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TECHNICAL REPORT
User Group;
User centric approach;
Qualification of the interaction with the digital ecosystem
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2 ETSI TR 103 604 V1.1.1 (2019-04)
Reference
DTR/USER-0049
Keywords
digital, ecosystem, IoT, user
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3 ETSI TR 103 604 V1.1.1 (2019-04)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 4
Foreword . 4
Modal verbs terminology . 4
Introduction . 4
1 Scope . 6
2 References . 6
2.1 Normative references . 6
2.2 Informative references . 6
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations . 6
3.1 Terms . 6
3.2 Symbols . 7
3.3 Abbreviations . 7
4 User needs . 8
4.1 Results of the survey . 8
4.2 Identification needs for the communication dimension . 10
5 State of the art . 11
5.0 Introduction . 11
5.1 Web solutions . 11
5.2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Solutions . 12
5.3 Middleware solutions . 12
5.4 Service-oriented solutions . 12
5.5 Conclusion for clause 5 . 13
6 Qualification (expected features) . 13
6.1 User expectations and requirements . 13
6.2 Features from the user side . 13
6.3 Features from the provider side . 14
6.4 Security interaction. 15
6.4.1 Data Protection . 15
6.4.2 Privacy . 15
6.4.3 Single Sign On (SSO) . 16
7 Service differentiation . 16
8 Assumptions about future smart interface . 18
Annex A: Authors & contributors . 20
History . 21
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4 ETSI TR 103 604 V1.1.1 (2019-04)
Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
IPRs essential or potentially essential to normative deliverables may have been declared to ETSI. The information
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, is publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be found
in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to ETSI in
respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the ETSI Web
server (https://ipr.etsi.org/).
Pursuant to the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation, including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee
can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web
server) which are, or may be, or may become, essential to the present document.
Trademarks
The present document may include trademarks and/or tradenames which are asserted and/or registered by their owners.
ETSI claims no ownership of these except for any which are indicated as being the property of ETSI, and conveys no
right to use or reproduce any trademark and/or tradename. Mention of those trademarks in the present document does
not constitute an endorsement by ETSI of products, services or organizations associated with those trademarks.
Foreword
This Technical Report (TR) has been produced by ETSI User Group (USER).
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and "cannot" are to be
interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.
Introduction
The present document has been produced by the STF 543 experts.
The concept of the full Project is to define 5-dimension model called "ACIFO". The 5-dimension model is based on
5 sub-models defined as:
• Architectural Model "Acifo": defines the global structure, including semantics and is optimized for the stated
objectives.
• Communication (Relational) Model aCifo: defines the exchange protocols, including HMIs (User) and APIs
(provider) exchange and management protocols over three planes:
- Management (Monitoring).
- Control.
- Usage.
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5 ETSI TR 103 604 V1.1.1 (2019-04)
• Information Model acIfo: defines the different Profiles (User, device, service). The information covers the
whole ecosystem (equipment, network, applications, services, HMIs, User, etc.) from the offer to the
resource's availability for Users, Providers and any other partners. It is a knowledge data base representing the
whole ecosystem.
• Functional Model aciFo: defines services and service composition. The functionalities (the process) to
compose any service based on "micro-service".
• Organization Model acifO: defines the role of any actor and which actor is responsible of each action. ("Who
is doing what?").
These five dimensions should be shared by the user and the supplier/provider. For the user, it should be possible to
define (or to choose) the level of autonomy and control for the personalized composition of services.
The four deliverables produced by STF 543 define the different dimensions:
• ETSI TR 103 438 [i.1] focuses on the Architecture and the Organization:
It includes the use cases and the results of the survey.
• ETSI EG 203 602 [i.2] focuses on the information and the functionalities:
It is dedicated to the user. It provides analysis and recommendations from the information and functionalities.
• ETSI TR 103 603 [i.3] addresses all the dimensions to the supplier, in order to produce the APIs according to
the user expectations and whatever the number and types of additional suppliers.
• ETSI TR 103 604 (the present document) focuses on the communication and in particular on the HMIs.
