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Acceptance of Ubiquitous ComputingMonica J. Garfield aa An assistant professor in computer information systems at Bentley College(cis.bentley.edu/mgarf ield/). Her research focuses on the use of IT to enhance creativity aswell as the socio-technical issues that impact telemedicine systems. Her work has appearedin such journals as Information System Research, MIS Quarterly, Communications of the ACM,and Journal of Management Information Systems. She is also the editor of ISWorld's databasepage (http://www.magal.co m/iswn/teaching/dat abase/).Published online: 21 Dec 2006.

To cite this article: Monica J. Garfield (2005) Acceptance of Ubiquitous Computing, Information Systems Management, 22:4,24-31, DOI: 10.1201/1078.10580530/45520.22.4.20050901/90027.3

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/1078.10580530/45520.22.4.20050901/90027.3

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ACCEPTANCE OF UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING

Monica J. Garfield

With portability similar to a spiral notebook, the tablet PC enables new ways of working. This study investigates user acceptance of this new technology through interviews with employees in four industries who participated in three-month trials.

N THE LAST DECADE, UBIQUITOUScomputing has moved from a futuristicvision to a reality. As computing powercontinues to increase and hardware be-

comes more compact, computers have be-come part of our work and social life,anywhere and anytime. Benefiting from thecombination of wireless connectivity and port-ability similar to that of a traditional spiral note-book, the tablet PC is allowing people torethink how they do their work. The tablet PCoffers such features as lightweight portability,wireless connectivity, and, as the most impor-tant factor differentiating it from notebook anddesktop computers, stylus input in addition tothe traditional keyboard. Obviously, the pur-pose of these features is to allow users to per-form their jobs more effectively and efficiently.

However, relatively little prior empirical re-search exists on whether users perceive thatthe technological benefits of the tablet PCmeet their business needs. Thus we are liftingthe lid and looking inside the black box of tab-let PC use to attempt to better understandwhat affects the acceptance and use of the tab-let PC in the corporate world.

To gain rich insights into how these com-puting devices are used in the corporate envi-ronment, we collected qualitative data atseveral corporate sites in a range of industries,including medical, education, publishing, andretail. Each organization selected a group of in-dividuals to use the tablet PC as their primarypersonal computing device for three monthsor longer. Each study participant was trained

on how to use the device, and technical sup-port was provided to the users throughout thestudy. Participants shared their experienceswith us during semistructured interviews. Theinterviews not only gave us the opportunity toexplore variables associated with technologyacceptance in previous research, but also en-abled new findings to emerge. This article re-ports the results of this research effort.

ISSUES THAT AFFECT THE USE OF TABLET PCStablet PCs share many of the essential featuresof a nomadic information environment (Lyytin-en and Yoo, 2002). They are highly mobile andbenefit from a large-scale infrastructure to sup-port diverse ways in which data can be pro-cessed and transmitted. From the classroom tothe racetrack, tablet PCs have been found to behighly valuable tools (Clarke, 2003; Colwell,2004; Lowe, 2004). Yet it is unclear why theyare more readily adopted in some environ-ments yet greeted with a cautious eye in others(Clarke, 2003).

To better understand the acceptance of thetablet PC in the corporate environment and itsimpact on users, we began by reviewing theprevious work in the area of technology accep-tance. Although most of the research in thisarea does not focus on highly mobile technolo-gies, early lessons learned about technology ac-ceptance ought to apply to the tablet PC.However, it should be noted that users of thetablet PC may engage in ubiquitous computing

I

MONICA J. GARFIELD is an assistant professor in computer information systems at Bentley College (cis.bentley.edu/mgarfield/). Her research focuses on the use of IT to enhance creativity as well as the socio-technical issues that impact telemedicine systems. Her work has appeared in such journals as Information System Research, MIS Quarterly, Communications of the ACM, and Journal of Management Information Systems. She is also the editor of ISWorld’s database page (http://www.magal.com/iswn/teaching/database/).

UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING

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more often than other technology users and,thus, have a fundamental difference in the waythey interface with the technology (Dey, 2001;Kim and Kim, 2003).

