Mobile advisory services are characterized by location-dependent and spatial distributed information, unknown environments and limited tool support. These aspects complicate mobile advisory services to the point that the delivered service appears rather fuzzy than transparent. To tackle that problem, we examine the practical field of home security advice and present an initial design solution. The system called "SmartProtector" adapts existing knowhow from the stationary advisory context and complements it with findings from a field analysis. Evaluation shows that we have been successful in reaching our objective of increasing transparency in home security advisory situations leading to more comprehension on the clients' side. In addition to the practical innovation, we contribute generic requirements to the discussion of transparency in service science by expanding the advisory service scope to the mobile dimension.

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This paper explores unique challenges of mobile consultancy and offers a picture-centric solution. We study the example of a policeman counseling a homeowner on how to prevent burglary. As in a stationary set-up, consultants and clients collaborate to co-create solutions to match the clients' problems. Concurrently, in a mobile set-up, problem and solution information are bound to the physical environment of the house. Moving through the house, both clients and consultants forget crucial location-bound information, severely impairing their collaboration. We propose supporting such collaboration with a tablet-based application that is centered on pictures of the physical environment, called SmartProtector. In an evaluation, we show that both clients and consultants remember substantially more information when using the SmartProtector. With this study, we contribute to the ongoing research discussion on collaborative memory, memory aid systems and mobile collaboration, highlighting the roles of pictures and their large potential to enhance collaborative work practices.