Good afternoon everyone! It is an honor and pleasure to be with you.
My name is Aiswarya and I will be speaking on behalf of my co-authors Vaishali, Jayasree,
Gijs and Shantanu about our paper titled 'Living As A Service- An experiment to
evaluate living experience in connected homes in the Netherlands'. Connected homes or smart homes
involve automation of crucial aspects of a home such as lighting, energy consumption and security.
But how can service providers factor in the customer when designing smart home applications?
For designing smart homes that are responsive to user needs, it is important to understand
the behavioral profile of users- their motivations, preferences and perceptions.
Previous studies in this space have looked at personas as an effective approach to categorizing
and targeting user needs. Moreover studies have also looked at the life cycle of user
interaction with smart home so that emergent needs at each stage can be understood.
In this study we combine persona based approach with identification of stages of interaction
so that service providers can make practical applications that cater
to specific behavioral profiles at various touch points of interaction with smart home.
The study was a collaborative effort between a leading bank in the Netherlands
and an IT service provider and participants of the study were employees of these organizations.
These participants who would become our users were given a predefined set of smart devices of
different brands for a period of three weeks. Once the smart home setup was completed and users had
enough time to use and interact with the devices, a semi-structured interview was conducted.
This initial interaction was aimed at understanding users' ideas of a smart home,
their usual routine and experiences of installation and use of the devices. At the
end of the experiment, a survey was administered that captured device-specific feedback and
behavioral parameters apart from demographic details. Behavioral parameters included
environment consciousness, exploratory behavior, technology adoption, impulsivity, saving behavior,
social norms and attitude. Device-specific questions looked at the number of devices
installed, approximate time spent in installation, major utility derived from the device and ease in
installation. Overall 21 participants completed the experiment which span over one year. Based
on interview responses, four distinct stages of interaction with smart home devices were obtained.
In the pre-experiment stage which was the period before the receipt of smart home kit,
participants focused on aspects such as comfort, sense of control, sustainability and safety
as major priorities in the home. In the next stage where participants encountered the kit,
an air of excitement and apprehension prevailed. The third stage of installation or setting up
of devices was encountered with ease and enjoyment in using some devices
but difficulty in installation of some other devices. A major concern that emerged in this
stage was the need for devices to interact with each other better. The post installation stage
was marked by positive adaptation to smart home living though cost emerged as a concern.
Along with the change in user needs and emotions over the life cycle of interaction with devices,
four major personas of users emerged. The convenience-oriented subtype were participants who
focused on the utility of smart devices in making their life easier, enjoyable and giving them a
sense of control over their home. They constituted half of the sample. The safety-oriented persona
placed weight on how smart devices helped them feel more secure in their own homes and preferred
motion sensors, window sensor and camera. The third persona namely the cautiously supportive
placed emphasis on privacy as a major need by alluding to concerns related to data capture.
Finally, the sustainability-oriented subtype was interested in the energy saving benefits of
the smart home and were keen on devices such as smart plugs, motion sensors and smart bulbs. In
conclusion, the study finds that a clear majority of the participants considered the transition to a
smart home as positive. The interaction of various devices is seen as an important determinant in
seamless adaptation. The most important takeaway of the study however is that gauging user needs
in the design of smart home services is vital. The personas identified in the study could be used by
service providers to customize their offerings in terms of devices and device combinations
since these are based on user behavioral attributes. Suggestions for combinations
of smart devices to target a particular persona could be made since users would find it easier to
connect with this larger application than specific utilities of individual devices. Thank you!