Manas TungareAdvisor: Manuel Pérez Quiñones

Understanding the Evolutionof Users’ Personal Information

Management Practices

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Research Area Overview

PersonalInformationManagement

Multi-Platform User Interfaces

Human Computer Interaction

PersonalInformationManagement

Information In Many Forms

Jones 2002

Mind-boggling Amounts

12399753364

126 Email messages per day

Messages in personal archive

Files in home directory

Anecdotal numbers; not real data.

Information about a person kept by and under the control

of others.E.g. health information.

Personal Information

Information kept for personal use.

E.g. files, documents.

Information experienced by a person but outside her

control.E.g. books, websites browsed.

Information directed to a person.

E.g. email, IM.

Jones 2006

Information is FragmentedAcross Collections

Boardman 2004

Current Research

Email

Paper

Bookmarks

Documents

Folders

All Collections

Whittaker 1996Gwizdka 2002

Boardman 2004Bruce 2004

Abrams 1998

Jones 2005

Malone 1983

Kelly 2006Boardman 2004

Jones 2006

Information is FragmentedAcross Devices

Tungare 2006

Research Questions

1. Using Multiple Devices for PIM

• How do devices affect information flows?

• Inter-relationships between devices

• Formation of groups of devices

• Attaining equilibrium in the information ecosystem

• Custom strategies influenced by devices

• Device failures

Expected findings

• Hypothesis: The device is an important consideration, which, in addition to the specific collection, affects PIM practices.

• Finding(s): Exactly how a device (or group) affects PIM

• E.g. why do people use their address book on their phone, but not on their computer?

2. Evolution of PIM Practices

• Natural transitions in life

• High school to college

• Grad school to industry

• Is there a pattern of stages in which information management practices change in response to these transitions?

• How is equilibrium achieved?

Expected findings

• Hypothesis: There is a pattern in which users develop strategies for PIM.

• This pattern can be reified and made known to the next set of users who are going to make similar transitions.

• Tool designers can take these patterns into account.

Methodology

Studying PIM

• PIM is highly individualized & contextual

• Tools are just the surface

• Deeper understanding needed

• Approaches: browsing versus searchingTeevan 2004

• Personalities: filers versus pilersMalone 1983

• Survey + Interviews

• What activities do you perform on each device?

• What data do you keep on each device?

• What pairs of devices do you keep synchronized?

• What failures have you encountered?

Study 1: PIM & Multiple Devices

Study 2: PIM over time

• Longitudinal study of users across natural transitions in life

• Recruited while still in “pre-” phase

• Graduating students moving to industry

• Undergrads continuing to grad school

• Spot interviews, longer stories, observation, diary studies[Details are still being worked out.]

Expected Contributions

An understanding of ...

• how PIM practices are influenced by devices.

• how PIM practices change over time.

• how custom strategies develop.

• what parameters affect the evolution of these practices, and in what way.

Significance

• Implications from findings will inform the design of new tools & applications

• New devices designed to integrate better into a user’s existing information environment

• A clearer understanding of users’ frustration at the current state-of-the-art in multi-device PIM.

Summary

• PIM is an interesting area in HCI where a deeper understanding of users’ practices would benefit lots of users.

• Open questions in PIM research include understanding how people use multiple devices for information management & how their strategies evolve over time.

• (Hopefully,) my work will help answer these and design future devices and apps better.

Your feedback is appreciated!

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