Convenient Conversation

Office workers are today often faced with the dilemma of being focused on the present activity and yet available for incoming calls on their mobile phone. Current technology does not support this situation. Many intrusive calls seem to occur as consequence of the lack of information about the recipient's context. The focus of this thesis is the initiation of mobile communication via mobile phones, in work-related settings. The purpose of the study was, first, to identify shortcomings in today's practice, and secondly, to explore how contextual information about the recipient could be utilised in the initiation process. A qualitative study was conducted during March – April 2001 on experienced mobile phone users in the IT and telecommunications businesses. The results from this study illustrate how the lack of contextual information leads to intrusive and inconvenient communication, from the perspective of the recipient as well as the initiator. Design recommendations are discussed from three aspects: smooth initiation of conversations, appropriate means of communication, and utilising context awareness. Finally, some specific design issues are highlighted.