Papers by Markus Rittenbruch
This paper presents the results of a comparative study of 4-person collaborative teams working at... more This paper presents the results of a comparative study of 4-person collaborative teams working at a traditional table with pen and paper vs. a multi-touch table with digital keyboards and notepads. We compare the social behaviours of ‘giving’ and ‘taking’ during intensely collaborative teamwork, namely the differences between paper-based behaviour, digital-object based behaviour and a mixed condition behaviour where both paper and digital objects were used. Differences in sharing behaviour may be attributed to the degree of ownership afforded by digital objects on a touch display vs. paper objects. Additional visual metaphors to help tabletop users are recommended.
Most current multi-touch capable interactive user interfaces for tabletop are built from custom t... more Most current multi-touch capable interactive user interfaces for tabletop are built from custom toolkits that are decoupled from, and on top of, the "Desktop" provided by the underlying Operating System. However, this approach requires that each individual touch system build their own suite of touch capable custom applications (such as photo browsers), usually resulting in limited functionality. In this paper, we propose a software architecture for supporting and integrating multi-touch capability on existing desktop systems, where multi-touch and multiple single pointer input can be used simultaneously to manipulate existing application windows. We present an example implementation of this architecture on the Linux Operating System, demonstrating the possibility of using touch displays in a collaborative work environment on the tabletop. The paper concludes with lessons learnt and technical challenges from our experience.
This paper explores the nature of interfaces to support people in accessing their files at tablet... more This paper explores the nature of interfaces to support people in accessing their files at tabletop displays embedded in the environment. To do this, we designed a study comparing people's interaction with two very different classes of file system access interface: Focus, explicitly designed for tabletops, and the familiar hierarchical Windows Explorer. In our within-subjects double-crossover study, participants collaborated on 4 planning tasks. Based on video, logs, questionnaires and interviews, we conclude that both classes of interface have a place. Notably, Focus contributed to improved collaboration and more efficient use of the workspace than with Explorer. Our results inform a set of recommendations for future interfaces enabling this important class of interaction -supporting access to files for collaboration at tabletop devices embedded in an ubicomp environment.
We are interested in applying user centred and participatory design techniques to the development... more We are interested in applying user centred and participatory design techniques to the development of social software based solutions for virtual communities. In this paper we present initial work on a scenario and persona based approach to exploring social software solutions for a globally distributed network of researchers, designers and artists. The current prototype implements a single sign-on solution to
The Information Ecology project at DSTC is constructing a Social Portal. This article explains wh... more The Information Ecology project at DSTC is constructing a Social Portal. This article explains what we mean by a Social Portal, what user needs we believe we are serving by building one, what research goals we think we are serving and how we intend to go about it.
Extreme Programming (XP) is a lightweight software development methodology that has risen to prom... more Extreme Programming (XP) is a lightweight software development methodology that has risen to prominence in the last few years. XP and Participatory Design are related in motivation and approach but complimentary in many ways. The authors believe that integrating some Participatory Design approaches into XP substantially improves XP and may even bring some advantages to Participatory Design. This paper summarises XP, compares the two approaches, outlines our experience with XP, draws out some problems with classic XP and suggests some modifications based on Participatory Design.
In this chapter we introduce and explore the notion of “intentionally enriched awareness”. Intent... more In this chapter we introduce and explore the notion of “intentionally enriched awareness”. Intentional enrichment refers to the process of actively engaging users in the awareness process by enabling them to express intentions. We initially look at the phenomenon if sharing intentional information in related collaborative systems. We then explore the concept of intentional enrichment through designing and evaluating the AnyBiff system which allows users to freely create, share and use a variety of biff applications. Biffs are simple representation of pre-defined activities. Users can select biffs to indicate that they are engaged in an activity. We summarise the results of a trial which allowed us to gain insights into the potential of the AnyBiff prototype and the underlying biff concept to implement intentionally enriched awareness. Our findings show that intentional disclosure mechanisms in the form of biffs were successfully used in a variety of contexts. Users actively engaged in the design of a large variety of biffs and explored many different uses of the concept. The study revealed a whole host of issues with regard to intentionally enriched awareness which give valuable insight into the conception and design of future applications in this area.
Human-computer Interaction, 2007
ABSTRACT We introduce and explore the notion of “intentionally enriched awareness.” Intentional e... more ABSTRACT We introduce and explore the notion of “intentionally enriched awareness.” Intentional enrichment refers to the process of actively engaging users in the awareness process by enabling them to express intentions. We explore this concept designing and evaluating the AnyBiff system, which allows users to freely create, share, and use a variety of biff applications. Biffs are simple representation of predefined activities. Users can select biffs to indicate that they are engaged in an activity. AnyBiff was deployed in two different ...
