This paper shares the background, design goals, the prototype, and the results of the very first acceptance study of a new Indic text input system based on a touch screen mobile phone, primarily targeted to cater for the majority of population who are not literate in English, or never used Indic text input on mobile phones. The proposed design resolves the complexity associated with consonant modification, applicable to major Indic scripts by providing visual array of modified consonants upon the user's selection of a consonant. 60 participants went through the prepared performance test on the proposed input system and they all showed the improvement of performance after typing 16 sentences. The familiarity of the consonant layout and the ease of figuring out how the input worked played a key role in getting user acceptance. Future work is required to refine the design and further investigate on the acceptance among those who have lower level of literacy, and the comparison with other Indic input methods.

We describe the design drivers, prototype and one-month field study results of a mobile contacts application incorporating new features and design elements. The design was inspired by 8 hypotheses on the potential new uses of a mobile contacts application. A total of 16 users from varying age groups and prior experiences with mobile phones participated in the trial of a prototype application running on Series 60 platform. The results of the user trial show that allowing personalization and reflection of own communication behavior are key factors motivating users to explore new usage of Contacts application. We also discuss a cultivator vs. communicator dimension of user preference towards contacts application use observed during the trial.

In spring of 2003, a mobile field trial of a concept prototype application titled Scent was conducted in a corporate environment, attracting more than 500 voluntary users. Scent was a social proximity application enabling scanning of one's immediate environment for other Scent users and initiating social exchanges with them. The design of Scent prototype application aimed at incorporating various facets of face-to-face social interaction. This gave trial users multiple options of using the application in any given social context during the unguided trial period. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected and analyzed, which helped shaping up the foundation to further the research in understanding mediated social proximity interaction. The study revealed not only motivations of use, but also barriers of adoptions, which in turn had implications on evolutionary steps of the development and on the prospect of market entry. Identity expression was seen as the most rudimentary motivation in mediated social proximity interaction. The final section of the paper discusses how the research team utilized the field trial in the spearhead research project in an emerging arena of social interaction.

This paper presents the design, implementation and validation of an enhanced mobile phone messaging system (DeDe), allowing the sender to define the context in which the message will be delivered to the recipient. A field trial among a socially tight group of teenagers showed that the DeDe feature was incorporated as part of the participants' existing messaging culture. 11,4% of their total messaging output made use of the DeDe feature. The most frequently used context parameters were location (based on network cell-ID) and time. Novel message practices emerged, as compared to 'normal' messaging, both in terms of timing of message sending, as well as creating content that specifically exploited the DeDe feature. Some use barriers were recognized, the most important being the sender's uncertainty of delivery success. Implications for design are discussed.