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'It's More Like a Letter': An Exploration of Mediated Conversational Effort in Message Builder

Published: 01 November 2018 Publication History

Abstract

Communication technologies for maintaining close personal relationships are often designed to be lightweight and easy to use. While these properties allow for relationships to be maintained with speed and efficiency, they may come at the expense of more effortful messages that are constructed with thought, time and care. This raises the question of how communication technologies might be designed to provoke moments of effortful maintenance from their users. To explore this question, we designed and implemented Message Builder, a text-based communication system that encourages relational partners to send increasingly long messages. We report findings from a field trial in which 14 dyads used Message Builder for everyday relational maintenance. While some of the effort-provoking features of Message Builder were described as problematic, we found that the system had value in guiding users towards authentic and meaningful effort investments that were valuable within their individual relationships.

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    cover image Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
    Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction  Volume 2, Issue CSCW
    November 2018
    4104 pages
    EISSN:2573-0142
    DOI:10.1145/3290265
    Issue’s Table of Contents
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    Published: 01 November 2018
    Published in PACMHCI Volume 2, Issue CSCW

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    Author Tags

    1. communication technologies
    2. effort
    3. relational technologies
    4. social media

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