The Importance of Personalization and Household Dynamics for Notifications in the TV Ecosystem

Notifications are frequently used in mobile devices and smart environments as a mechanism to deliver personalized messages. However, in the context of the TV ecosystem, notifications are not yet widely used. Hence, this research aims to explore the potential of that context to disseminate important information, recommend content and encourage interactions between individuals. The article presents the results from a survey of studies using notifications, which led to the design of relevant use scenarios focused on the TV. Six thematic scenarios were discussed in a focus group with potential users: 1) CONTENT (TV and over-the-top), 2) SOCIAL (telecommunications and social media), 3) SERVICES (shopping apps and coupons), 4) HEALTH (monitoring and well-being recommendations), 5) CALENDAR (appointments and events), 6) INFO (useful information). The studies from the survey highlighted healthcare alerts, smart home experiences and target advertising as contexts of research. The aim of socialization was addressed in fewer studies but was well received and shown potential. Therefore, one of the scenarios discussed in the focus group included the social dimension. The results shown that focus group participants responded well to general notifications on the TV (e.g. weather, content recommendation and services), whereas shown apprehension regarding personal notifications (e.g. calendar appointments, social media or health alerts), mainly for privacy issues. Nevertheless, they pointed out the scenarios with personal notifications as the most useful for the elderly, which led to a second focus group with this target audience. The insights from this research will allow the development and testing of prototypes in field trials with the support of a Portuguese Pay-TV provider.