Unobtrusive Interaction: A Systematic Literature Review and Expert Survey

Abstract

Unobtrusiveness has been highlighted as an important design principle in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). However, the understanding of unobtrusiveness in literature varies. Researchers often claim unobtrusiveness for their interaction method based on their understanding of what unobtrusiveness means. This lack of a shared definition hinders effective communication in research and impedes comparability between approaches. In this article, we approach the question "What is unobtrusive interaction?" with a systematic and extensive literature review of 335 papers and an online survey with experts. We found that not a single definition of unobtrusiveness is universally agreed upon. Instead, we identify five working definitions from the literature and experts’ responses. We summarize the properties of unobtrusive interaction into a design framework with five dimensions and classify the reviewed papers with regard to these dimensions. The article aims to provide researchers with a more unified context to compare their work and identify opportunities for future research.