Design of an intelligible mobile context-aware application

Context-aware applications are increasingly complex and autonomous, and research has indicated that explanations can help users better understand and ultimately trust their autonomous behavior. However, it is still unclear how to effectively present and provide these explanations. This work builds on previous work to make context-aware applications intelligible by supporting a suite of explanations using eight question types (e.g., Why, Why Not, What If). We present a formative study on design and usability issues for making an intelligible real-world, mobile context-aware application, focusing on the use of intelligibility for the mobile contexts of availability, place, motion, and sound activity. We discuss design strategies that we considered, findings of explanation use, and design recommendations to make intelligibility more usable.