Have Check-ins Checked Out?

This week the leading location-based service foursquare announced it had achieved 20 million users. Despite the milestone, critics were quick to point out that check-in services were dead.  Over the past few months other major check-in based services such as Loopt, Gowalla, BrightKite, and Facebook places have shut down or been acquired and closed.

This announcement spurred good commentary on whether foursquare in specific and location-based check-in services can survive. I've also found other good, older articles that address the topic:

• Just Checking...How Many of Foursquare's Reported 20 Million Users Are Active? - ReadWriteWeb
• Addressing Foursquare’s Engagement Problem - Street Fighter
• Foursquare May Not Be Toast Yet, But It's Browning At The Edges - Business Insider
• Is Foursquare's growth boxed in? - CNET
• Only 5% of Adults Use Location-Based Checkin Apps - Mashable
• Are Location-Based Services All Hype? - Mashable
• Foursquare Check-In Service Hits Big But Faces Challenges - ABC

(Between my post and these articles, we really exhausted the puns in the titles, eh?)

A main point from these articles is that the current usage of applications of foursquare aren't compelling or useful enough to either become mainstream or enduring.  There is no doubt that novelty usage of foursquare has been waning, as all novelty usage inevitably does. Also, the promotions offerred (at least in Canada) have not been compelling enough to encourage people to check-in regularly. So the most check-ins I notice from the bulk of usage is when someone is at a particularly high-status or unusual place.

But are check-ins dead as some have proclaimed?

The "death" of one thing or another makes great headlines, but of course it greatly over exaggerates. It's amazing what things continue long after they've been proclaimed death (for example, vinyl records). Even if the Chicken Littles mean only the mainstream use is dead, they still oversimplify. Often things evolve and metamorphosize, but don't really die per se. Also niche usages can remain strong and lucrative, if not particularly trendy or visible.

The recent launch of always-on location based social apps, such as Glancee and Highlight, provide an alternative to check-ins. But I'm not convinced that automated location identification services will be any more mainstream than self-based check-ins.

Check-ins are a compelling experience - particularly as I mentioned when at a cool place. I don't think they are sufficient to base long-term usage of an application. I think check-ins will survive as a cornerstone of social networking, but as part of other online services. Facebook, Google, and Twitter have experimented with this and eventually they'll get it right. Other check-in based location services will need to evolve - likely into greater social navigation, business directories, loyalty programs, games, and information discovery.

Antithesis of My Research

The video of the texting guy and his unexpected wildlife encounter has gone viral. It's short, but funny - P.S.A - this could happen to you!



I particularly like this video as it's the antithesis of my research - i.e. oblivious to environment, no preemptive mobile alerts, lack of spatial awareness... (If the video doesn't load, here's the link.)

Help Making Location Based Services Relevant

I've been reviewing the recent literature related to location based services and locative media and came across an incredibly useful article for those building or refining such apps. The article, Criteria of geographic relevance: An experimental study, will be published soon in the International Journal of Geographical Information Science (but is freely available in a pre-print version). The authors, Stefano De Sabbata and Tumasch Reichenbacher are experts in geographic relevance, mobile information retrieval, and location based services.

It's worth reading their entire article, but they include a summary table that lists all the types of information relevance and ones specifically applicable to mobile, geolocative functionality. Relevance, in this sense, refers to the degree to which information returned by a digital service satisfies various user needs and desires. (Read more about information relevance on Wikipedia).

In my efforts to keep updated on location based services, I've noticed that many apps focus on the relevance criterion of proximity to the neglect of all other (possibly more pertinent) factors. De Sabbata and Reichenbacher offer an invaluable list of other factors that developers should consider for more effective and engaging user experiences. Even better, their work is based on actual user studies.

Here is their table of relevance criteria, based on the classes of: properties (of the object), geography, information, and presentation (of the end result, to the user).

Properties	Geography	Information	Presentation
topicality	spatial proximity	specificity	accessibility
appropriateness	temporal proximity	availability	clarity
coverage	spatio-temporal    proximity	accuracy	tangibility
novelty	directionality	currency	dynamism
	visibility	reliability	presentation quality
	anchor-point   proximity	verification
	hierarchy	affectiveness
	cluster	curiosity
	co-location	familiarity
	association rules	variety

For details on a particular concept, the article has useful explanations.

Although location based services are, by definition, preoccupied with location (i.e. spatial proximity) this list offers guidance on other criteria to add that would greatly improve current locative apps.

This list seems definitive to me, but if anyone has a criteria to add or refine, I'd love to hear it below.

Canada's Walk of Fame - Needs Digital Footprints

Since Canada's Walk of Fame started in Toronto's entertainment district in 1998, I thought it was a great way to recognize the accomplishments of notable Canadians. Canadians don't often value their history and culture and the Walk brings prominence to these contributions.