For example, for Energy (production, distribution, consumption), the supplier will create an API for the user. The
information will be exchanged between the supplier and the user but will not be used only by the supplier: the user will
have access to all the information and will be able to use this information to optimize their energy consumption. This
data base is a source to provide new services and new applications (for the user and for the supplier). One major
challenge and constraint is to ensure that all the private data may be checked and monitored by the user (the contract
needs to define clearly these points). The data are not used only by the supplier, the user should have access to the data
and may refuse that the data be used or known an interaction "cursor" between the user and the supplier defines the
freedom (GDPR [i.4]).
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6 ETSI TR 103 604 V1.1.1 (2019-04)
1 Scope
The present document describes the service provision to be addressed by designers and implementers of the digital
ecosystem to ensure that the means by which users interact with the digital ecosystem is consistent across device types,
and meet the preferences of the user. The present document addresses the role of the user accessing services in the
digital ecosystem with multiple formats of device.
For the purposes of the present document the digital ecosystem refers to those business sectors that interact with each
other, and their consumers, using digital means. The application of the recommendations made in the present document
encourage a unified approach across all elements of ecosystem that together impact the user experience (referred to as
Quality of Experience) and aim to ensure continuity of customer experience across the entire eco-system. Specifically
the present document identifies the elements of service interaction that should be made personal to the user.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
Normative references are not applicable in the present document.
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
The following referenced documents are not necessary for the application of the present document but they assist the
user with regard to a particular subject area.
[i.1] ETSI TR 103 438: "User Group; User centric approach in digital ecosystem".
[i.2] ETSI EG 203 602: "User Group; User Centric Approach: Guidance for users; Best practices to
interact in the Digital Ecosystem".
[i.3] ETSI TR 103 603: "User Group; User Centric Approach; Guidance for providers and
standardization makers".
[i.4] Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the
protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free
movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation).
[i.5] ETSI EN 301 549 (V2.1.2): "Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services".
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations
3.1 Terms
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms apply:
blockchain: digital record of transactions, in which individual records, called blocks, are cryptographically linked
together in single list
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7 ETSI TR 103 604 V1.1.1 (2019-04)
chatbot: robot able to speak and imitate human behaviour, whether written or spoken
choreography: scenario where each service knows a subset dependencies
orchestration: scenario where all global dependencies between services are known by at least one service
3.2 Symbols
Void.
3.3 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
ACIFO Architecture, Communication, Information, Functionality, Organization
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AI Artificial Intelligence
API Application Programming Interface
BPEL Business Process Execution Language
BREAD Browse, Read, Edit, Add, Delete
CRAP Create, Replicate, Append, Process
CRUD Create, Read, Update, Delete
DAVE Delete, Add, View, Edit
DDS Data Distribution Service
DNS-SD Domain Name System-based Service Discovery
GDPR General Data Protection Regulation
HMI Human Machine Interface
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure
ICT Information & Communication Technology
IoT Internet of Things
NSD Network Service Discovery
QoE Quality of Experience
QoS Quality of Service
REST Representational State Transfer
SCRUD Search, Create, Read, Update, Delete
SMS Short Message System
SOA Service Oriented Architecture
SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol
SQL Structured Query Language
SSO Single Sign On
STF Special Task Force
UG USER Group (ETSI Special Comittee)
UX User eXperience
VoWi-Fi Voice Over Wireless Fidelity
Wi-Fi Wireless Fidelity
WSCI Web Service Choreography Interface
WSDL Web Service Description Language
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8 ETSI TR 103 604 V1.1.1 (2019-04)
4 User needs
4.1 Results of the survey
The initial survey is available as attachment to ETSI TR 103 438 [i.1] and the additional survey is available as
attachment to ETSI EG 203 602 [i.2].
Initial survey has questioned user maturity, behaviour and expectations. In 2018 it appears that more than half of the
panel struggle to configure their smartphones or internet boxes. This means that a lot of users do not know the potential
settings and the way to change them. This reduces significantly the capacity for users to interact with equipment,
applications or services. Even if the users are not willing to increase these interactions, it appears needed to reduce the
complexity of settings and to offer a simplified set of actions.
