Investigating the Use of Self-Addressed Reminders

Broch, Stine Korfits

4. term

Information Studies (Human Centered Informatics), Master

2020

2020-05-27

68 pages

Digital devices are great examples of how technology daily can help externalize our memory. Instead of always having to remember information, we can easy look it up on our computers or smartphones, so we do not have to remember it anymore. This thesis studies how people create, manage, and act upon digital reminders created on digital devices using the method approach of contextual inquiry. Results show that the participants prefer to use their smartphone to both create and manage reminders, while computers often are used when the reminder requires a larger screen. The participants use different channels to create reminders depending on the reminder’s intentions and device. Reminders created at a computer is often with self-addressed email (21,4%), and desktops (21,4%), while we found that reminders on smartphones most often are created with the note-taking apps (16,2%), calendar (16,2%), and screenshots (16,2%). Reminders are typically organized chronological, which the devices often do for the user, while people also organize reminders by label or folder. Moreover, we investigated cues in digital reminders, and our findings show that people in most cases check the channel to find reminders they have to act upon, while the cue action often are event-based prospective memory. Last, we investigated the context of both creating and acting upon digital reminders, and results show that the context created and acted upon varies from both the used channel and the reminders intentions.

Reminders ; contextual inquiry ; PIM ; Personal information management ; content analysis ; prospective memory

Download
View record in AAU Student Projects