MEDIA CONSUMPTION IS REVOLUTIONIZED? CROSS-MEDIA USAGE IN EUROPEAN HOUSEHOLDS R. Bernhaupt, M. Pirker, T. Mirlacher, D. Schwaiger user experience research, ruwido, Austria ABSTRACT Media consumption patterns are steadily changing. Content, IPTV, mobile and telecommunication providers are confronted with the customers demand to enable media consumption on various devices including TV, mobile phone, in-car entertainment or PC. To understand the needs of consumers, a set of extensive ethnographic studies has been performed in several European countries including France and Austria. The results show that today s offers on the market follow the needs of the consumers to some extend. To overcome this gap between consumers needs and commercial offers, the studies were focusing on the current usage of media, devices, and interaction techniques in peoples living rooms. One of the primary goals of the studies was to investigate media usage in terms of used devices and the context of consumption (location, time, social influences). The media consumption was defined broadly in usage of any form of entertainment ranging from watching TV, using IPTV services, entertainment devices like game consoles and mobile phones. Results show that media consumption is changing and that people spend more of their time consuming media in parallel as well as consuming the same media content across different devices. Based on five basic usage principles that can be identified (e.g. Watching TV stays watching TV ) we discuss the next steps to allow the development of user-centered and user-desired cross-media and crossdevice IPTV solutions. INTRODUCTION New forms of information, communication, and media technologies have been influencing the daily life of people and considerably changing their behavior and attitude. Mobile phones today are integrated into the daily life by nearly 100% of the population (e.g. in Austria), and people have sometimes difficulties to live without them. Due to the introduction of new ways of TV distribution, especially IPTV, media consumption patterns have been changing considerably. While before, one device (e.g. the walkman ) was designed to serve one purpose ( listen to music), a modern version of the walkman also allows to watch video, play games and more. Content, IPTV, mobile and telecommunication providers are confronted with the customers demand to enable media consumption on various devices including TV, mobile phone, in-car entertainment or PC. To understand the current behavior and needs of the users, we have been continuously conducting ethnographic studies, to observe, investigate and understand how media is consumed changing today and which factors are influencing this media consumption.
The remainder of this article is giving an overview on the current state of the art on media consumption from a human-computer interaction (HCI) perspective. STATE OF THE ART Research on the adoption and consumption of domestic technologies is central to understand this cross-media phenomenon (Ha et al. (11)). To enhance the design and development of successful (interactive TV) itv services and applications for the home, constant research is required to understand the patterns of adoption and use (e.g. a reallife TV setting in Figure 1). This is challenged by the variety of users and their different characteristics within this environment. Multiple entities in the home cannot be studied in isolation, as they are interconnected through social and technological networks, as well as determined by spatial and temporal factors (Venkatesh (17)). Today, consumers in the western world barely can imagine a home without information technology, which has been successfully introduced over a considerable period of time (fax machines, telephones, television, Internet, etc.). Moreover, the home itself has become the main site for many technological innovations, and most of them are being developed targeting the home as the main market. As a result, people are exposed to computerization more than ever before, and using technology has become part of the daily routine (see Venkatesh et al. (18)). These authors highlight the home as the place where new technologies can develop their full potential, but they also stress that what the technology can do in the household does not have to be the same as what a household wants to do with the technology. A variety of studies have investigated changes in media usage. Barkhuus and Brown (1) describe how watching television has changed in particular for early adopters of personal video recorders (PVRs) and those who watch videos via the Internet. They report findings from households in Great Britain, stating that TV watching has changed from scanning multiple channels ( channel surfing ), to collecting an archive of shows that are Figure 1: Standard Scenario for watching TV TV with several boxes (up) and a set of remote controls for several entertainment devices (down) watched at viewers convenience. This findings are based on in-depth interviews