AIRPORT CELL-PHONE OBSERVATIONS & INTERVIEWS

Waiting for No One

On Thursday, May 15 I spent just under two hours in the SEATAC cellphone waiting lot to support research for the purpose of completing the assignment and the capstone project. The weather was perfect, yet most people were seated inside their car using a technology device with windows closed. I made several rounds of the parking lot speaking with three people after introducing myself as researcher associated with the University of Washington completing a project on Human-Computer Interaction.

FINDINGS SUMMARY

Initial Observations: virtually everyone is using a technology device, and it’s next to impossible to identify the device type without seeming very creepy.

Unstructured Interview with Janet:

-Came to the waiting lot from Bellingham, left early because of traffic
-Brought three devices, Kindle, Tablet and smart phone.
-Used radio to determine best route for traffic (even in an abundance of devices!)
-Using tablet to play scrabble against computer, tablet for email facebook, words with friends.
-Doesn’t share media on devices, each device is used to consumed specific types of media.
-“Says the signage is bad”
-Waiting for a phone call to pickup, probably will text when landed to ensure proper timing

Unstructured Interview with Ken & Cindy,

-Waiting for son to arrive from airport.
-Arrived in cell-phone waiting lot an hour before flight landing
-Unsure what the q-code is and how it’s used. Son says they suck and nobody uses them
-Uses ipad and iphone to determine traffic, not consume media.
-Unsure if location has WiFi.

CONCLUSION

Need to be comfortable knocking on windows and prepared to ask questions with little introduction.