From Fuzzy Exploration to Transparent Advice: Insights into Mobile Advisory Services

Abstract

Mobile advisory services are characterized by location-dependent and spatial distributed information, unknown environments and limited tool support. These aspects complicate mobile advisory services to the point that the delivered service appears rather fuzzy than transparent. To tackle that problem, we examine the practical field of home security advice and present an initial design solution. The system called “SmartProtector” adapts existing knowhow from the stationary advisory context and complements it with findings from a field analysis. Evaluation shows that we have been successful in reaching our objective of increasing transparency in home security advisory situations leading to more comprehension on the clients’ side. In addition to the practical innovation, we contribute generic requirements to the discussion of transparency in service science by expanding the advisory service scope to the mobile dimension.