A Wiki That Knows Where It Is Being Used: Insights from Potential Users

With the advent of extensive wireless networks that blanket physically compact urban enclaves such as office complexes, shopping centers, or university campuses, it is possible to create software applications that provide location-based mobile/ online services. One such application is CampusWiki, which integrates location information into a wiki structure. In the design science research reported in this paper, we employed a form of “action research” in which we engaged users as participants in an iterative process of designing and evaluating CampusWiki. Two qualitative studies were undertaken early in the design process in which semi-structured interviews were used to assess potential users’ reactions to CampusWiki. Through this research, the designers were able to assess whether their intentions matched the mental models of potential users of the application. The results showed that although many of the perceived benefits were as designed by the developers, a misunderstanding of the location-aware feature led users to unanticipated concerns and expectations. These findings are important in guiding designers and implementers on the desirable and possibly undesirable features of such systems.