By far, the most cited model for understand-ing technology acceptance is the TechnologyAcceptance Model (TAM), by Davis (1989) andmost recently revised as the Unified Theory ofAcceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)(Venkatesh et al., 2003). The basic concept un-derlying this model is that individuals will formvarious beliefs and attitudes regarding the tech-nology; these will, in turn, have an impact ontheir intentions to use the technology and, there-fore, affect their actual use of the technology.

When users are presented with a new tech-nology, numerous factors influence their deci-sions about when and how they would use it.The UTAUT model can be used to understandthe factors that influence the acceptance of aspecific technology, such as the tablet PC. Spe-cifically, the UTAUT model suggests that perfor-mance expectancy, effort expectancy, andsocial influence affect users’ behavioral inten-tions to use the technology (i.e., how theythink they will use it), and facilitating condi-tions will directly affect users’ actual behaviorwith the technology (see Table 1).

New technologies, such as the tablet PC,create uncertainty in the minds of those whoadopt them. People form attitudes and inten-tions toward trying to learn to use the newtechnology prior to initiating efforts directed atusing them. Attitudes toward usage and inten-tions to use may be ill formed or lacking in con-viction or else may occur only after preliminaryattempts to learn to use the technology.

Organizations can use numerous methodsto attempt to influence employee attitudes. Forexample, providing users with formal trainingbefore they actually use the system to accom-plish tasks would give them a chance to workwith the technology before they make up theirminds about how easy it is to use. Gaining ex-perience and knowing what to expect out ofthe system will increase the likelihood that us-ers will have a positive attitude toward adopt-ing it. With this study, our intent is to helporganizational decision makers understand bet-ter the factors that affect the acceptance of aubiquitous computing technology such as thetablet PC.

FIELD STUDY METHODSTo gain rich insights into how tablet PCs areused in the corporate environment, we con-ducted a longitudinal, qualitative field studybased on interview data collected at each cor-porate site. Employees from four companies infour different vertical markets (education, med-ical, publishing, and retail) were given tabletPCs to use as their primary personal comput-ing device for at least a three-month period.Participation in the study was voluntary, as wasthe use of the tablet PC during the study (al-though highly recommended). Each study par-ticipant was trained on how to use the tablet,and technical support was provided to the us-ers throughout the study. All participants at allsites filled out a pretest questionnaire to pro-vide a baseline on their perceptions of technol-ogy and the types of tasks they perform in theworkplace. Participants also shared their expe-riences with us during an exit interview. This

TABLE 1 Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)

Performance expectancy

“The degree to which an individual believes that using the system will help him or her to attain gains in job performance” (Venkatesh et al., 2003, p. 447)

Includes items that relate to how useful the user perceives the technology to be, what their outcome expectations are for using the technology, and how the capabilities of the technology will help them in their job performance

Effort expectancy How easy the system is to useIncludes the perceived ease of use and the experienced ease of use

Social influence How important the technology user thinks other people think the use of the technology is

Includes the user’s belief about how the technology affects their image, how much others believe they should use the technology, and how the technology fits with the social norms of the workplace

Facilitating conditions “The degree to which an individual believes that an organizational and technical infrastructure exists to support use of the system” (Venkatesh et al., 2003, p. 453)

Includes the accessibility of resources necessary to use a new technology, the support and training necessary, and the technology’s compatibility with existing norms and values of the users

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research explored how the tablet PC is used infour environments by examining user accep-tance and use of the tablet.

The same researcher conducted all of theinterviews. An interview script was written toguide the initial interviews. The UTAUT modelguided the formation of the interview ques-tionnaire to help us understand the more spe-cific user behaviors that appeared to lead to

tablet PC acceptance and those behaviors thatemerged from the use of the tablet PC that ap-peared to impact users (see Table 2 for the ini-tial interview questions). The interview scriptbegan with basic information about the partic-ipant’s use of the tablet (frequency and mannerof use). These interviews followed a semistruc-tured interview protocol, but they were also al-lowed to take on a reflective tone. This gave usthe opportunity to not only explore thosepaths that previous research led us to investi-gate but also to engage in some exploratorywork to enable new findings to emerge. Asthemes pertaining to the acceptance and use ofthe tablet PC began to emerge from the inter-views, the interview questions that followedevolved and areas of interest were probed fur-ther.

