Smart Bag: Managing Home and Raising Children

Dual-income families experience stress as they attempt to manage the conflicting responsibilities of work, school, home, and enrichment activities. Opportunities exist for technology to provide support in managing their children’s activities, helping parents feel more in control of their lives. In this paper, we explore opportunities to support children’s activities. Based on our contextual fieldwork with dual-income families, we suggest a concept of the Smart Bag, which addresses two design opportunities: (i) a reminder system that helps people remember their schedules and what they need to take, and (ii) a reminder system that allows parents to engage in parenting.