Call for Participation in Research on Work/Life Balance and Mobile Technology

Some of you may remember Sam Ladner’s presentation to UX Waterloo back in February, in which she mentioned a research project on mobile technology. Sam’s delighted to announce that she’s starting the recruitment phase of this project. More from Sam below.

Call for Participation in Research on Work/Life Balance and Mobile Technology

Are you a smartphone user? Do you want to know more about how this device is affecting our lives? We want to talk to you!

Ryerson University is seeking to recruit smartphone users to participate in a social research study on mobile technology. Hosted at the Ted Rogers School of Management, this project asks the simple question: what happens when workplace technologies like the BlackBerry come into the household? The research team is looking to recruit people who have used a smartphone for work and personal use for the last six months, preferably in the Greater Toronto Area.

The research will be publicly available. We will be sharing white papers and conference presentations with the community at large. Those interested in mobile technology will learn more about how individuals use their phones at home, the kinds of content they typically use, and what frustrates them about current software and hardware design.

All participants will remain completely anonymous.

Participants will be visited at home by a researcher, who will conduct an interview and will spend time visiting and observing the participant’s home experience with their smartphone. All participation is strictly confidential.

Recruitment will begin in April, with field work happening throughout the spring and summer. Participants from across the country will be considered, but those in Southern Ontario are preferred. The project is being lead by Dr. Sam Ladner, postdoctoral research fellow, and co-principal investigators Dr. Catherine Middleton and Dr. Ozgur Oturetken.

Learn more at mobileworklife.ca and on Twitter @mobileworklife.