Face-to-face matters: Inspirations from the human library

This study describes new features for a mobile application designed to initiate face-to-face communication. While many mobile applications are designed to facilitate digitally mediated relationships (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) between previously known parties, systems focused on initiating face-to-face communication are less popular. The authors' mobile application takes inspiration from a Human Library event where participants come together to share stories with previously unknown persons. Through survey and interviews the authors describe new features of a mobile application to mediate face-to-face meetups. In the next phase of research the authors plan to implement those features and conduct additional user studies on our mobile application with the goal of increasing adoption.