in twentyone households, where nine households were classified as users of hard disk recorders, nine households as downloader of TV programs via the Internet and three as users of conventional video recorders (VCRs). Participants ranged from 18-60 in age and had a wide range of occupations. They highlight that these new technologies appear to encourage a more active engagement with television. Furthermore, they emphasize the importance of seeing TV watching not simply as the act of sitting in front of the TV the TV lifecycle includes discovering new shows, selecting what to record, choosing what to watch, collecting an archive of shows, as well as sharing and discussing those shows with others. A follow-up study in the US in 2009 showed that households are watching TV on average 2.3 hours per day (N=21), with the tendency that people using PVRs or downloading shows watch more (2.4 PVR users, 1.76 VCR users, 2.56 downloader). Barkhuus and Brown (1) report TV watching has been considered the default evening entertainment for
the families. A different number of shows are followed up to eight for one user, while others followed only one soap opera, or followed two weekly shows. They report that TVviewing changes over the year, with many participants reporting watching significantly less during the summer due to outdoor activities, and others watching more during the summer because university was in a recess. It is also noted that for many, television played a role as a constant background to other activities in the home ( ambient watching ). Media usage and consumption is not only influenced by time and available technology, but by a variety of other social and technological factors. Forlizzi and DiSalvo (8) started to investigate the complexity of social and technological interaction in the home in the case of a robot cleaning-machine. To fully understand the usage of technology in the home, they propose an ecological view taking into account the environment, the relationships of the people within the environment, and with each other within the environment. Behavior can be understood as a joint function of the person and the environment. (Ibid., p. 259). Studies such as Blythe et al. (2) and Taylor and Swan (16) help to understand the everyday domestic routines by documenting how home technologies have reproduced and shaped the social structures within the home. Issues such as family dynamics, gender divisions, and the distribution of care have all been explored in relation to many new technologies, showing how technology can change as well as amplify existing household forms. We can summarize, that media consumption is influenced by time (when), the social space (who, with whom), the technology space (what is available in terms of services/devices) the physical space (where does the interaction take place) and of course by the individual preferences, knowledge, attitudes and characteristics of the user (personal). To fully understand media consumption all these factors have to be taken into account. METHOD Evidence drawn from observing the use of technology in the workplace reveals differences between how people talk about their use of technology and how they actually use it (Kjaer et al. (15)). From the methodological perspective, a variety of aspects needs to be taken into account, before selecting the method or method set used in a study. As observation in the living room is limited (who does really want to have a camera in his living room?), most approaches use participants self-observation combined with a set of standard social science methods like interviews or questionnaires. This means that most methodologies used today are qualitative in nature, as the study goal is to understand the meaning and significance of new technologies (Haddon (12)). In our studies, we combine qualitative and quantitative approaches. While quantitative research exposes how many TV sets there are in the house, how many hours TV is watched and which programs are on, qualitative, ethnographic research reveals how and why people watch TV. For the studies (presented later), we used ethnographic studies involving a rather large number of households to allow quantitative analysis. During the last years, ethnographic studies and a variety of methodologies such as cultural probes (Carter and Mankoff (5); CRN (7)) and technological probes (Crabtree et al. (6)) have proved suitable for gathering insight on domestic processes and their usage patterns in today s homes. To explore the ways in which households use communication, information, and domestic technologies, Crabtree et al. used ethnographical methods. They visited households and investigated daily routines and interactions, ownership of space, and how household members managed their interactions. They reported their findings using ethno-methodologically informed descriptions based on the work of Garfinkel (9). Participatory design methods and techniques were also used to involve users more creatively in the product development process.
