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Creating novel user interfaces that are “natural” and distributed is challenging for designers and developers. “Natural” interaction techniques are barely standardized and in combination with distributed UIs additional technical difficulties arise. In this paper we present the lessons we have learned in developing several natural and distributed user interfaces and propose design patterns to support development of such applications.

We introduce ZOIL (Zoomable Object-Oriented Information Landscape), a design paradigm and software framework for post-WIMP distributed, zoomable and object-oriented user interfaces. This paper presents ZOIL’s design principles, functionality and software patterns to share them with other researchers. Additionally, ZOIL’s implementation as a software framework for C# and WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation) is available as open source under the BSD License for scientific and commercial projects (see zoil.codeplex.com).

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are the interfaces to existing code structures, such as widgets, frameworks, or toolkits. Therefore, they very much do have an impact on the quality of the resulting system. So, ensuring that developers can make the most out of them is an important challenge. However standard usability evaluation methods as known from HCI have limitations in grasping the interaction between developer and API as most IDEs (essentially the GUI) capture only part of it. In this paper we present the Concept Map method to study the usability of an API over time. This allows us to elicit the mental model of a programmer when using an API and thereby identify usability issues and learning barriers and their development over time.

Using affinity diagramming as an example, we investigate interaction techniques for supporting collaborative design activities. Based on an observational study, we identified design guidelines that need to be addressed to find a close fit to embodied practice. Using this knowledge, we designed and implemented AffinityTable, a hybrid surface for supporting affinity diagramming. The tool combines digital pen & paper with an interactive table and tangible tokens. An additional vertical display is used to support reflection and group coordination.

Using affinity diagramming as an example, we investigate reality-based interfaces for supporting creative group work. Based on an observational study grounded in the reality-based interaction framework, we identified power vs. reality tradeoffs that can be addressed to find a close fit to embodied practice. Using this knowledge, we designed and implemented a digital workspace for supporting affinity diagramming. Its hybrid interaction techniques combine digital pen & paper with an interactive table and tangible tokens. An additional vertical display is used to support reflection-in-action and for enhancing discussion and coordination. A preliminary user study confirmed the applicability of our tradeoffs and the general acceptance of the tool design.

In this paper we state our interest in the workshop themes according to the three categories understanding, designing, and evaluation. In addition, we give a short introduction into our research project Blended Library and describe the idea of an "Interactive Reading" environment that aims toward “encouraging serendipity in interactive systems".

In this paper we would like to discuss the process of designing hybrid user interfaces with explicit power vs. reality tradeoff decisions. We further propose to ground these tradeoffs in a firm understanding of embodied practice. To support this, we describe a design study which was grounded in explicit tradeoff decisions derived from an observational study.

We introduce "Facet-Streams", a hybrid interactive surface for co-located collaborative product search on a tabletop. Facet-Streams combines techniques of information visualization with tangible and multi-touch interaction to materialize collaborative search on a tabletop. It harnesses the expressive power of facets and Boolean logic without exposing users to complex formal notations. Two user studies reveal how Facet-Streams unifies visual and tangible expressivity with implicity in interaction, supports different strategies and collaboration styles, and turns product search into a fun and social experience.

In this paper we describe our approach for designing collaborative design tools based on embodiment theory. We present the motivation and rationale behind our work as well an exemplary design study. We argue that when designing for embodiment, it is not only crucial to have a firm understanding of embodied practice but also for the consequences that are introduced with specific decisions between preserving or giving up embodied practice when designing digital tools.

Pen and paper support the rapid production of sketches. However, the paper interface is not always optimal for collaborative sketching as seen in brainstorming sessions where multiple parties would often like to communicate and participate in the sketching synchronously. Novel interactive paper solutions may provide the answer by bridging the paper-digital divide and allowing users to sketch on paper simultaneously while capturing the actions digitally. We present an analysis of collaborative sketching activities in working environments with remote participation. After highlighting the importance of paper for natural interaction in these settings, we introduce PaperSketch, an interactive paper-digital tool for collaborative remote sketching. We discuss the collaborative development of ideas based on the prototype and outline how important feedback issues have been addressed by utilising spatial constraints and multimodal features.

