Who are the Context Shifters? There's a good chance you're one already. I know I am. Just count how many devices you use to frequently access a single product/service? I use five for Twitter, and my guess is that's not even a high number.
When you have a single desktop PC, you have a single context. You sit in the one place and use a mouse and a keyboard to run desktop applications. The types of information and tools within an application are largely fixed. User centred design at least puts the user in the picture, but the frame is still quite small.
Fast forward to users carrying more than one internet enabled device on their person at all times, and a PC within reach for more than half of their waking life.
An application can now be thought of as an application space, encompassing all of the possible user contexts. Individual users don't have a single context, they shift contexts within the same application space. This is more than just an extension of a single session, moving from device to device. Context encompasses everything about an interaction with an application, so as my context changes, I want the app to respond accordingly.
This gives rise to the concept of "Context Loss" - the inconvenience a user may experience when switching contexts. This might only be a minor inconvenience, or it could be significant enough for a user to choose a to use only a single context in the future. Application design should include frictionless context shifting as a goal. Minimising Context Loss will help to embed an application in a users life, making it sticky and less likely to be abandoned.
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