TECHNOLOGY ACCEPTANCE FINDINGSThe findings for the four technology accep-tance constructs in the UTAUT model (seeTable 1) are described in detail below and sum-marized in Table 3.

Performance ExpectancyPerformance expectancy relates to how wellindividuals believe the tablet PC helped themperform their job. We found four primary waysthe tablet led to improved job performance.First, the tablet allowed for improved informa-tion exchange. Participants found that theywere able to send e-mails closer to the timethey received the information they needed toexchange with an individual. This increased

TABLE 2 Interview Guide

How often did you use the tablet PC?What did you think you would use the tablet PC

for?What did you use the tablet PC for?Did you change the way you did things?Did the tablet PC help you to accomplish tasks

more quickly?Did it improve your job performance? In the past

month do you feel that you are performing your job more efficiently?

Did it increase your productivity? Does it seem to take less time to perform tasks now than in the recent past?

Did it enhance your effectiveness on the job?Did it make it easier to do your job?Was it useful in your job? Give me an example.Did you find the tablet PC easy to learn to

operate?Did you find it easy to get the tablet PC to do

what you wanted it to do?Did you find that your interaction with the tablet

PC was clear and understandable?Did you find the tablet PC flexible to interact

with?Do you feel it would be easy to become skillful in

using the tablet PC?Did you find the tablet PC easy to use?

TABLE 3 Technology Acceptance Model Findings

UTAUT Constructs Factors Affecting tablet PC Acceptance

Performance expectancy Information exchangeMulti-tasking

In meetingsOutside of meetings

Organizing effortsDisplaying and analyzing visual data

Effort expectancy Technical featuresStylusKeyboardBattery life

Information accessibility

Social influence Perceptions of othersIn meetingsOutside of meetings

Facilitating conditions Network infrastructureChampion

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speed of interaction allowed for improved co-ordination and a reduction in information de-cay. For instance, some employees were able toe-mail an order when they were in their client’soffice, and participants were able to send e-mails to delegate projects, share information,or request information while they were still atthe meeting.

Second, the tablet allowed workers tomulti-task. Participants in this study found thetablet was less obtrusive in meetings, and theywere more willing to bring it to meetings thana laptop computer. Some participants foundthat they could bring just the slate portion ofthe tablet and use the stylus to read e-mailswhile participating in meetings. They felt lessoffensive multi-tasking in this way than withtheir laptops. However, it was noted by manythat they would only engage in such multi-task-ing when they were only peripheral to themeeting. One participant noted:

I mean if you’re using Journal and it’slaying right out there … you can seethat somebody is taking notes. It’s nodifferent than having a pad of paper.That’s okay. There’s no reason to flip itup and put the screen to facing me andaway from you and suspicion begins.[Education sector user]

Another participant said:

There was no way they could have theircomputer up and be typing while talk-ing to the patients because it would bevery distracting to the patients. So it isbasically — would be the same as takinga note. [Healthcare sector user]

Employees who perform much of theirwork away from their desk found that theycould leverage their free time more productive-ly. In the past, they needed to find a place to setup their laptop if they wanted to use it be-tween meetings. With the tablet they foundthey could more easily use it without any extraarrangements and utilize their free time be-tween appointments due to the fact that theyhad their tablet with them. As one person noted:

With a laptop you’ve got to open it up,you’ve got to have the space; it’s just notconvenient. [Education sector user]

Third, the tablet helped individuals withtheir organizing efforts. Some participantsmentioned that instead of jotting new ideas onPost-it Notes, they wrote them on journal pagesthat they then categorized. By using the tablet

instead of pencil and paper or Post-it Notes,participants reported improvement in organi-zation of work-related materials, which led tothem being more efficient at their jobs (nomore lost notes, need for multiple folders, orinaccessibility of information). For instance,one person said:

It’s a marvelous tool for helping me stayorganized and quite honestly ending theday by five o’clock … because if youdon’t have everything integrated in asingle platform, you’re wasting a lot oftime. [Publishing sector user]

Participants also noted that the tablet wasideal for displaying and analyzing visual data. Inthe healthcare organization, the participantsfound that the tablet was well suited for manip-ulating and analyzing MRI brain scans. In thepast, they used regular desktop PCs, but theyfound the stylus and the tablet allowed them tomore quickly and accurately identify the re-gions of the brain they wanted to look at moreclosely.

