Visual Awareness in Shared Workspaces Presentation by Marc Leonard

Topics Workspace Awareness Creating Visual Workspace Awareness Evaluation Framework for Visual Workspace Awareness

Topics Workspace Awareness Creating Visual Workspace Awareness Evaluation Framework for Visual Workspace Awareness

Workspace Awareness Up-to-the-moment information about what is happening in the shared workspace Gathered in face-to-face settings without direct attention Leads participants toward further collaboration in the shared effort

Workspace Awareness Factors Awareness ElementRelevant Questions IDENTITYWho is participating? LOCATIONWhere are they working? ACTIVITY LEVELAre they active? ACTIONSWhat are they doing? CHANGESWhat changes are they making?

Workspace Awareness Factors Awareness ElementRelevant Questions OBJECTSWhat objects are they using? INTENTIONSWhat are they going to be doing? EXPECTATIONSWhat do they need me to do next? EXTENTSWhat can they see? ABILITIESWhat can they do? SPHERE OF INFLUENCE Where can they have effects?

Conceptual Framework for WA Environment KnowledgeExploration Action Interpret perceptual information Gather perceptual information Determine what to look for next Determine what to do/what can be done Perform task, modifying shared environment

Video Clip Excerpt from John Tang et al., Observations on the Use of Shared Drawing Spaces

Topics Workspace Awareness Creating Visual Workspace Awareness Evaluation Framework for Visual Workspace Awareness

Creating Visual Workspace Awareness Inherently difficult due to the amount of information required Close attention needs to be paid to collection and distribution of WA information Attempt to maximize natural WA information gathering techniques

Obstacles for Visual Workspace Awareness in Groupware Lack of a physical presence Limited view and presentation space Interconnectivity issues

Techniques for supporting WA in Groupware Embodiment (e.g. Telepointers) Perceivable actions (e.g. Action Indicators) Overviews (e.g. Radar view) Detail views (e.g. WYSIWID view) Detail-in-context views (e.g. Fisheye view)

Techniques for supporting WA in Groupware: Telepointers Node 1 Node 2 Gizmo Spike

Techniques for supporting WA in Groupware: Telepointers Form of Embodiment Gives participants a sense of: IDENTITY, LOCATION, ACTIONS, ACTIVITY LEVEL Usually extended to give semantic information regarding what tool is being used ( OBJECTS, INTENTIONS )

Techniques for supporting WA in Groupware: Action Indicators Node 1 Node 2 Deleting!!!

Techniques for supporting WA in Groupware: Action Indicators Implementation of Perceivable actions Makes the unperceivable, perceivable Eg. Delete key, Menu actions Gives users cues about what is happening in the workspace, providing: ACTIONS, CHANGES, IDENTITY (when paired with telepointers/view rectangles)

Techniques for supporting WA in Groupware: Radar views

Form of Overview Scaled down view of global workspace View rectangles used to give awareness of other participants, telepointers provide fine- grained awareness of other’s location Provides: IDENTITY, LOCATION, INTENTIONS, EXTENTS, SPHERE OF INFLUENCE, ACTIVITY LEVEL

Techniques for supporting WA in Groupware: WYSIWID views

Form of Detail view Provides a detailed view of the area surrounding another user’s cursor Hard to determine where other’s locations if no prior knowledge of the global context is provided Provides: LOCATION, ACTIONS, ACTIVITY LEVEL, CHANGES, INTENTIONS, EXTENTS

Techniques for supporting WA in Groupware: Fisheye views

Form of Detail-in-Context view Provides local detail and global context in continuous seamless presentation space Distortions caused can lead to misinterpretations of the workspace data Provides: LOCATION, ACTIONS, OBJECTS, EXTENTS

Video Clip Greenberg and Gutwin, Focus and Awareness in Groupware

Topics Workspace Awareness Creating Visual Workspace Awareness Evaluation Framework for Visual Workspace Awareness

Evaluation Framework for Workspace Awareness Cannot apply standard evaluation frameworks for applications as in HCI Need a low cost method to determine usability problems in groupware applications Baker, Greenberg and Gutwin propose a Heuristic Framework for evaluating groupware applications

Heuristic Evaluation Framework for Groupware applications Based on Nielsen’s Heuristic Evaluation Uses heuristics (rules) based on the Mechanics of Collaboration Allows for low cost evaluation Helps determine usability problems early in the development process

Heuristic 2: Provide the means for intentional and appropriate gestural communication Allow for users to be able to gesture Needed because 35% of all actions in collaboration are gesturing actions Types of gestures: Illustration Emblems Deictic references Typical groupware support: Telepointers, avatars, video links

Heuristic 4: Provide consequential communication of shared artifacts (I.e. action feedthrough) “unintentional” information given by artifacts in the workspace Includes information such as who is manipulating the artifacts Typical groupware support: action and process feedthrough, action indicators

Heuristic 6: Management of tightly and loosely-coupled collaboration Coupling describes the degree to which people are working or able to work together Loosely-coupled describes individuals working alone on a specific task Tightly-coupled describes individuals working together on a specific task Fluid movement between loosely and tightly- coupled interactions should be provided Typical groupware support: Overviews, Detail views, Detail-in-Context views

Heuristic 7: Allow people to coordinate their actions Allow for users to be able to work together without doing rework or valueless work People are very good at social coordination, so the application should not enforce a coordination structure Typical groupware support: Overviews, telepointers, view rectangles

Visual Workspace Awareness: Summary People are information gatherers WA guides collaborations Providing WA in groupware is difficult Various techniques and widgets exist Combinations of those will provide an entire WA HE states rules for GW to provide WA based on how people collaborate

The End!!!!!!