Development of a Mobile Tourist Information System for People with Functional 
Limitations: User Behaviour Concept and Specification of Content Requirements

Sascha M. Sommer, Marion Wiethoff, Sari Valjakka, Dionisis Kehagias and Dimitrios Tzovaras



Supplement to presentation


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Slide 3: The name of the project is more or less self-explaining. The main aim is to assist 
people with functional limitations by providing mobile information that helps them to cope 
with mobility barriers in different environments of their everyday life.

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Slide 5: The assistive information will be available through a mobile device, like a mobile 
phone or PDA.

Slide 6: In an ideal world an ambient intelligence system would support all aspects of 
everyday life. To limit the scope of the project we had to focus on a selection of the most 
important domains. The environments for which we develop specific support are 
transportation, tourism & leisure, personal support services, work / business / education, 
social relations and communities

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Slide 9: The specification of content requirements is based on an activity-centred approach, as 
requested recently by [Riva, 2005]. The three pillars of the framework dor thze specification 
are hence a definition of user groups, an elaboration of the activity concept, and guidelines for 
the implementation of the framework. A clear definition of user groups is of utmost 
importance, because the relation between the user with his or her specific functional 
limitations and the environment determines the information demand. Specific information, 
tailored to the needs of the users, will be provided to 10 different user group categories: lower 
limb impairment, wheelchair users, upper limb impairment, upper body impairment, 
physiological impairment, psychological impairment, cognitive impairment, vision 
impairment, hearing 	impairment, communication impairment 

Slide 11: The graphic shows, as example for an hierarchical-sequential action process, what a 
person arriving by car has to do in order to get from the car park and to check in at the hotel 
reception. The highest level of the hierarchy is the goal of the action. This goal directs the 
behaviour on lower levels of the hierarchy. The actions the person has to carry out are to park 
the car, to go or wheel to the reception and to check-in at the reception. The operations 
required to perform each of these actions are listed in the boxes at the lowest level.

Slide 12: A shortcoming of action theory is the neglect of both the social context in which 
actions are embedded, and the different artefacts a person can use use to perform an action. 
Context and artefacts are key concepts in activity theory. To describe an activity it is thus 
important to define ist so-called ‚minimal meaningful context'. Only such a wholistic view 
allows to identify all relevant types of information a user needs to perform an activity.

Slide 13: A combination of the key principles of action and activity theory makes the 
structured definition of content requirements possible. Activity theory provides the different 
elements of the minimal meaningful context and action theory provides the framework for a 
divison of goal-directed behaviour into actions and operations.

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Slide 15: The new mobile tourist information system will provide information both for the trip 
planning phase and the actual trip.

Slide 16: The user requirements are further distinguished into general actions and specific 
actions.

Slide 17: User requirements are formulated in a set of matrixes for each user group. The 
matrix distinguishes between the activity, the actions required to perform the activity, the 
information attributes that are needed for this activity, and the value type as well as the limit 
of of the value. 

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