User needs for metadata management in mobile multimedia content services

Users increasingly need to manage their personal content on different platforms, including mobile devices. Metadata is a central means for users to manage large amounts of different types of personal content. Even though technical solutions and services that use metadata have been developed during the past few years, user needs for metadata management in different phases of media creation and consumption cycle have not been studied in depth. In this interview study with 26 users, we examined users' habits and expectations regarding the use of metadata in managing personal content with mobile devices. We present user needs for metadata management, i.e. what metadata should be stored, and how they should be accessed, used and shared. The results indicate that even though users consider managing metadata burdensome when it has to be created manually, browsing metadata becomes an integral part of user experience in mobile multimedia content services.