Personalising smartphone app widgets for controlling IoT devices

Abstract: The growth of connected, or so called smart home appliances, leads to the search for interaction methods for IoT devices including various forms of smartphone app solutions. Previous research has investigated how complex systems, with multiple options and configurations, can be set up through end-user programming and how app widgets can be an interactive solution. This approach has been adopted by few providers, however, there is little feedback from users on their experiences, in particular on the ease of configuration and customization of app widgets, the ease of use and expectations. To address these questions, I developed a novel app widget as a complement to an existing IoT smartphone app, along with three evaluations: one in-volving 8 experts including designers, developers and product managers; followed by a test session with 10 end users; and finally a field trial in which 3 users lived with the ability to use the widget for two weeks. Feedback and insights about how app widgets affected the user experience were gathered during the process confirming that widgets is a promising solution for controlling smart devices and, depending on the scenario and type of users, there are considerations that could limit or enhance their functionality.