A value-centric model to ground norms and requirements for ePartners of children

Abstract

Children as they grow up start to discover their neighborhood and surrounding areas and get increasingly involved in social interaction. We aim to support this process through a system of so-called electronic partners (ePartners) that function as teammates to their users. These ePartners should adapt their behavior to norms that govern the social contexts (e.g., the family or school) in which they are functioning. We argue that the envisaged normative framework for ePartners for children should be based on an understanding of the target domain that is grounded in user studies. It is the aim of this paper to provide such understanding, in particular answering the following questions: (1) what are the main elements that make up the social context of the target domain (family life), and how are they related?, and (2) what are the relationships between these elements of the social context and the normative framework in which we envision the ePartners to operate? To answer these questions we conducted focus groups sessions and a cultural probe study with parents and children. The transcripts from these sessions were analyzed using grounded theory, which has resulted in a grounded model that shows that (1) activities, concerns, and limitations related to family life are the main elements of the social context of this user group, and that all three elements are connected through the central concept of user values, and (2) norms can support these values by promoting activities, alleviating concerns and overcoming limitations. In this way the model provides the foundation for developing a normative framework to govern the behavior of ePartners for children, identifying user values as the starting point. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.