. Through carefully designed persuasive applications and products they attempted to motivate users and consumers to change their behavior in various aspects (energy consumption, transportation choices, purchasing decisions to name a few). In this regard, users are mere “consumers” of the design, which helps them make personal choices. This position paper builds on the described bottom-up approach, but does not see the users only as consumers but also as activists, who can help the designers in their effort to induce wide-scale behavior change to more sustainable lifestyle. The goal of this research proposal is to empower users with the means to persuade their peers. Furthermore, the research proposes that persuasion on a massive scale requires specific efforts to design persuasive feedback that caters to various motivations and makes efficient use of the communication channels as well as novel ubiquitous and mobile technologies, to which users have access now. The paper first provides a look on authors’ previous research in the area of persuasive design. In particular, we present a persuasive energy monitor application – EnergyWiz, a system for civic engagement – BahnScout, and a theoretical framework for designing persuasive feedback for differently motivated individuals. Thereafter, we review a body of existing research on persuasion on a massive scale and, based on the research gaps, suggest approaches that would lead to rapid and persistent behavior change among people. Finally, we critically analyze the described approaches and outline several research gaps and directions that can advance future research in the area.

Social connectedness is an indicator of the extent to which people can realize various network benefits and is therefore a source of social capital. Using the case of Twitter, we develop and test a theoretical model of social connectedness based on the functional and structural characteristics of peoples? communication behavior within a online social network. We investigate how social presence, social awareness, and social connectedness influence each other, and when and for whom the effects of social presence and social awareness are most strongly related to positive outcomes in social connectedness. Specifically, we study the concurrent direct and moderating effect of two structural constructs characterizing peoples? online social network: network size and frequency of usage. We test our research model using data (n=121) collected from two sources: (1) an online survey of Twitter users and (2) their usage data collected directly from Twitter. Our results indicate that social awareness, social presence, and usage frequency have a direct effect on social connectedness, while network size has a moderating effect. We find social presence partially mediating the relationship between social awareness and social connectedness. We use the findings of our analysis to outline design implications for online social networks from a human computer interaction perspective.

This study proposes an approach towards generating value in pharmaceutical supply chains using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. The approach focuses on the relationship between pharmacies, customers and manufacturers. Multiple explorative case studies were conducted and analyzed to identify potential areas for improvement in the supply chain (SC), and means of customer integration supported with Near Field Communication (NFC) devices. NFC is a standard for radio frequency communication between smartphones and related NFC devices, and allows data exchange between devices that are in close proximity (within a four inch area). Our findings allowed us to explore novel use-cases based on NFC and RFID technologies and their applications to enhance value realization in the downstream pharmaceutical SC.

In recent years, interaction designers have actively started addressing sustainability as a research topic. More specifically, persuasive applications, which aim at promoting pro-environmental behaviour, such as energy saving have been of growing interest in multiple research disciplines. Driven by the proliferation of smart meters and energy monitors as well as the rise of social media, researchers and designers of persuasive applications have developed a wide range of design solutions that address this issue. The majority of them, however, provide the same information to users irrespective of differences in their environmental concerns and different motivations to conserve energy. Our research addresses this gap. We design mock-up screens that provide feedback catering towards different pro-environmental values and concerns and ask users to evaluate them in a survey setting. The research aims at understanding what feedback different people find relevant and therefore attempts to bridge the gap between environmental psychology and HCI. At the same time it provides insights for the design of personalised eco-feedback related to energy consumption.

This study presents a novel approach towards establishing online social connections using Facebook and NFC-enabled mobile phones. There is increasing convergence between users’ real life social networks and their online social networks, with online connections following actual social acquaintance and interactions. Accordingly there is a need to provide users with means of accessing and establishing online connections in social networking platforms such as Facebook as and when they interact with other people in their real lives. The NFriendConnector is a prototype application which fulfills this functionality. This paper describes the design and development of the prototype application. The expectation confirmation theory is used to analyze the extent to which the NFriendConnector fulfills this inherent need among users and how this influences their intention to adopt and use the prototype. The proposed research model is tested in an experimental setup.

Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) offers possibilities for promising new IT-based health care services that are resulting in new challenges for its design process. We introduce a novel approach for engineering AAL services (AALSDA) which combines methods from service engineering and participatory design. We demonstrate this approach by developing and implementing an electronic data capture system, NuTrack, for self-reporting of nutrition status. The approach uses different concepts for AAL service design and delivery: service engineering for standardizing and structuring service processes, reasonable IT-support for automation of parts of services that need no person-to-person interaction, participatory design to integrate end-users in the development process, and patient integration for personalizing and improving the depth of performance of service providers' service delivery. For illustration, we present the case of chronic disease patients suffering from impaired fine motor skills. Our approach is applied in a pilot study with prototypes tested in focus groups and workshops with patients, caregivers and physicians. The results demonstrate good applicability and feasibility of the concept, and provide new insights for the future design, development and implementation of AAL services.

This study presents a novel approach towards establishing online social connections using Facebook and NFC-enabled mobile phones. There is increasing convergence between users? real life social networks and their online social networks, with online connections following actual social acquaintance and interactions. Accordingly there is a need to provide users with means of accessing and establishing online connections in social networking platforms such as Facebook as and when they interact with other people in their real lives. The NFriendConnector is a prototype application which fulfills this functionality. This paper describes the design and development of the prototype application. The expectation confirmation theory is used to analyze the extent to which the NFriendConnector fulfills this inherent need among users and how this influences their intention to adopt and use the prototype. The proposed research model is tested in an experimental setup.

Patient data, particularly emergency data, must be available to medical personnel within a short time frame and independent of potential interruption of (mobile) network connections. Additionally, medical data is confidential information that must not openly be available to anyone with physical access to the storage media. The planned German electronic Health Card (eHC) is supposed to hold emergency data. However, the eHC smart card will not always be available to caregivers in emergency situations, e.g., unconscious patient, since it cannot be duplicated, customized or read without physical contact. We therefore propose the SemTag prototype which utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to provide secure and quick access to medical information. Caregivers have the opportunity to store encrypted medical data on tags for a particular group of addressees, e.g., for emergency cases in home care environments. The tags can be placed on highly visible locations, e.g., entrance areas of homes and carried by the user in form of a token. Neither ubiquitous network access nor the unique eHC is necessary, to view emergency medical data within home care environments. Hence NFC tags can be regarded as a tool for information and identification alternative to distributed information systems for the collaboration of caregivers. This manuscript shows the technical storage and encryption process of emergency data on NFC tags. The technical feasibility, benefits, limitations and future research prospects of the prototype system are discussed.

The progress of technology has led to the increased adoption of energy monitors among household energy consumers. While the monitors available on the market deliver real-time energy usage feedback to the consumer, the form of this data is usually unengaging and mundane. Moreover, it fails to address consumers with different motivations and needs to save and compare energy. This paper presents a study that seeks to inform design guidelines for differently motivated energy consumers. We focus on comparative feedback supported by a community of energy consumers. In particular, we examine eco-visualisations, temporal self-comparison, norm comparison, one-on-one comparison and ranking, whereby the last three allow us to explore the potential of socialising energy-related feedback. These feedback types were integrated in EnergyWiz ? a mobile application that enables users to compare with their past performance, neighbours, contacts from social networking sites and other EnergyWiz users. The application was evaluated in personal, semi-structured interviews which gave us insights on how to design motivation-related comparative feedback.

Self-reporting of patient data is a valuable tool for data capture in clinical trial studies and to support ailment treatment. However, traditional paper-based self-reporting is cost- and time-consuming and consequently suffers from low patient compliance. NFC-based electronic data capture methods allow a quick and easy self-reporting for patients and the real-time presentation of patient data enables direct medical intervention by physicians. Malnutrition, for example can be attenuated by continuous medical supervision of nutrition data. Consequently, we introduce an NFC-based prototype system called Touch?n?Document (TnD) that supports automatic aggregation and measurement of self-reported nutrition status. The hardware of TnD consists of a TFT-display that was outfitted with an array of NFC-tags on the backside. These allow an NFC-enabled mobile phone to be used as an input device to any software system, running on the TFT-display. The patients simply have to touch the display with their mobile device to log into the system and report and analyze their current nutrition. This ensures an adequate usability of the nutrition management system, especially for non tech-savvy or physically impaired patients, consequently increasing patient compliance. The technical feasibility, benefits, limitations and future research prospects of the prototype system are discussed in this manuscript.

