Analysis of Sequential Tasks in Use Context of Mobile Apps

Most of the work on context-aware systems has focused on the context of time, location, and activity. Previous studies on the context flow have been primarily conducted on a qualitative basis. This paper proposes a new approach from a quantitative perspective. We gathered the data from automated task service, "If This Then That (IFTTT)", and analyzed the sequential tasks in terms of event occurrence in smart devices through association rule mining. We found out three consecutive tasks in cross-applications. The results of analysis have potential to find hidden use patterns as telling what kinds of services and channels are associated with each other. The findings provide some insights on the development of design guidelines for context-aware services.