Smartphone App Icon Arrangement: A Personal Information Management Perspective

• Main Authors: LIAO, YU-SIN, 廖妤芯
• Other Authors: CHEN, SHU-YI
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2019
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/nmkq25

碩士 === 銘傳大學 === 資訊管理學系碩士班 === 107 === People have their own distinct ways and rationales when it comes to app icon arrangement on smartphones. However, no matter how they do it, the goal is mostly the same: to locate the app needed efficiently and effectively. Nevertheless, past studies lack common terms and constructs, so empirical results are difficult to accumulate into frameworks or theories. Since the goals and behaviors of arranging apps on smartphones are similar to those of managing personal documents and information, this study, therefore, adopts a personal information management (PIM) perspective to investigate how people arrange icons on smartphones. Through observations, interviews and diaries, this study not only examined the ways people arrange icons, but also explored into how and why people maintain or adjust apps in their everyday lives. The study found that the patterns people manage and arrange app icons are fairly consistent with the activities of PIM, namely keeping, organizing and maintaining information. Regarding information keeping, participants were found to store apps in a temporary area before they decide whether to keep those apps on their phones. Participants also exhibited the behavior of piling apps in this keeping stage. Regarding information organizing, on top of the five concepts (i.e. usage-, relatedness-, usability-, aesthetic-based and external concepts) proposed by Böhmer & Krüger (2012), this study also proposed a new concept, habit-based icon arrangement, where participants arrange apps according to their past practice and experience to locate apps. Besides, this study suggested to narrow the definition of external concept to rules other than the concepts mentioned, and to use the term “default-based” to describe the concept of arrangement with preset rules from the phone operating system or phone companies. Furthermore, usability-based concept were applied by participants almost always after they adopted other concepts, mostly usage-based or relatedness-based. Sometimes participants arranged icons so as to remind themselves to use the apps or even to avoid using. Lastly, some participants would create folders where they piled the icons, while some participants didn’t utilize folders but put related apps in nearby area to form “invisible” folders. Regarding information maintaining, when adjusting arrangement, participants may favor habit-based more than other concepts. Moreover, app arrangement on “dock” also influenced heavily by default-based and habit-based. Finally, an app icon arrangement framework with a PIM perspective was proposed. Through introducing PIM activities with the proposed framework, empirical research results are easier to be accumulated and theory development is more probable. The research results of this thesis also help improve the understanding of icon arrangement on smartphones, with potentials in building related systems and functions within HCI field.