Technologies for managing and sharing local information

Human-centered design for mobile and local information systems presents a challenge, little is known about how people use existing systems and their preferences for new applications. We contribute by building prototypical technologies to inform this design space, and by examining existing techniques for managing and exchanging local information. Our research delivers four contributions. First, we develop a mobile location based reminder system that improves on current everyday task management processes, and second, we examine human-centered delivery of information to mobiles. We find that people prefer delivery tactics that consider (a) the layout of the area in which information is delivered, and (b) people's patterns of moving through it. Third, we study a new method for collecting local place information, and rather than asking people to share their knowledge directly, we implicitly collect it as they conduct their daily routines. We find people are willing to share much of this information, and that it delivers unanticipated utility to an audience of end users. Fourth, we inform new methods for presenting local place customer reviews. We do so because current presentation tactics are becoming outdated in light of information overload. We inform new procedures for summarizing reviews and for predicting which ones people will find useful. Together, our research delivers significant advances in technologies for managing and sharing local information.