Evaluation of Mobile Diary Tool's Recording Media For Self-reporting in Observational Situations

As part of the design process, researchers and designers have been exploring the potential value of incorporating user experiences into the development of new technology. They have long recognized the need for an assessment method; for a tool to obtain an accurate record of the user life experiences that are the most important for judging the utility of a technology. Experience Sampling Method (ESM) is a methodological approach that allows research participants to provide reports of their behavior and their cognitive and emotional states a number of times, just as they occur in the participants’ natural environment. We provided a mobile phone application coupled with ESM to support collecting data in different media formats for subject self-reporting. The primary purpose of this study was to understand how the media used in different observational situations affect the self-reporting of subjects, and to clarify the full constellation of subject responses and behavior as they relate to conditions in the field.