Respectively 70 % and 79 % of users are able to configure Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on a smartphone and less than half of
users know how to configure cellular networks when they are abroad. However, even if the configurations of Bluetooth
and Wi-Fi may be done by most of the users, the combinations of different questions of the survey indicate that existing
of future services (e.g.: VoWi-Fi) may be difficult to be used.
A lot of potential services in smart cities, at home, or during travels will be available for the users. However, the survey
indicates that less than 40 % of respondents are able to easily set up these equipments and almost 30 % do not know. It
also appears that, for the time being, a lot of users' answers "do not care" to the question "would you have connected
sensors/things in your house?" This is particularly true for Voice assistant, but on the other hand, half of respondents
have or wish to have "light control (smart energy)", "heating control (smart energy)" and "Access control and video
monitoring".
It also appears that only 16 % of users change the parameters of personal smartphone several times a month and 34 %
change less than once a year. Personal on-line accounts are little consulted both on fix and mobile subscription. It is
assumed that users prefer to call the hot line instead of accessing the personal account page when a problem occurs.
However, as most users have a package, the possibility to access options or customized services is very limited.
The survey indicates that 85 % of users are using security softwares on their personal computers and only 38 % on their
mobile. This does not mean that they do not wish security, but it is assumed that they are confident in the tools provided
by the vendors when they buy a personal computer and do not have perceived that a smartphone may also need security
softwares as for personal computers. Similar disparity appears for AD blockers.
For other potential tools (device optimization, quality measurement, back up services), there are no differences between
personal computers or smartphones, and the percentage of used tools is lower than for security.
Customer expectations about the missing setting today on a smartphone and what they would like in the future was
collected by an open question in 4 categories:
• Control: Ability to manage the device or the subscription i.e. connection priority, control of applications in
the background, battery life, etc.
• Privacy: Need of transparency and privacy mastery i.e. cookies control, localization control, hide the text of
SMS received, etc.
• Customization: Need of more customization i.e. setting according to the location, smart synchronization,
senior apps or parameters, etc.
• User eXperience (UX): Ergonomics and affordance i.e. clarity of menu, tree logic, technical vocabulary, more
help notice or bubble information, etc.
Concerning the control by the user of the device location, there is a quasi-equal spread between the users who think that
they can control, users thinking that they can control but do not find it easy, and users who do not think that the control
is possible. But a large majority of users (87 %) would like to hide their locations (when they wish).
The respondents have been asked about the possibility to change remotely smartphone settings: 43 % think that they
may change settings of their smartphone, whereas 61 % think that the providers have this possibility (several answers
were possible). So, it can be assumed that there is a large range of "progress" for users to become mature actor.
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9 ETSI TR 103 604 V1.1.1 (2019-04)
A large majority of users would like to challenge their providers, on privacy respect, security level, quality or price.
This expectation should be achieved as long as the evolution towards a user-centric approach could be implemented.
The final question of the initial survey gave the opportunity to users to express their views about digital future. One of
the major challenge will be to ensure safety and individual privacy, as a majority of users express their doubt about this.
They are more confident about the possibility to customize services and that services, equipments, etc., will be easiest to
be used and more user friendly.
The additional survey, available as attachment to ETSI EG 203 602 [i.2], was focused on the user place in the new
digital ecosystem and user expectations. The additional survey had the objectives to:
• better understand the consumer relationship with digital
• identify the main expectations and fears
• look at the confidence drivers
• collect reactions on the perspectives opened up by new technologies
The main concern for users about digital ecosystem is identity theft. This concern arrives clearly first (nearly 50 %).
The second concern (20 %) is the loss of privacy due to the collection of data for commercial purposes without the
knowledge of the surfer. The other concerns (10 %) are the loss of personal data, the loss of freedom to choose, and the
collection data by governments.
Over 60 % of users consider good or rather good new technologies: "biometric access" and "electronic signature".
Conversely the "blockchain" and the use of "APIs" receive less than 50 % of positive opinions, but it can be seen that
the level of knowledge about these two technologies is low (respectively 28 % and 23 % of no opinion).
The additional survey provides the following results.
