A Mobile Application to Support Phatic Communication in the Hybrid Space

Abstract

This paper presents a prototype implementation of the PengYo application that offers a cross-platform interaction method between an online social community and mobile users based on the “beeping” phenomenon. PengYo provides a novel interface that explicitly supports the practice of beeping, a nearly-globally applied implicit communication method of calling somebody and hanging up before the call is answered. In contrast to the traditional beeping-method, PengYo provides a custom tailored user interface and user interaction style for beeping, following the real-life cognitive model of “tapping someone on the shoulder”. PengYo builds a platform for further investigation of the beeping phenomenon and its usage patterns, that very little research has been done on so far. The results of further research studies that base on PengYo might deliver crucial information for redesigning and enhancing existing channels following the user-led communication phenomenon of beeping.