In our work with brain imaging, wehave found these tablets to be very use-ful, … [in the past] we would do it witha mouse. The thing was it wasn’t as easy.It’s much more intuitive just to do itwith your notepad there. The mouse ona laptop is nowhere near accurateenough to be able to make these, youknow, to be able to outline these re-gions of interest. [Healthcare sector us-er]

The tablet also excelled in its ability to cap-ture categorical data. Although some found tak-ing lengthy notes (e.g., inpatient interviews)was difficult with the tablet, they reported itwas ideal for filling out forms that focused oncategorical information. By using the tablet tocapture such data they could then save the in-formation into a back-end database and analyzeit.

Effort ExpectancyEffort expectancy relates to how easy the par-ticipants found the tablet PC to use. The overalluse of the tablet was not considered difficult.However, most individuals discussed needingto adjust to the use of the tablet. As with alltechnologies, there is a learning curve associat-ed with the use of the tablet. From a technicalperspective, using the stylus for handwritingrecognition was a challenge. The software was

articipants in this study found the tablet was less obtrusive in meetings, and they were more willing to bring it to meetings than a laptop computer.

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a bit slow and cumbersome, and very few usersconverted their handwritten notes (via stylusentry) into text:

I don’t see how the stylus could helpme, to tell you the truth. I spend a lot oftime typing, and I can just do it so muchfaster. [Retail sector user]

…if I’m going to use the Journal, myhandwriting in a meeting, I’m verycryptic, and it’s almost a waste of timeto try to keep cryptic notes and try tofigure out what it is I said. [Educationsector user]

It was extremely difficult … It takes a lit-tle bit of training too on the stylus to getused to … . I finally put the stylus awayand went and got the keyboard. [Retailsector user]

There were also mixed reviews on the key-board. Although many participants found ithard to adjust to, those who used the keyboardfrequently seemed to adjust to its size and feltcomfortable with it in a relatively short periodof time. A participant noted that:

The keyboard itself … is a little bit smalland I find that I tend to mistype some-times more than I do with other key-boards and I sometimes hit the wrongbutton and I erase everything I justwrote. [Publishing sector user]

Battery power was another issue raised; someparticipants felt that the battery life was suffi-cient for their work whereas others needed alonger battery life. This related to the durationof time they would be away from a location inwhich they could plug in:

I have had issues with battery life. So ifI have to find a place to plug it in and Iknow where I’m going, I can bring itwith me, but if I’m not sure, I’ll typicallyjust bring pads. [Education sector user]

Other site-specific issues arose around connec-tivity to the network and wireless connectivityto printers. However, these issues varied basedon the external communications environmentof each physical location in which the tabletwas used.

Participants in this study also reported ahigh level of ease of use with respect to theability to retrieve and consult documents thatthey would not have had access to prior to hav-ing the tablet. Due to lack of access to the rangeof information required to make decisions in our

highly complex world, employees tended to fo-cus on the tasks that required lower cognitionwhen they were away from the office. Users re-ported that having the tablet available to themoutside of work allowed them to confirmhunches, verify facts, and jot down insights asthey occurred to them. When grappling with aperplexing issue at work, it is often duringdown time that one gains new insight. For in-stance, one participant expressed that in thepast she had mostly worked on e-mails andwent through snail mail over the weekend.Now that she had a tablet PC, she found thatshe was able to retrieve information thathelped her conceptualize complex decisionsshe needed to consider in her job. She citedthat in the past she would not bring home a lap-top due to the inconvenience; now she notonly brings her tablet home but she may readvarious documents that pertain to larger issueswhile at home:

If I just want to sit there and study somedocuments, it’s like reading the paper.You know, I’m willing to do that whereI never would have e-mailed all thosedocuments to myself and sat at the deskon a Saturday. [Education sector user]

Participants noted that the accessibility ofthe tablet allowed them to more effectively re-act to the “ah-ha” moments that occur whenone is laying in bed, taking a shower, or engag-ing in other domestic activities. This fundamen-tally alters how one uses time away from thedesk and one’s ability to start to leverage theubiquitous world of anytime, anyplace com-puting:

It makes working on airplanes moreconvenient because of the way thescreen is set up. You can actually do it.But also, because of the stylus you cando this fine work on airplanes and athome much more easily. So it doesmean that I actually do this type of dataanalysis on an airplane, which I neverwould have done before. [Healthcaresector user]

Social InfluenceSocial influence relates to how an individualperceives the use of the tablet will affect theirimage or please their supervisor or co-workers.Issues in this area varied by the work situationin which the tablet was used. More specifically,the impact of social influence related to whether

rom a technical perspective, using the stylus for handwriting recognition was a challenge.

