Are we 'really' connected? Understanding smartphone use during social interaction in public

Abstract

Excessive smartphone use has negative effects on our social relations. Previous work addressed this problem by allowing users to restrict their smartphone use. However, as this strategy requires users to have high levels of self-regulation, it may not be effective for individuals without an explicit intention to change their behavior. We propose an alternative approach to this problem, i.e. identifying ways of reducing smartphone use without restricting its use. We illustrated this approach with a study examining smartphone use during social interaction in public settings. Based on four unstructured observations in different coffeehouses and three exploratory focus groups with different age groups, we identified two themes in relation to smartphone use in public settings and discussed their implications for designing solutions that aim to enrich social interaction without limiting smartphone use.