TrottingPal: designing for mobility, personalization and collaboration at the trotting track

Abstract

This paper describes an applied research project where the aim was to investigate the culture of trotting spectators and to explore how mobile information technology could be used to support these spectators at the trotting track. The research project was conducted in three phases. The first phase was an ethnographically inspired field study at a Swedish trotting track. The second phase applied the knowledge from phase one to inform the design of an overall architecture for a system supporting trotting spectators. The prototype system TrottingPal was developed. The third phase was a preliminary evaluation of TrottingPal involving a group of experienced spectators. The results of the research include three main characteristics of spectators. First, the study clearly indicates extensive mobility among the spectators, which stems from the process of gathering relevant trotting information from various sources located at different places at the track. Second, personalization of trotting information has been found to be important, since there is a great diversity in what spectators consider to be relevant and valid information. Third, the trotting track offers a rich environment of event information, in terms of other spectators that possess valuable knowledge about competitors, conditions, etc. Groups of spectators collaborate through exchanging information to create a shared knowledge base in order to place their bets. The preliminary evaluation of the prototype TrottingPal indicated that it is likely to be accepted as a tool for spectators at the trotting track.