Supporting the mobile notification process through tactile cues selected using a paired comparison task.

The process of checking mobile notifications can be challenging when the user is engaged with another task that requires him/her to monitor the path ahead (e.g. running, driving). Developing expressive tactile feedback to communicate key components of the message would enable users to decide whether to attend to the notification, or to continue with the on-going activity. We describe the design of a paired-comparison task to determine how to map tactile parameters to characteristics of incoming messages. Early findings from a field study highlight the promise offered by multi-parameter tactile cues designed using mappings identified from the paired-comparison task, even when distracters are present.