Six modes of proactive resource management

Six modes of proactive resource management: A user-centric typology for proactive behaviour

Antti Salovaara, Antti Oulasvirta. 2004. (View Paper → ) Proactivity has recently arisen as one of the focus areas within HCI. Proactive systems adhere to two premises: 1) working on behalf of, or pro, the user, and 2) acting on their own initiative. To extend researchers' views on how proactive systems can support the user, we clarify the concept of proactivity and suggest a typology that distinguishes between 6 modes of proactive resource management: preparation, optimisation, advising, manipulation, inhibition, and finalisation of user's resources….We argue that conceptual developments like the one proposed here are crucial for the advancement of the emerging field.

The paper distinguishes six distinct modes of proactive resource management:

1. Preparing resources
2. Optimising on-going resources
3. Advising on the use of resources
4. Manipulating resources
5. Inhibiting resources
6. Finalising resources

Instead of merely reacting to context, computing systems can support users by proactively managing their resources throughout different stages—from setting up and fine-tuning resources to advising, altering, even restricting, and finally terminating them. This user-centric typology expands the concept of proactivity beyond simple automated actions, suggesting that systems can be designed to assist users in more nuanced ways without necessarily taking over their tasks entirely. This conceptual framework is intended to inspire new innovations in proactive computing and improve human-computer interaction by broadening the design space for supportive, anticipatory technologies.