Designing notifications for ubiquitous monitoring systems

Pervasive computing systems involve a number of different embedded, mobile and sensory devices. To provide their intended service or application, these devices will collect unprecedented levels of data about users as they go about their daily lives. Users are anticipated to seamlessly, and frequently, physically move between numerous monitoring systems on a regular basis. As a result, it may become difficult for users to comprehend and keep track of the systems that monitor them, how their data is used, and to give informed consent. One solution is to use smart phones to selectively notify users to changes in the monitoring systems around them. However, there is often a problem in identifying and designing for the opportune moment to send a notification. This paper describes an application of the Contextual Factors of Interruption (CFI) model in designing three different types of notifications useful to users of ubiquitous monitoring systems.