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the individual was using it in a group setting(i.e., a meeting) or in smaller settings.

There is at least one social and behavioralobstacle to the use of the tablet PC in meetings.Many individuals felt that bringing the tablet tomeetings, although improving their own per-sonal efficiency, led to potentially more costlysocial outcomes. There was an issue related tothe perceptions others formed when one usedtheir tablet in meetings. tablet PC users wor-ried that other participants in the meetingwould perceive they were not cognitively en-gaged in the meeting but were multi-taskingduring the meeting when they utilized theirtablet. This, in turn, can lead to the users’ dis-comfort with how others perceived them. Fur-thermore, there was a sense among some usersthat the presence of the tablet in meetings wasintimidating. This came from two distinct areas.First, some people felt others would perceivethe tablets’ presence as a way to show off interms of either their technological savvy ortheir personal worth to the organization. Oth-ers felt that it may inhibit discussion for fear ofthe tablet “recording” the proceedings of themeeting and, thus, reducing the control overthe information exchange within the meeting.

However, in non-meeting situations usersfound that the tablet both enhanced their im-age and helped them initiate conversations.This finding was specific to the publishing in-dustry. These participants found that the pres-ence of the tablet led to an easy way to “breakthe ice” with new clients. They also found thatit gave potential customers a better impressionof the technical savvy of their organization.However, they were also concerned that thesesame potential customers would perceive thatthe cost of their product was higher than nec-essary due to excessive overhead spending onitems such as the tablet PC:

They’re always, like, “wow, what isthat?” It was actually questions aboutthe computer itself. It was a good ice-breaker for sales calls, especially beforeyou know the person because they’re al-ways kind of like impressed with it. AndI was kind of wondering if any of themever thought, you know, well that com-puter must be expensive and you know,there’s all this talk about textbooks areexpensive and why do they cost somuch. [Publishing sector user]

It has that … implied “wow,” this personis a lot more techie and this companyrepresents itself; … they have a bigger

investment in technology so I should gowith them. And I get a lot of adoptions Ithink because, they trust that, we knowwhat we’re doing with technology.[Publishing sector user]

Facilitating ConditionsWe provided technical support both internallyand externally for all participants in this study.Whether the various organizations would pro-vide the same level of support for the ongoinguse of the tablet is unknown. It was clear thatnetwork connectivity was the primary issue or-ganizations would need to grapple with interms of supporting the ubiquitous use of thetablet PC. Not only was network infrastructurean issue, but the types of firewalls and securitymeasures utilized on a network, the use of datacompression, and the type of wireless connec-tions available played a role in facilitating theuse of the tablet PC.

Furthermore, it became very clear thatthose research sites that had a strong championfor the project did better. They were more like-ly to invest the time to modify their work pro-cesses to leverage the features of the tablet PCand to seek out ways to improve their workperformance through the utilization of the tab-let. And the organizational culture was moreaccepting of new ways to communicate andwork.

BENEFITS AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE TABLET PCObviously, behavioral intentions to use and ac-tual usage will increase only if the factors un-covered in this study have been implementedso that they have a positive impact on adop-tion. For example, a network infrastructurewith high security standards may impede theacceptance of a tablet PC because it makes itmore difficult for users to achieve their goalswhen using the technology. Individuals andcompanies that value the benefits provided bythe tablet will accept the tablet more readilythan those who do not value these benefits.

Companies also need to assess the potentialnegative impact the tablet could have on thecompany or individual users. For example, if acompany wants to increase the speed at whichit reacts to customer requests and process or-ders, the mobility of the tablet enables fieldrepresentatives to increase their speed of infor-mation exchange with other parts of the com-pany, thereby having a positive impact.However, if a company is not very concerned

ompanies also need to assess the potential negative impact the tablet could have on the company or individual users.