Figure 1: Results of the additional survey: user needs
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4.2 Identification needs for the communication dimension
The consumers search for the desire services in a directory, even if the services are physically distributed over several
platforms. Then the service consumers may call on these services. According to their wishes or needs the users need an
interface (a language, a protocol, etc.) to design the dynamic composition of the services called on, in order to access
the expected personalized service.
The present document considers the communication dimension of the digital ecosystem related to the user (the service
consumer) and the service provider.
The service provider is responsible for creation of a service, to document the functional descriptions in the directory and
to provide the interface.
Depending on the level of "freedom wanted by the user" (according to figure 2 Illustration of the user "cursor") the
composition may be called on in an autonomous way (step by step) or globally (only the final result is provided to the
user).
Figure 2: Illustration of the User "cursor"
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5 State of the art
5.0 Introduction
The evolution of architectures introduces an evolution of the user interface and service interaction that structures the
syntax but also the semantics of the digital ecosystem. The analysis of the state of the art made it possible to classify the
current advances (see figure 3):
• Semantic Web: The Semantic Web infrastructure is sufficient for the simple interactions between a user and a
web service. If a user involves the invocation of other web services, it is necessary to combine the web
services features and to compose them (see clause 5.1).
• Artificial intelligence: Artificial Intelligence (AI) can assist users in dealing with service design with the
positive impact on scalability and management of generic quality attributes discovering and composing
services (see clause 5.2).
• Middleware approach focuses on the mechanism of service composition that allows applications to be
adaptable and reconfigurable (see clause 5.3).
• Service-Oriented approach that may help to solve applications that are strongly coupled technically (protocol
level) or functionally (semantic level) and services that cannot be reused or cannot be easily configured (see
clause 5.4).
Figure 3: User interface and interaction
5.1 Web solutions
The Web Service is defined by the W3C as "a software system to support machine-to-machine interactions over a
network". It is a computer program of the family of web technologies allowing the communication and exchange of
data between applications and heterogeneous systems in distributed environments.
A Web Services is therefore invoked through its API which is accessible through a network, the invoked service is
executed remotely on the server hosting the requested service. The interfaces are between the applicants and the service
providers.
Web services expose their functionality as remote executable services. Their specifications are based on the SOAP
(Simple Object Access Protocol)/WSDL (Web Service Description Language) standards. SOAP is a communication
protocol for exchanging messages between different web applications and WSDL is the language that describes
operations, messages, data types, and their location.
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12 ETSI TR 103 604 V1.1.1 (2019-04)
For resource features, Representational State Transfer, HTTP standards apply. HTTP is the interface to access and to
manipulate resources through standardized operations (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, TRACE, CONNECT).
For composition two modes are proposed:
• Orchestration: Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) All global dependencies between services are
known by at least one service.
• Choreography: WSCI (Web Service Choreography Interface) each service knows a subset, dependencies.
5.2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Solutions
AI aims at operating the semantic resources to produce flexible and adaptive-to-change web service compositions.
AI now takes the form of digital assistants, predictive or prescriptive models, and decision support systems based on
algorithms that teach the machine to learn and reason from data. These data are massive and the knowledge needed to
use the data is specialized.
On the user interface side, there are chatbots. The chatbot is a robot able to speak and imitate human behaviour, whether
written or spoken. There are several interfaces: text messaging chatbots, and voice interfaces that allow humans to
interact naturally with a machine.
5.3 Middleware solutions
The middleware refers to software components that help and simplify the design of new services. These components
facilitate, for example, dynamic discovery, complex interactions, and so on. A logical bus is proposed for the exchange
of messages.
There are also "Mashup" services that may combine content or services from several heterogeneous applications. For
example, in a web page, the "mashup" aggregates contents from other sites to create a new site. The "mashup" principle
is about how the interactive user participates, how the user wants to gather and group the invoked data.
5.4 Service-oriented solutions
Service-oriented solutions are associated with web services built with loose coupling and reuse to reduce the duplication
of "Develop once, to reuse many" computing development and to increase agility in business processes by re-using
"grain of service" in other ways.
A service is a business feature that:
• encapsulates treatments and data;
• exposes them through a standardized and referenced API interface.
An application programming interface (API) allows two applications (software programs) to communicate with each
other. APIs are made up of two related elements. The first is a specification that descri
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