Bridging Gaps: Affective Communication in Long Distance Relationships

Bridging Gaps: AffectiveCommunication in Long

DistanceRelationships

Shruti BhandariIndiana UniversitySchool of Informatics901 E. 10th StreetBloomington, IN 47408, USAsbhandar@indiana.eduShaowen BardzellIndiana UniversitySchool of Informatics901 E. 10th StreetBloomington, IN 47408, USAselu@indiana.edu

CHI 2008 Proceedings · Works In Progress

Outline

Introduction User Research Initial Findings Design Concepts Future Work

Introduction

Communication is used by non- collocated couples to exchange

factual information as well as to express their emotions to each other.

User Research eight people two were married two were international students Three of the participants are presently collo

cated though they had lived away from their partners in the past.

relationship period:1 to 9 years two female & six male participants Subjects:heterosexual relationship

Initial Findings

Spent a good part of day communicating or special time

cell phone Instant Messaging(IM) Surprise Messages

Design Concepts

1) MatchUs Board: 2) Together Aquarium: 3) CanCan: 4) Audible Gifts:

Diamond Touch

MatchUs Board

Together Aquarium

CanCan

Audible Gifts

Future Work

Creating shared experiences and promoting situational awareness

Extensive usability evaluation of our design concepts