This paper examines recent results from ethnographic and experimental work regarding retail transactions and offers a set of characteristics ubicomp must embrace to support successful human-computer interactions. The authors suggest that ubiquitous computing technologies for retail transactions need to explicitly consider three characteristics in their design in order to support trusted, balanced exchanges. These characteristics include: accountability, real-time inspectability and the capacity to exercise recourse.
The paper argues that a relationship of trust is required for transactions (especially retail transactions) to succeed and that this trust relationship is based on qualities of the transaction (visibility) antithetical to the current design imperatives of ubicomp technologies (invisibility).
In this evaluation, the authors designed a mock grocery store using typical check-out procedures (UPC codes) in addition to a ubicomp system which senses items in a user's basket as well as a user's credit card. Using sensors, the system was able to automatically ring up and pay for the items simultaneously. The five participants in the study raised several issues of trust on the ubicomp system leading the authors to establish three principles that they believe must be considered in ubicomp applications.
- Accountability . This involves users understanding actions. However, the authors point out that most ubicomp applications are specifically designed to make those interactions invisible.
- Real-time Inspectability . This includes the user being able to see what is going on and monitor the process at various steps along the way.
- Recourse . The authors believe that ubicomp applications must enable recourse by all parties, including store owners as well as shoppers.
The authors offer these three principles as design guidance that must be considered in the design of transaction-related ubicomp applications.
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