The methodology of cultural probes (Gaver et al. (10)) was invented as a methodological variant of ethnographic studies in order to enable the investigation of daily life and to limit the negative effects of researchers taking part in field studies. It is an in situ method for understanding the participant s experiences and behavior. Probes are mainly used to gather insight into the participant s context so as to inform the design process at an early stage. In probing approaches, participants typically receive a probe package that supports them in their self-observation process. To allow investigation of the home considering contextual influence factors (time, social, technological, physical, personal) we have been developing a variation of the cultural probes approach called playful probing. Playful Probing Playful probing (Bernhaupt et al. (3)) is a variation of the cultural probing method. It uses the standard setup of cultural probing, taking for example post-cards or post-its as probing material to gather insights on people s habits and usage. The playful probing approach differs from the traditional approach as it uses games that are specially designed for the study. In playful probing, the games are designed focusing on the research area addressed within the study. The development for the game itself depends on the study setup. Depending on the topic to be investigated, variations of existing games can be used or even new games are developed. Within playful probing, games are used to evoke users insights on the areas and themes explored within the study. As a major advantage, we expected that users would focus on the areas explored, while using the games and gain new insights. Based on these insights, other probing material is used and answered in more detail. Moreover, games could help to better involve children in the ongoing study. Based on the area to be investigated a game needs to be designed. First, the game should include the topic of research. The developed game also has to fulfill all expected characteristics of a game (Juul (14)): fun while playing the game, clear goals and rules, defined beginning and end. To facilitate the development of the games we started with existing and frequently used games. Children and adults involved in play are filled with an excitement that encourages them to fully use their capabilities of mind and body (7). Furthermore, playing and game-play are inherent cultural activities. We have to conclude therefore, that civilization is, in its earliest phases, played (Huizinga (13)). Ethnographic Field Studies 2004 2010 To investigate media consumption behavior and patterns, we have been investigating TV, IPTV, and mobile technology usage in the home during six ethnographic studies. The studies in 2004 and 2005 primarily investigated the usage and adoption of itv services (Cable, MHP based, in Austria), while the studies in 2006 and 2007 focused on changing TV and media usage due to the broad variety of new devices and technology and the attitudes, motivations and concerns of users (see Bernhaupt (4)). In recent studies in France (2009, 2010), we have investigated new forms of interaction technologies and cross-media and cross-device usage patterns. All studies were based on the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, including playful cultural probing. Table 1 provides an overview on the participants in the six studies (HH = Household; D = Distribution based on demographic basis for the respective country e.g. Austria/France; MP = multi-person household). For information on these six studies, we would like to refer to the publications, as a detailed description is beyond the scope of this article.
Participants (Female / Male / not stated) 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2010 80 HH 16 HH 40 HH 40 HH 14 HH 35 HH 238 56 (ethno) 133 (64/60/9) 126 (55/71) 35 (18/17) 93 (46/47) Adults/Children 155/83 40/16 99/26 103/23 26/9 76/17 Mean age (years, Adults >= 19y) Mean=37.6 Mean=39 Mean=36.9 Mean=39.5 Mean=34.5 Mean=33.7 Age: from to 0 78 1 79 0 63 0 71 8 58 3 63 User Groups D (Austria) MP including Elderly (Austria) Other characteristics Cable/MHP Trial Cable/MHP Trial Split design: 20HH techno/ non-techno (Austria) D (Austria) & MP; split: techno/ non-techno Recommender System Nokia/Siemens MP (France) incl. early adopters D (France) & MP Table 1: Key Characteristics of the participants taking part in the six ethnographic studies Based on the qualitative and quantitative data from these six studies, we have been identifying some key aspects on changes in media consumption during the past years, which are presented in the following section. RESULTS Media Consumption: Changes in availability of devices One of the key aspects of media consumption is the availability of certain technology within the households. Table 2 presents the type of media devices available in the different household samples. While the number of TVs tends to stay between one and two devices per household, the data shows that DVD has meanwhile replaced the VCR, and 16:9 (widescreen) as well as flat screen televisions are more frequent than 5 years ago. The number of desktop PCs almost doubled, and portable devices like notebooks and MP3-players are showing a steady growth. Also the increase of availability and dispersion of broadband Internet access is clearly visible in the data gained of our household samples. OWNED 2004 2005 2006 2007 2009 2010 TV 1.53 1.58 2.22 2.10 100% of HH owning one TV minimum VHS 0.81 0.75 1.11 0.78 0.79 0.45 DVD-Player 0.65 0.50 1.26 1.23 1.14 1.15 DVD-Recorder 0.11 0.08 0.29 0.28 0.14 0.72 16:9 TV 0.20 0.08 0.13 0.30 0.43 0.76 Flat-TV - - 0.00 0.27 0.64 0.65 Mobile Phone 0.88-3.03 2.95 1.78 2.43 (used), 4.15 (owned) 1.37
