Preprint: Final version appears as: STELMASZEWSKA, H., FIELDS, B. & BLANDFORD, A. (2006) Camera Phone Use in Social Context. In Proc. HCI 2006 (Vol. 2) Camera phone use in social context Hanna Stelmaszewska+ & Bob Fields++ Middlesex University Interaction Design Centre Hendon, The Burroughs London NW4 4BT +h.stelmaszewska@mdx.ac.uk ++b.fields@mdx.ac.uk Ann Blandford UCL Interaction Centre, University College London Remax House, 31-32 Alfred Place London WC1E 7DP a.blandford@cs.ucl.ac.uk Abstract. The primary contribution of this paper is in identifying social uses and practices of camera phone images in co-present settings. Three distinct practices were observed: ‘sharing a moment now’, ‘sharing a moment later’, and using photos to initiate social interaction with strangers. We propose that interactive problems with existing systems might be a starting point to generate user requirements for technology supporting social practices in co-present settings. Keywords: user experience, HCI, mobile phone technology, camera phone, social interaction, social context, user requirements 1. INTRODUCTION Personal photography has been a part of the lives of many people for a long time. Photos not only present a documentary of someone’s life, but are also of great sentimental value. People use photography to capture feelings, events and personal experiences, and to communicate with others. The latest innovations not only support interactions of people with technology, but also facilitate new forms of interaction with others. Mobile phones and camera phones in particular are examples of such technology. In recent years their primary function has changed from being a medium of verbal or text communication to one that uses pictures to facilitate people’s social life. Mobile phones with integrated camera and video features have changed the way people communicate, interact and shape their social activities [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. With the rapid growth in the camera phone market and continued improvements in technical performance, picture quality, and so on, camera phones might supplant the use of digital cameras, in many everyday settings. Although there has been some research focussing on the use of camera phones [2,3,5,6], there have been no direct investigations of how camera phones are used to mediate social interaction between co-located users. In this paper, we describe such a study of the collaborative use of camera phones by co-located users. 1.1 Related work In recent years, there has been substantial interest in digital photography, with a particular focus on how the digital medium facilitates sharing of images [7,8,9]. Studies of sharing digital photographs include web-based systems, mobile applications and multimedia messaging. Most of the studies focus on personal applications for sharing images in a remote location [1,2,9] but work on sharing images in co-present settings is in its infancy. Kindberg et al. [2] investigated what people capture on mobile phones and what they do with these images. They presented a six-part taxonomy that describes the intentions behind the camera phone images. These encompass affective intentions enriching a mutual experience, communication with absent friends or family and personal reflection or reminiscing; and functional intentions supporting different tasks: mutual, remote and personal. A field study conducted by Kato [1] explored how use of mobile phones and camera phones changes people’s daily activities in Japan. He argues that the new ways of pervasive photo taking enabled by camera phones allows people to document their lives on a daily basis, which can be preserved and shared as a life of local community. The work of Okabe [5] focused on practices of Japanese camera phone users, which include personal archiving, intimate sharing, peer-to-peer news and sharing. He argues that capturing and sharing visual information cannot be divorced from the social relations and contexts. This is in line with Scifo’s [6] research, which shows that taking photographs on camera phones and using MMS communication allow younger users to establish their identity within social groups and can intensify communication within that community.