SocialNetworks2009Workshop/DeeperAndAdaptiveUserExperiencesMinutes

Deeper and Adaptive User Experience

Agenda

Agenda

Date

2009-01-15

Panelists

Henny Swan, Opera.
Lisa McKnight, Nokia.

Participants

Workshop attendees

Discussion minutes

Dom: going through the questions. Is there a difference between social networks on mobile and elsewhere?
SP: Integration into daily life. Besides of privacy issues, I'm afraid of joining social networks because it consumes time. You now need to come up with excuses when you don't pick up the phone (no battery left, no coverage, forgot my phone home). The perfect social network may not be perfect from a "social" network.
Karl: We are all for open data. We need to create new layers to "forget", to be able to take the time. This does not exist yet.
Fabien: I had feedback from one user who says: Fine. But actually, I want to prevent things, how do I do that? We also had a request: can your system lie?
Henry: No problem with Semantic Web. You can lie. It's not because it's a machine information that it's true. If I say something, someone else publishes it, it's not the same thing as if I publish it.
Lisa: I think it's something that is really intimidating for users. People get very paranoid about that.
???1: GPS precision is good, but then you don't want to say when you go to the toilets.
Fabien: We have different layers of obfuscation. The highest one is "lying". An intermediate layer is turning things off.
Henry: Sometimes "saying something true may be telling a lie". If you say something true to someone whom you know will think you lied, you're saying a lie.
???2: Scribe missed that
Kemp: Just using a mobile makes you having a disability problem. There's an opportunity there to solve the issue. Another thing is that your mobile device carries many sensors. There's an opportunity there as well (geolocation API, haptic sensors). I'm unclear whether that's needed right now: different manufacturers put different sensors.
Lisa: Laws play a role as well. The accessibility requirement made manufacturers aware of accessibility guidelines in the US. Rather than W3C, it may be the role of governments to mandate stuff.
Henny: there's another work going on in W3C on older people.
???3: Should we make a distinction between a Web application and a Browser application? From the point of view of users, Web applications are embedded in the browser. The browser is still in control. Browser applications would be outside of browser, without the chrome, a simple logo on the user's desktop.
Henny: In Opera, we have widgets that do just that, removing the browser's chrome.
Dom: W3C is working on standard on Widgets packaging.
Dom: trying to refocus the discussion, are there specific stuff raised by Social Networks here? Or are the guidelines (WCAG, MWBP) enough?
???1: There's a lot of things that could be done with the notion of context that can be found on social networks.
Henny: Making people aware of what to expect is the key point.
Henry: The Semantic Web is helping by publishing the data rather than the User Interface, so that UI may be created to address specific needs, such as people with disabilities.
Henny: That's a really good point.
Manel: One of the problems is that people are stealing the identity of others. You could use biometrics but the problem is then to replay that data. One thing that could be interesting is to provide tools that can guarantee the data and the freshness of the data.
Karl: This afternoon, we talked about a few things missing. I'll introduce them tomorrow morning, but one of the documents missing are guidelines for users to make them aware of privacy issues, and also guidelines for authors to develop interfaces and applications that are respectful of users privacy.
Christine: Any interest in that in the room?
raised hands. Seems to be
SP: Do users welcome pre-filled form filled?
Lisa: Yes, we found out that users are really interested in that. Your device often knows where you are, who you are, what time it is, and that kind of things.
Henry: Comes back to semantic forms.
Henny: It's a good idea provided that people are aware as well. It can lead to confusion, in particular in the case of blind people.
SP: Maybe users may think that the information may come from the server, not from a local datasource.
Lisa: Yes. You need to find the right balance.
???4: There are different communities. Communities that connect together, communities that use the same tags, the same apps, and so on. Which communities are we addressing? What is a community?
Fabien: Trying to identify a point between accessibility, mobility, social networks and trust. One key point context awareness, and sticking to simplicity.
Carine: There is more constraints on social networks than on "regular" Web sites. Social networks are in a better position to know their users' skills and context.
Henny: To an extent though. You don't know necessarily what kind of technology they are using.
Kemp: One thing related to Carine's point, is that perhaps we need more outreach on WCAG and MWBP to social networking guys.
Dom: I think that's actually a very good summary. It's not so much about new guidelines, but more on outreach on existing guidelines.