Comparison is widely used in research projects and commercial products whose goal is to motivate energy saving at home. This research builds on fundamental theories from social psychology in an attempt to shed light on how to motivate consumers to conserve energy by providing relevant people for social comparison depending on consumer?s motivation to compare. To support the research process, the mobile application EnergyWiz was developed through a theory-driven design approach. Along with other features EnergyWiz provides users with three types of social comparison ? normative, one-on-one and ranking. The results of interviews with prospective users are used to derive design suggestions for relevant people for comparison (comparison subjects).

Aufgrund des aktuellen Wandels in der Bev?lkerungsverteilung hin zu einem immer gr??er werdenden Anteil der ?lteren Generation und aktueller Entwicklungen im Bereich der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien, stellt sich die Frage nach der Vereinbarkeit beider Trends. Forschungsergebnisse zeigen, dass ein Mangel an sozialen Kontakten das Risiko birgt, im Alter schnell die Bef?higung zu einer autarken Lebensweise zu verlieren. Virtuelle Netzgemeinschaften k?nnen die soziale Interaktion in der ?lteren Generation f?rdern und somit das Risiko auf soziale Isolation verringern. Aktuelle virtuelle Netzgemeinschaften sind jedoch auf eine junge Zielgruppe ausgerichtet und somit nicht geeignet, den geringeren PC-F?higkeiten und Erfahrungen einer ?lteren Bev?lkerungsschicht gerecht zu werden. Im Fokus dieses Beitrages steht demnach, wie eine angepasste seniorenfreundliche Bedienoberfl?che f?r virtuelle Netzgemeinschaften aussehen kann. Dementsprechend wurde in einer Studie der Entwurf einer seniorengerechten Bedienoberfl?che auf mobilen Endger?ten f?r eine fiktive virtuelle Netzgemeinschaft erstellt und ?ber Fokusgruppen evaluiert.

This paper describes the design and evaluation of NFriendConnector, a prototype application that allows for better integration between online and offline social networks. Online social networks are currently used to maintain and strengthen existing real-life social connections, rather than establishing ties that exist only online. However, users incur significant time and search related costs in replicating a naturally occurring social interaction using a social networking site (SNS). Therefore, there exists a gap between initiating social contact in real-life versus initiating social contact via an online social network. Using the design science paradigm, our research addresses this gap by introducing NFriendConnector. This application allows users to map their offline interactions, as and when they take place, onto their SNS presence, therefore making it possible to complement offline social interactions with SNS profile information. The prototype is implemented using Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled mobile phones and Facebook. We evaluate the prototype in an experimental setting using expectation confirmation theory (ECT) as the theoretical framework. Findings show that NFriendConnector was able to satisfy users, therefore indicating a successful design exercise. We discuss the implications of this research in the context of current developments in online social networking

Social integration is crucial for the overall well-being of the elderly who are more prone to social exclusion because of the natural aging process. We propose online social networking as means to enhance social connectedness and social support – two aspects of social networks that have significant implications for the well-being of elderly. While prior research investigating the benefits of online social networking has primarily focused on user groups such as teenagers and college students, there is less understanding on how online social networks can be used to support and strengthen social ties among elderly. This study intends to investigate means of increasing social connectedness and social support among elderly through participation in online social networks, and the resulting implications on overall satisfaction with life. Our aim is to identify features of online social networks that cater to the specific social connectedness and support related requirements of elderly users.

With over 400 million active users Facebook is undeniably a large social phenomenon and one of the largest social networks on the Internet. Together with Facebook a variety of novel communication styles have developed, dramatically influencing social interaction. The underlying paper reports the results of a survey (N=109) analyzing Facebook’s micro-blogging function available through users’ status updates. Our results suggest that the use of status update messaging generates a feeling of connectedness between users. Furthermore, non-parametric analyses distinguishing between low- and highconnected groups have been performed and experimentally confirmed the existence of distinct user profiles as a function of the variable “feeling connected”. The analyses revealed that the more individuals use their status message function to actively reveal information about themselves, the more connected they feel. Connectedness seems the result of active information sharing modulated by the amount of information shared rather than by the type of information an individual is sharing.

