Author(s):

Russel, Daniel, M.; Drews, Clemens; Sue, Alison

Title:

Social Aspects of Using Large Public Interactive Displays for Collaboration

Publication:

Ubicomp 2002: Ubiquitous Computing 4 th International Conference

Keywords:

collaborative systems; field studies; impact and side effects; interaction; learnability; public information displays; social acceptance

Paper Summary:

The authors describe an informal user evaluation of the BlueBoard, a large plasma display with a badge reader for personal identification that enables individual use and small group collaboration. The field study was conducted at a workshop where participants were introduced to the BlueBoard and allowed to use the device at their convenience. Participants were observed to see how they use the device. Several user interface issues were observed in addition to some social aspects as well. The social observations include:

1. Social learning . The large screen used touch as the only interaction point. During the evaluation, observers saw participants learning by watching from others' behaviors.
2. Multiple Person Etiquette . When small groups were working together, observers noticed that users were not sure how to engage and disengage from a conversation. Observers noticed that common etiquette principles are not yet well established in large devices, which contributed to the confusion.
3. Group Leaders. When observing small group interaction, it appeared that in most instances, one person "led" the discussion and use of the BlueBoard. However, in some situations (such as the whiteboard function), collaboration between two to four people was observed.
4. Working Together. Observers noted that users quickly learned how to work together and discovered that the plasma display can only accept one touch point at a time.
5. Reaching Across. It was also noted that participants were uncertain how to reach in front of another participant to touch the screen. This seemed to be thought of as rude and users hesitated before reaching across.
6. Group Sharing of Information. Users liked the ability to share information simultaneously.

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