Exploring multi digital device usage: A sociomaterial perspective

Digital devices already outnumber the people on Earth. This multi-device environment is bound to have implications on the way technology is used. However, little research has investigated this emerging phenomenon. This research-in-progress paper presents our initial analysis of multi-digital device usage. We use electronic experience sampling method to gather data on users’ daily in situ experiences of using multiple devices on tasks both at work and at home. We then use a sociomateriality lens to help us analyse this data. Preliminary findings point to three interesting insights - (1) Users select devices by evaluating their relative (rather than absolute) affordances, (2) Users select devices based on perceived positive synergies across devices, and (3) Users working on more than 3 tasks were found to be filling dead tim