Traditional paper-based longitudinal or cross section panel surveys, used for market research are time and cost consuming and can suffer from contaminating effects like social desirability bias or respondent conditioning. Electronic data capture methods can improve the time and cost efficiency of market research panels. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology allows a seamless and non-intrusive integration of information systems into everyday life environments. This enables the automated electronic acquisition of media usage data, without direct interference with the media consumption and thus without the contaminating effects of traditional panel surveys. Consequently, we introduce an RFID-based prototype system called MUSE (Media Usage in Supportive Environments) that supports automatic measurements of print media usage in public environments. MUSE was tested in an initial field study over the course of six weeks in the waiting room of a German medical practice. The study showed that MUSE could monitor the usage of print media, laid out for waiting patients, autonomously and with minimal errors. Furthermore, the RFID technology was perceived as nonintrusive. This study is the first to show how RFID enhanced real world settings can be used for nonintrusive media usage analysis in real life. Based on the findings we derive recommendations for future research for RFID supported media usage analysis.

Der Markterfolg eines Unternehmens steht in einem engen Zusammenhang mit dem Aspekt, ob angebotene Sach-oder Dienstleistungen die Anforderungen der Kunden treffen (Leimeister und Glauner 2008; Lindemann 2009). Deswegen orientieren sich viele Unternehmen neu und bieten integrierte Bündel von Sach- und Dienstleistungen an – sog. hybride Produkte - die die Probleme der Kunden lösen sollen (Lönngren et al. 2008; Böhmann et al. 2008; Leimeister und Glauner 2008).Um in domänenübergreifenden Entwicklungsteams produktiv arbeiten zu können, ist ein Vorgehensmodell notwendig, welches sowohl die Art des zu lösenden Problems als auch die Zusammensetzung der Lösung in geeigneter Form berücksichtigt. Bestehende Vorgehensmodelle besitzen meist einen domänenspezifischen Fokus auf bestimmte Komponenten der Lösung oder fokussieren sich auf die technisch begründeten Herausforderungen bei der Umsetzung der Lösung. Solche Modelle leisten nur einen kleinen Beitrag zur Abstraktion von Lösungsteilen und der Verknüpfung von verschiedenen domänenspezifischen Entwicklungsprozessen zu einem integrierten Entwicklungsprozess. Während sich bestehende Vergleichsanalysen meist ausschließlich auf eine Domäne fokussieren, ist es das Ziel dieser Analyse, Modelle aus unterschiedlichen Domänen miteinander in Bezug zu setzen und bezüglich ihrer Eignung für hybride Produkte zu vergleichen.

Mit dem Aufkommen neuer technologischer Konzepte nutzen Personen in zunehmendem Maße das Internet als ein Medium, um ihre Bedürfnisse nach sozialer Interaktion zu erfüllen. Dies wird durch die große Popularität und der positiven Entwicklung der Benutzerzahlen dieser sozialen Netzwerkplattformen, wie Facebook, Xing, LinkedIn, belegt. Parallel zu dieser Entwicklung schreiten die Durchdringung der Welt mit mobilen Kommunikationsmitteln und die Verbreitung mobiler Breitbandanbindungen voran, und erweitert somit die soziale Netzwerkbildung auf mobile Endgeräte. Derzeit existieren jedoch kaum Ergebnisse darüber wie die Funktionalitäten sozialer Netzwerkplattformen effizient auf mobile Endgeräte übertragen werden können. Der vorliegende Beitrag beschreibt den NFriendConnector1, einen proof-of-concept Prototypen, der die Nutzung von typischen Funktionalitäten sozialer Netzwerkplattformen, am Beispiel Facebook, durch die Integration von NFC-Technologie, auf mobile Endgeräte überträgt. Die Einstellung potentieller Nutzer gegenüber dem Prototyp wurde in einem Laborexperiment evaluiert.