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BBC Second Screens Study

Maxine Glancy (BBC) & Connor Graham (freelance researcher)

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ObjectivesObjectives

Objectives and outcomes of study

• To examine how second screens (e.g. a mobile phone, surfaces) are utilised by the audience

• To examine how second screens affect family and domestic life

1. How can we define notions of ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ with regard to displays and screens in domestic settings?

2. What relevant work to media use (e.g. queries into scheduling, concurrent use) do people do with second screens?

3. What is the possible relationship between second screens and family relationships?

Research questionsResearch questions

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Part 1:

Technology Review & Literature Review

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Examples of screens

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Examples of screens

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Background literature

Domestic technology in the homeThe importance of routines (Crabtree and Rodden, 2004)

– “prime sites for technology”– “the convergence of media”– “communication places” - “ecological habitats”, “activity

centres”, “coordinate displays”Particular challenges for designing ubiquitous systems (Edwards

and Grinter, 2001)– technology in homes ‘evolves’– designing for the social aspects of use (e.g. awareness)

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Relevant literature

Interruption (e.g. Rouncefield et al., 1994)The importance of the ecology of coordination and awareness and

local knowledge in that achievementDomestic information appliances (e.g. Neustaedter et al., 2006)There is scope for a series of technologies that support particular

work in the family (e.g. coordination and awareness)Domestic surfaces (Grønbæk & Petersen, 2004)Surfaces help coordinate home life and different surfaces structure

the activities of particular area in the home (cf. Crabtree and Rodden, 2004)

Horizontal surfaces (Salovaara et al., 2008)Horizontal surfaces are positioned to support home activities while

being subject to physical constraints (e.g. wiring)‘Stuff’ is positioned in particular ways on surfaces depending on

their material qualities e.g. piles

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Relevant Literature

An additional screen as an EPG (Cruickshank et al., 2007)

• builds on the notion that the

second screen augments or

extends the ‘first screen’

• supports ‘leaning back’ and

controlling television content

and responds to research

questioning the navigability of

EPGs

Superior legibility of text on PDA screen and novelty factor very important

“The second screen system we have developed and tested offers significant advantages over conventional remote controls when using iTV services: users show a strong preference for this system over conventional remote controls, something we attribute primarily to the mobility of the PDA and its superior visualization of service information.”

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Part 2:

Home Study

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Home Study

•The ubiquity and pervasiveness of screens was confirmed•Some concern about the level of screen usage

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Home Study: findings

•The particularity of display use across family members•Multiple, simultaneous and continuous display use•Screens were largely decoupled in terms of work and content•There was both ‘active’ and ‘passive’ engagement with screens

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Home Study: findings

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•Screens were placed with care in homes often with a trajectory•Rhythms of ownership and use of particular screens•Screens have associated rules and conventions concerning e.g. access and use•Certain Screen couplings and dependencies in certain areas.•Conflict around accessing displays is often resolved through purchasing another display•The spread of immediacy into the home.

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Home Study: findings

• There was limited visible decision-making around displays• The importance of ‘work arounds’ across screens.• There is movement within the home while engaging with screens

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Part 3:

R&D work: API development for CANVAS

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Part 4:

Multi-touch Demo: & evaluation

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Multi-touch Demo

iTV application - “The Apprentice”- Supplementing program experience- Multiple users input choices- Remote user input displayed- Personal against national results shown- Wider social network engaged in engaging with the TV experience

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Multi-touch Demo: Initial findings

The clarity of the statistics at the end of interactionMake the meaning of the numbers at the end clear e.g. support comparison across users.

The ‘place’ of the household in a national contextPosition local interactions in terms of the country i.e. add national figures.

The impact of household interactionsMake interaction count e.g. votes that contribute to the outcome.

The social networks engaged withEnable the selection and filtering of remote friends.

The quality of the interaction supportedSupport richer display and interaction e.g. numbers at the end, text input and display, richer views and opinions being expressed

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Considerations

Certain material designs enforce certain social configurations with regard to personal positioning relative to the display.

Layout/visuals -use content/graphics that can be seen from the ‘appropriate’ distance/posture.

‘Spacing’ activities out to complement the primary programme content, and physical arrangement of users.

Don’t distract from the ‘critical moments’. –complement programme & user.

An opportunity to start with co-present, social situations and then build technologies that support, augment and enhance this ‘togetherness’ and ‘meetingness’

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The research questions

How can we define notions of ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ with regard to displays and screens in domestic settings?

This relationships change over time and are not ‘cast in stone’What is key to understanding ‘primary’ and secondary is the work people do across

two screensNew useful terms are “engaging” and “ambient” displays involving “passive” and

“active” use What relevant work to media use (e.g. queries into scheduling, concurrent

use) do people do with second screens?People largely temporally decouple their use of screens but...People do a set of related work (navigating TV schedules, reading news items) that

could be associated with a ‘primary’ screenWhat is the possible relationship between second screens and family

relationships?Largely screens are an integral part of family life, especially for younger peopleHowever parents have concerns regarding access to inappropriate content via

screens and disengagement through multiple screen use

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Thanks

Detailed report and presentation available, if you want a copy contact me on…

maxine.glancy@bbc.co.uk

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