As a physical manifestation of Canadian culture, Canada's Walk of Fame is definitely lacking in digital footprints. There are no people from the Canada's digital media section (i.e. this includes gaming, the Web, mobility, etc). I think this is the year that someone from digital media be inducted!

Suitable category are "Science and Innovation" (Alexander Graham Bell is the only inductee in this category) and  "Visual Arts" category (only Lynn Johnston and Jean-Paul Riopelle).

Only a handful of people are inducted every year and one has to be born in Canada or spent their formative years here and been working in the field for at least 10 years to qualify.

The Walk of Fame encourages submissions and it's really quick and easy (you also get a chance to win a trip to Toronto and tickets to the gala induction ceremony). So I'm starting a campaign to get a Canadian in digital media inducted this year.

A lot of people from my Who's Who in Canadian Digital Media and Technology don't qualify as they haven't met the 10-year career mark. But here are some people that I think would be great nominees:

• Lorne Abony - Petopia, Fun Technologies, Mood Media
• Tim Bray - XML, Open Text
• Garrett Camp - StumbleUpon
• Michael Cowpland - Corel
• William Gibson - scifi author and cyber-visionary
• Murray Goldberg - WebCT (first e-learning platform)
• Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk - founders of gaming studio BioWare

There are lots more. I'd love to hear here if anyone has any specific suggestions - or would like to start a group effort to get one person in particular nominated.

Nominations close April 30, 2012 - so nominate someone today.

Locative Media and Geosocial Networking - Overview Presentation

Yesterday, I presented on Locative Media and Geosocial Networking for one of Canada's major mobile carriers.

It is a broad overview, but offers the various components of this emerging area.

To read my speaker notes, click the options button on presentation toolbar.

 (If the presentation doesn't load in this window, view the presentation on Google Docs.)

Mobile Year in Review 2011

I'm late in posting this, but the organization Mobile Future every year does a wrap-up of trends in mobile usage. Highly informative and entertaining.

Location-based Services On the Road

Test Driving GPS Navigation Devices
I don't own or often even use a car, so I haven't had the opportunity to use in-car GPS navigation devices. As my research focuses on location-based services, it's easy to focus on the hype generated by mobile apps, and forget the popular workhouse of the LBS industry.

So on a recent trip to Hawaii and wanting to explore more of the islands than feasible with public transit or tour buses, I was eager to try out GPS devices when I rented a car.  I figured it would be a great way to try out this tech and make my travels easier. I sure got to know  more about the tech, but I think the GPS device resulted in more problems than help. Although I used the same product, from what I've read and encountered, it sounds like my experience is not atypical.

What I liked about the GPS navigation device:

• basic functionality is easy to use
• accuracy of positioning and its map interface
• we also got some unrequested but appreciated information on attractions near us that gave historical and cultural commentary (although we didn't want it again when we passed by it on the return trip)

What I didn't like:

• told us to turn the wrong way down one-way street and drive into an active volcano
• doesn't recognize unofficial roads (e.g. national parks, mall parking lots, etc)
• voice is often indecipherable
• directions not given in enough advance (e.g. tells us to turn while almost parallel to the road)
• not offer enough detail if zoom out (e.g. place names and roads)
• doesn't remember destination if turn device off (e.g. to get something to eat)
• can't add sub-destinations (e.g. post office, restaurant)
• location finder very limited and many attractions and long-term businesses not listed
• ultimately it was wrong or bizarre so many times that I just couldn't trust it

Some of these problems could be rectified by gaining familiarity with the interface and features of the device or possibly with another product.

Overall, I was disappointed with GPS navigation device for two main reasons: 1) it doesn't replace trip planning and way finding with print maps and 2) it isn't easy to use enough to use that a driver could safely do it on their own.

We had similar problems with other sources of automated way-finding on the trip. We also printed off AAA/CAA customized maps and detailed driving directions ("Triptiks") from their website. The TripTiks seemed like they would get one from point A to point B but they took bizarre and difficult routes. Without any explanations provided for why a seemingly odd route was chosen or even if there was a reason, their routes seemed unnecessary complicated and longer.

I've also encountered the same problem with Google Maps. For example, when trying to get directions to my place, it has one going blocks out of the way to avoid a left turn (perfectly legal and easy).

So my hopes of an automated solution to replace the dreaded navigation seems a ways off.

Smartphone LBS On the Road
I did find it enjoyable and useful to use LBS on my smartphone while on my travels. I've always feared the roaming charges of my mobile carrier plan, so I've never used Foursquare (my LBS of choice) outside of my home town.

I checked into a bunch of different places and looked up reviews and deals in various places. I also posted my location and comments from foursquare to my Facebook account.

It was great to share the main sites and my experiences - more so since the places were so new and different (it also helped me get a bunch of badges, not that I care about such gimmicks - okay, I kinda do).  Looking back on my check-ins, it was a great travel log.

I decided to experiment this trip and pay the costs to try things out, but my bill hasn't yet come, so my fondness may soon enough turn sour.