User-Centred Time Geography for Location-Based Services

Location‐based services assist people in their decision‐making during the performance of tasks in space. They do not consider the user's individual preferences, time constraints and possible subtasks to be performed. In order to account for these important aspects, a user‐centred spatio‐temporal theory of location‐based services is required. We propose such a theory by combining classical time geography with an extended theory of affordances. It assumes that affordances belong to three realms: physical, social‐institutional, and mental. In addition to covering the capability, coupling and authority constraints from time geography, this allows for a user‐centred perspective because affordances describe action possibilities with regard to a specific person. Furthermore, the integration of mental affordances offers the possibility to account for cognitive time constraints due to the duration of decision‐making processes. This new theory for location‐based services is closer to the individual user and more plausible with respect to their daily lives. A business traveller scenario is used as a case study to demonstrate this.