Understanding the complexity of error detection in smart homes - why smart home users lose control and how to get it back

Abstract

This study was started in order to analyze the causes of users’ diminished control when using smart home technology and to suggest solutions for giving control back to the users. A case study was conducted in a Norwegian care home for the elderly, Hill Care+, and the malfunctions in the heating system was chosen as the case to be studied. During the reconstruction of the history of the case, a complex web of actors and stakeholders and control system in Hill Care+ was revealed. A problem which seemed simple on the apartment level turned out to be a large-scale malfunction which required a comprehensive investigation, examining the underlying heating infrastructure of Hill Care+. Such complexity in the case required a framework to address both Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and infrastructure matters. Thus, the concepts and the framework of Edwards et al. which addresses infrastructure problems in HCI were employed in order to detect what challenges the heating infrastructure caused for users in maintaining control over the smart home technologies, and to figure out how to address them in the four layers of infrastructure in Hill Care+. The power smart home users have to control smart home technologies is diminished because of constrained technological possibilities, interjected abstractions reflected on the applications built on top of the infrastructure, and unmediated interactions when the infrastructure of smart homes malfunctions. The framework by Edwards et al. provided a systematic way to address three identified challenges on four layers of different engagement levels. The most recommended solution is to take the user experience and usability into consideration early in the design process, by reflecting them in the requirement specification and make use of them more proactively in the production and evaluation process. User participation is also essential to align the user needs and the system functionalities, because such alignment would contribute to give the users control over the smart home technologies. Good surface design and a good conceptual model would also assist them to maintain control.