Using mobile phones for promoting water conservation

We report a design investigation that seeks to help people to conserve water in their homes through the use of mobile technology. To persuade people to use water more wisely, one approach is to give them tailored information about their water use and about other people's usage. Investigating this approach, a mobile application was implemented to explore the role of three different sources of information (weather, expert's advice and community information). Based on the evaluation, several themes for designing mobile technology for gardeners were identified. Findings from the study show that gardeners want more tailored messages from the system, and advice should come from more than one source of information, to have a greater opportunity to persuade.

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