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about its speed of information exchange, tabletPC mobility would not affect its acceptance.Furthermore, if the company relies on having abuffer of a few days between an item requestand the time the item is captured by a fulfill-ment system, the use of the tablet could nega-tively impact the company unless otherchanges are also made.

Table 4 summarizes the benefits and disad-vantages of the factors affecting tablet PC ac-ceptance.

SUPPORTING SUCCESSFUL TABLET PC ADOPTIONManagers can take several actions to increasethe likelihood that their organization will beable to leverage the power of tablet PCs and

successfully adopt them. First, technical issuesmust be addressed to fully utilize the range ofcapabilities that ubiquitous computing canbring:

❚❚ The network infrastructure needs to enableubiquitous computing. A highly mobilestand-alone personal computing devicemight be useful, but the true benefits of ubiq-uitous computing are realized only with con-stant availability of network resources.

❚❚ Security of wireless communication is anissue related to network infrastructure thatrequires special attention because if usersdon’t trust the integrity and confidentiality ofthe communication capabilities offered by aubiquitous computing device, they will not(and should not) use them. Even worse is if

TABLE 4 Benefits and Disadvantages Related to Use of the tablet PC, by UTAUT Factor

Factors Related to tablet PC Acceptance Benefits of the tablet PC Disadvantages of the tablet PC

Performance expectancy

Multi-tasking and organizing efforts leading to more effective use of time:

• Multi-tasking — tablet PC users can use short windows of time to engage in productive work behaviors.

• Organization — The tablet PC offers a range of features that allow one to organize various forms of information (notes, documents, e-mails, etc.) in a more effective manner.

Effort expectancy Information accessibility leading to reduced cognitive load:

• Necessity to recall action items eliminated.

• Accessibility of necessary data — tablet PC users are more likely to be able to access necessary information.

• Action taken in closer proximity to action request.

Challenges in data input:• The tablet PC’s keyboard can make

data entry more difficult than in other computing environments.

• The stylus can be difficult to use for note taking.

Social influence Improved image:• Impression of technical savvy

heightened.

tablet can be seen as intimidating:• In large meetings, participants may

be unsure about the tablet’s function.

• Clients or customers may fear that they are being recorded.

tablet can be seen as boasting:• The tablet PC can be seen as a way

for an individual to boast, due to– Their technical savvy– The perception that the tablet PC

was g i ven t o t he i nd i v i dua lbecause they are “special”

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users place their trust in an untrustworthyinfrastructure.

❚❚ Effortless printing from wireless devices wasa specific issue identified by the users in thisstudy as a critical requirement for efficientuse of ubiquitous computing devices.

Operational issues must also be in order:

❚❚ Making available (or even mandating) suit-able training on the technology both prior tothe introduction of the technology and lateron an as-needed basis.

❚❚ Modifying appropriate applications so thatthey are suitable for tablet PC use, taking intoaccount the special features of the tabletinterface, such as the benefits it provides forhighly detailed visual analysis.

❚❚ Making more information accessible elec-tronically so that improved access capabili-ties can be utilized effectively.

Finally, managers need to support an organiza-tional culture that will be able to adapt to newtechnical environments and provide vision andsupport for new technology usage, such as:

❚❚ Providing support for or assigning directresponsibility to a strong champion for newtechnologies.

❚❚ Fostering an innovative organizational cul-ture that adapts to new social interfaces andwork processes that are at least partially builtaround the use of ubiquitous computingtechnologies.

CONCLUSIONIn this study, we have provided an initial under-standing of how factors related to the use ofthe tablet PC can impact its acceptance withinorganizations. The mobility of this device clear-ly moves users closer to ubiquitous computing,because it gives them the power of the PC in anew, less intrusive form. Although the tablet

does not become “invisible,” its nature and roleas a computing device often do. In addition totechnical and operational issues, organizationalculture will have a major impact on an organi-zation’s ability to leverage the tablet PC suc-cessfully in the work environment.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI would like to thank Perry Lowe, Margi Olson,Seira Shalton, and Jim Hunton for their work onthe early portions of this research effort. ▲

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lthough the tablet does not become “invisible,” its nature and role as a computing device often do.

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