Interaction Design Reading Group (IDRG) 2005-2006

Paper for 01.09.06

Configuring Awareness (high rez version) by Heath, C., Svensson, M. S., Hindmarsh, J., Luff, P., and vom Lehn, D. 2002. Comput. Supported Coop. Work 11, 3 (Nov. 2002), 317-347.

ABSTRACT: The concept of awareness has become of increasing importance to both social and technical research in CSCW. The concept remains however relatively unexplored, and we still have little understanding of the ways in which people produce and sustain `awareness' in and through social interaction with others. In this paper, we focus on a particular aspect of awareness, the ways in which participants design activities to have others unobtrusively notice and discover, actions and events, which might otherwise pass unnoticed. We consider for example how participants render visible selective aspects of their activities, how they encourage others to notice features of the local milieu, and how they encourage others to become sensitive to particular events. We draw examples from different workplaces, primarily centres of coordination; organisational environments which rest upon the participants' abilities to delicately interweave a complex array of highly contingent, yet interdependent activities.

Paper for 10.26.05

For those of you who will be around next week, we will be read "Touch a Screen or Turn a knob: Choosing the Best Device for the Job" by Wendy A. Rogers, Arthur D. Fisk, Anne Collins Mc Laughlin, and Richard Pak. (Human Factors, 47(2), pp. 271--288).

ABSTRACT

Input devices enable users to interact with systems. In two experiments, we assessed whether and how task demands and user age influenced task performance for a direct input device (touch screen) and an indirect input device (rotary encoder). In Experiment 1, 40 younger (18–28 years) and 40 middle-aged to older adults (51–65 years) performed tasks using controls such as sliders, up/down buttons, list boxes, and text boxes while using a system. The optimal input device to facilitate performance was dependent on the task being performed and the age of the user. In Experiment 2, touch screen use was assessed for 20 younger (19–23 years) and 20 older adults (51–70 years). Task demands were manipulated through button size, movement distance, direction, and type of movement. Performance was moderated by the age of the user and by task demands. Actual or potential applications of this research include guidance for the optimal selection of input devices for different user populations and task characteristics.

• Rogers-Fisk-McLaughlin-Pak-2005J.pdf: IDRG paper for 10.26.06

If you are working on a paper for CHI 2006 and would like feedback from IDRG members, Please attach your draft to this page. You can do this by clicking "Attach image or document" in the wiki footer, and following the instructions. PDF format is preferable.

-- KarenParker - 08 Sep 2005

• email-flow-13.pdf: Going with the flow: How users continuously manage incoming email
  • Looking for high level comments on: what is obviously missing, or other strange happenings
  • Not too interested in low level nits at this point (unless that's all you've got)

• Eval_Vis_Adam_Dmitry_0912.pdf: An Evaluation of Overview+Detail and Focus+Context Interfaces with Guaranteed Visibility
  • Mostly complete except results of followup study (in progress) and discussion
  • Looking for high-level suggestions for organization and "spinning" contributions and results

• epo8.pdf: Styles of Collaborative Engagement
  • Missing some figures and charts
  • Looking for "obviously missing" things or large organizational issues
  • Aware that it is repetitive and not quite there in terms of tightness

• epo8.pdf: Styles of Collaborative Engagement