Back in Sight, Back in Mind Picture-Centric Support for Mobile Counseling Sessions

Abstract

This paper explores unique challenges of mobile consultancy and offers a picture-centric solution. We study the example of a policeman counseling a homeowner on how to prevent burglary. As in a stationary set-up, consultants and clients collaborate to co-create solutions to match the clients' problems. Concurrently, in a mobile set-up, problem and solution information are bound to the physical environment of the house. Moving through the house, both clients and consultants forget crucial location-bound information, severely impairing their collaboration. We propose supporting such collaboration with a tablet-based application that is centered on pictures of the physical environment, called SmartProtector. In an evaluation, we show that both clients and consultants remember substantially more information when using the SmartProtector. With this study, we contribute to the ongoing research discussion on collaborative memory, memory aid systems and mobile collaboration, highlighting the roles of pictures and their large potential to enhance collaborative work practices.