Title: Evaluating the user experience of a mobile user in a smart city context

Authors: Katerina Diamantaki; Charalampos Rizopoulos; Dimitris Charitos; Vassileios Tsetsos; Petros Kovatsis; Iouliani Theona

Addresses: Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece ' Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece ' Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece ' Mobics Ltd., Athens, Greece ' Mobics Ltd., Athens, Greece ' School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece

Abstract: Mobile and location-based technologies provide efficient ways of enhancing a city's smart transport infrastructure by effectively augmenting its functionality. Also, mobile phone users may act as mobile 'sensors' that provide transportation-related data, thus supplementing stationary sensor networks that provide data such as vehicle position, parking space availability, traffic density, atmospheric conditions, etc. and constituting a hybrid sensor ecosystem that incorporates both human and non-human agents. This paper outlines a research project that aims to enhance the user experience of an advanced transportation services platform by incorporating simple game elements and mechanics in system design, under the assumption that a non-game platform that enables gameful experiences will act as an intrinsic motivator for users by increasing the inherent appeal and the engaging character of various activities. The paper describes the system's evaluation methodology and process, outlines the analysis of preliminary results, and provides some insights regarding the impact of system parameters on the perceived satisfaction of mobile map-based applications, as well as the structure of the concept of user experience as it pertains specifically to such applications.

Keywords: smart cities; location-based transport services; locative media; user experience; mobile users; smart transport infrastructure; mobile phones; cell phones; map-based apps; game elements; mechanics; system design; user motivation; performance evaluation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIEI.2015.069902

International Journal of Intelligent Engineering Informatics, 2015 Vol.3 No.2/3, pp.120 - 143

Received: 13 Mar 2014
Accepted: 19 Dec 2014
Published online: 15 Jun 2015 *

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