Desktop PC 0.62 0.75 1.39 1.18 2.00 1.12 Notebook 0.30 0.42 1.00 1.20 0.43 1.41 MP3-player 0.23 0.25 1.47 1.13 1.21 1.61 Game Console 0.33 0.25 1.00 0.35 0.93 0.69 Internet Access 83% yes (22% 56k, 69% Cable) 83% yes (10% 56k, 50% Cable, 40% ADSL) - - - 34 of 35: broadband access Table 2: Overview on typical equipment in households (Mean values of number of devices for each household per study if not stated otherwise) Even though there are various entertainment possibilities and devices available at the households, watching TV stays an activity, which is performed by nearly 90% of the participants (2010, see Table 3) on a daily basis or at least several times a week. Additionally, our latest study shows a trend towards consuming movies more regularly. The frequency of computer and Internet usage has increased by a large margin within the last five years, with about 75% of participants using them on a daily basis. Media Consumption: Changes in Behavior WHAT is done TV Mean 3.4 h/d 38% daily 62% stw 2004 2005 2006 2007 2009 2010 66% daily 26% stw 52% daily 44% stw 79% daily 15% stw 55% daily 33% stw DVD - 13% stw 18% stm 13% oam 31% lom 19% never 12% stw 21% oaw 27% stm 25% oam 10% never 7% stw 17% oaw 20% stm 30% oam 20% never 21% stw 12% oaw 29% stm 27% lom 8% daily 26% stw 20% oaw 26% stm Music - 13% daily 50% stw 13% lom 42% daily 27% stw 23% daily 27% stw 15% oaw 29% stw 12% oaw 24% lom 38% daily 33% stw 14% stm Mobile Phone 44% daily 19% stw 19% oaw 64% daily 14% stw 11% never 57% daily 21% stw 10% never - 48% daily 36% stw 10% never Radio - 69% daily 25% stw 66% daily 17% stw 11% never 60% daily 23% stw 56% daily 15% stw 12% lom 48% daily 20% stw 16% never Internet work Internet private Computer work Computer private Mean 5.7 h/w 56% daily 53% daily 52% daily 59% daily - 25% stw 16% stw 22% stw 32% never 13% never 19% never Mean 7.7 h/w 97% daily 74% daily 17% stw Mean 16.2 h/w 63% daily 60% daily 54% daily 74% daily - 31% stw 14% stw 24% stw 15% stw Mean 10.2 h/w 13% never 77% daily 14% stw Table 3: Overview on what activities user reported.
Table 3 uses the following abbreviations: h/d = hours/day; h/w = hours/week; stw = several times a week, oaw= once a week, stm = several times a month, oam= once a month, lom = less than once a month. Media Consumption: Where and with whom Where and with whom Movies on PC 2010: Only a minority of the participants stated to watch movies or series on a PC or a Laptop. Movies on TV with whom (alone/with others) 2010: The majority of participants state to watch movies and series mainly on their TV 2006: TV and DVD mentioned as technologies that are better when they are used with somebody else 2007: Participants stated many reasons why it is better to watch TV together than alone, mostly for social issues like discussing the seen 2010: 80% of participants stated to enjoy watching TV with other people(30% strongly agree, 50% partly agree) Table 4: Overview on what is done on which device and in which social context (with whom) FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TV watching stays watching TV As can be seen in Table 4, only a minority is using a notebook or a PC as a replacement for the TV. They are more often used as an alternative to consume media, but in general only to a small degree, e.g. for situations where no TV is available or is occupied. The vast majority of people is still watch nearly all movies and series on the TV, often socializing with others or carrying out household chores at the same time. TV watching is a social event TV watching is done in parallel (even with other media consumption). Based on the statistics and on the analysis of all the probing material and final interviews it became clear that the TV is often running in parallel to other activities. Someone s always talking during watching a film, but it s a merry gathering, there are popcorn and chips; spontaneous evenings, someone is already sitting there, then someone else joins and says: That s interesting! I ll watch TV with you. Quote 2006 Study, Austria Normally, the person that switches on the TV decides what to watch, except for sports; the mother is only a Co-Watcher while she is ironing; she rarely ever has a broadcast that she really wants to watch. Quote 2007 Study, Austria IPTV services must be individual, personalized and secure Based on the interviews, we found that people want TV and IPTV offers to respond more to their individual preferences, that they want personalized content and that there are worries about security. Cross-device usage would be welcome but solution lack usability/ux Cross-device usage is welcome, but currently offered solutions are still ways to cumbersome to use and do lack an appealing overall user experience. Usability for crossdevice usage is still in its infancy and helpdesks as well as users are still overwhelmed when it comes to practical day-to-day usage.
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