Location Based Social Networking

Chris Schlechty, Alicia Kellogg, Sean Ren, Danny Swisher

Current social networks lack interactions between people and the world around them

Social networking sites today don’t take advantage of knowing their member’s location

A number of privacy concerns exist when incorporating location information

Problem

Location aware mobile web application

Allows user to view friends and strangers along with proximity information

Provides means of limiting access to personal information, primarily location

Demo

Our Solution:

Representative tasks System evolution and changes Current UI and Demo Remaining problems and solutions Summary Questions

Overview

1. Find a friend’s location facilitating a meeting

2. Find out information about the people around you

3. Change your visibility settings to limit who can know your current location

Tasks

Initial design Simple tabbed

interface

Incorporated existing social network features

Inherit learned behaviors by using standard formats

Viewing Location Info

Region Creation/Editting

Lo-fi Prototype

UI ChangesProblem: Participants did not

see that the upper left link was where they needed to click to edit visibility settings

Solution: Changed title to read

“visibility” regardless of selected visibilities

UI ChangesProblem Missing Done/Save

button caused confusion

Solution Added Done button

UI ChangesProblem Confusion at visibility process funnel Steep learning curve when adding region

Solution Added a tool tip

Prototype

Friends

Map feature

Visibilities

DemoTask Demonstration

Real GPS/position data Current user is hard coded Distances are hard coded No visibility logic is applied Labels on map markers

What’s Missing?

Strangers button in Locations page wasn’t visible enough

Fixed by making bold and adding color

Remaining Problems

Size of window was too large and placed important pieces off screen requiring scrolling

Found through lab experiment

Resize the height of prototype

Remaining Problems

No means of identifying person on map

Distances and map position out of sync

No “me” indicator on map

Some participants completed task to our standards, but reported not completing it

Remaining Problems

Unique and fun mobile web application Brings position data to traditional, “lifeless”

social networks Interesting implementation challenges still

exist Very extensible

Summary

Questions?