ABSTRACT This paper discusses the phenomenon of "syndicated collaboration", which is th... more ABSTRACT This paper discusses the phenomenon of "syndicated collaboration", which is the collaborative use of weblogs, wikis and news aggregator tools, enabled by open standard protocols like Rich Site Summary (RSS). Existing development trends and the collaborative ...
Mutual awareness has been a focus point of research in Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) and Compu... more Mutual awareness has been a focus point of research in Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) since the early 1990s. At its essence, mutual awareness refers to a fundamental quality of collaborative work, the ability of co-workers to perceive each others’ activities and expressions and relate them to a joint context. In this chapter, we explore the history of awareness concepts by analysing existing literature in order to identify trends, research questions, research approaches and classification schemes throughout different stages of research into awareness. We have adopted a historical angle in the hope that it will allow us to show how awareness research has progressed over time. We document this development using three different phases: (1) Early exploration of awareness (approximately 1990–1994), (2) Diversification and research prototypes (approximately 1995–1999) and (3) Extended models and specialisation (approximately 2000–now). While these phases are to some extent arbitrary and overlapping, they allow us to highlight differences in research focus at the time and understand research in context.
Gregor Mcewan National ICT Australia Australian Technology Park Eveleigh NSW 1430, Australia ... ... more Gregor Mcewan National ICT Australia Australian Technology Park Eveleigh NSW 1430, Australia ... Markus Rittenbruch National ICT Australia Australian Technology Park Eveleigh NSW 1430, Australia ... Tim Mansfield National ICT Australia Australian Technology Park ...
Preserving and fostering knowledge is the vital interest of a network-like virtual organization. ... more Preserving and fostering knowledge is the vital interest of a network-like virtual organization. The decentralized and geographically distributed organizational structure inhibits knowledge flow. The particular conditions of knowledge management in virtual organizations are discussed by the example of an empirical study we carried out in a service company. We analyze how technical and organizational aspects influence knowledge sharing and transfer. Particular emphasis is placed on supporting knowledge transfer. It is shown how an existing knowledge sharing tradition had to be extended and which drawback it had concerning technology use. To improve knowledge flow within the organization a web-based knowledge base was introduced. This initiated a process of externalizing tacit knowledge and is meant to introduce new ways of knowledge transfer to the organizational culture. In fluid virtual organizations sustained knowledge management means to establish an organizational memory that is flexible and adaptive to changing requirements. This is best achieved by a strong organizational culture that emphasizes knowledge sharing by the use of various communication channels.
ACM Siggroup Bulletin, 2000
OVERVIEW For more than nine years "ProSEC - The Research Group on HCI and CSCW" is work... more OVERVIEW For more than nine years "ProSEC - The Research Group on HCI and CSCW" is working in the fields of Human-Computer Interaction and Computer Supported Cooperative Work. Our mission is to develop concepts and tools for improved human cooperation and ...
Das Konzept der Virtuellen Organisation ist derzeit vieldiskutiert. Im vorliegenden Beitrag konkr... more Das Konzept der Virtuellen Organisation ist derzeit vieldiskutiert. Im vorliegenden Beitrag konkretisieren wir einige Vorschläge für die Gestaltung von Groupware für Virtuelle Organisationen eines speziellen Typs. Nach einer kurzen Einführung in die Diskussion zu Virtuellen Organisationen stellen wir die teamorientierte Dienstleistungsfirma Sigma, und das dort eingesetzte Informations-und Kommunikationssystem vor. Schließlich werden aus der bei Sigma geleisteten empirischen Arbeit und der aktuellen Diskussion um Virtuelle Organisationen konkrete Gestaltungsvorschläge für Groupware abgeleitet.
One important aspect of a VE is the mutual trust among its members. Klein ([Klei94]) suggests tha... more One important aspect of a VE is the mutual trust among its members. Klein ([Klei94]) suggests that information and communication systems allowing to monitor and understand the activities of a partner in the VE may replace and at the same time support trust building measures. The discussion about this topic is lead in the CSCW community under the label awareness.
This paper describes the design of groupware for virtual organizations that share certain charact... more This paper describes the design of groupware for virtual organizations that share certain characteristics. First the concept of virtual organizations is introduced. Then our application partner, the "virtual" service company Sigma, and our empirical work at Sigma are described. The identified problems are categorized and discussed. Finally, we present the derived aspects for the design of groupware in the context of virtual organizations.
In this paper the aspects of a Virtual Enterprise (VE) that are essential for the design of coope... more In this paper the aspects of a Virtual Enterprise (VE) that are essential for the design of cooperation technology for a VE are identified. The explorative approach taken in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) research is introduced and three CSCW topics are discussed that can be applied for the solution of problems inherent to a VE.
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Papers by Markus Rittenbruch