Understanding APPropriation: A study of everyday use of smartphones in two age groups

Abstract

This thesis examines the use of smartphones within two different age groups and makes an attempt to understand how people appropriate smartphones and integrate them into their everyday life. The thesis also tries to illuminate whether the smartphone technology has become part of the user's daily activities. It was conducted a quantitative survey of two user groups between 20- 30 years and 46-56 years, to gain an overview and map their use of smartphones. Then qualitative interviews were performed with a smaller group of users, to dig deeper into how they appropriated the smartphone. The interview questions were expansions of the survey questions. The findings revealed similarities and dissimilarities regarding acquisition of the smartphone, downloading and use of apps, patterns of use, lacks of features, and daily situations and activities where the smartphone became insufficient. Theories have been presented in attempt to understand how technology augments people in their daily life.