In this paper, we address the problem of designing for participation and parallel interaction with a walk-up-and-use tabletop system in a public exhibition environment. Motivated by the work practice of territoriality, we implement a novel, tabletop-integrated multi-user tracking system that provides data on a user's location and movement. Based on this robust hardware and software implementation, we present an interaction design that assigns a visually separated display space to each user, the space serving them as a personal territory. These territories can serve as affordances for initiating interactions; most notably they can support the multi-user coordination process during parallel co-located information exploration, which has been observed in our preliminary evaluation.

Dieser Artikel stellt einen hybriden Ansatz zur Unterstützung kollaborativer Designtechniken vor. Die anhand der Designtechnik Affinity Diagramming beschriebenen Interaktionskonzepte werden aus einer Literaturrecherche und einer empirischen Studie abgeleitet. Diese Analyse zeigt, dass die Nutzung von Papierartefakten insbesondere in divergenten Phasen von Vorteil ist. Des Weiteren wird aufgezeigt, welche Auswirkung häufige Wechsel zwischen Arbeitsflächen in konvergenten Phasen haben können. Die auf Basis dieser Erkenntnisse entwickelten Interaktionskonzepte kombinieren Papierartefakte mit interaktiven Displays zur Unterstützung kreativer Arbeitsabläufe.

In this paper we present an experiment that aims at understanding the influence that (visual) grid-based structuring of user interfaces can have on spatial and content memory. By the term grid we refer to two different aspects. On the one hand, this relates to the structured alignment, the layout of objects on a canvas. On the other hand, a grid can also be indicated visually by inserting lines that form an array which divides a canvas into smaller fields. In both cases we detected a strong positive influence on spatial memory. On content memory, however, grids have a less beneficial influence. Only if grid lines are visible, the structured alignment has a positive effect. On the other hand, the visibility of grid lines always leads to worse results in content memory performance, independent of the spatial arrangement.

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We present eXLEpse, an easy-to-use editor for creating computational grammars based on the Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG) formalism (Dalrymple, 2001). The editor is implemented as a plugin for the open-source program development platform Eclipse. eXLEpse provides functionality for editing computational LFG grammars and an interface to the XLE grammar development platform (Crouch et al., 2011). The editor can replace Emacs as an editor and provides a graphically enriched user interface as an alternative to the shell-based interface of the XLE platform. It is available free of charge on the internet.

Social activities such as collaborative work and group negotiation can be an essential part of information seeking processes. However, they are not sufficiently supported by today’s information systems as they focus on individual users working with PCs. Reality-based UIs with their increased emphasis on social, tangible, and surface computing have the potential to tackle this problem. By blending characteristics of real-world interaction and social qualities with the advantages of virtual computer systems, they inherently change the possibilities for collaboration, but until now this phenomenon has not been explored sufficiently. Therefore, this paper presents an experimental user study that aims at clarifying the impact such reality-based UIs and its characteristics have on collaborative information seeking processes. Two different UIs have been developed for the purpose of this study. One is based on an interactive multi-touch tabletop in combination with on-screen tangibles, therefore qualifying as a reality-based UI, while the other interface uses three synchronized PCs each controlled by keyboard and mouse. A comparative user study with 75 participants in groups of three was carried out to observe fundamental information seeking tasks for co-located collaboration. The study shows essential differences of emerging group behavior, especially in terms of role perception and seeking strategies depending on the two different UIs.

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We present a proof-of-concept of a mobile navigational aid that uses the Microsoft Kinect and optical marker tracking to help visually impaired people find their way inside buildings. The system is the result of a student project and is entirely based on low-cost hard- and software. It provides continuous vibrotactile feedback on the person’s waist, to give an impression of the environment and to warn about obstacles. Furthermore, optical markers can be used to tag points of interest within the building to enable synthesized voice instructions for point-to-point navigation.

Selecting a graphical item by pointing with a computer mouse is a ubiquitous task in many graphical user interfaces. Several techniques have been suggested to facilitate this task, for instance, by reducing the required movement distance. Here we measure the natural coordination of eye and mouse pointer control across several search and selection tasks. We find that users automatically minimize the distance to likely targets in an intelligent, task dependent way. When target location is highly predictable, top-down knowledge can enable users to initiate pointer movements prior to target fixation. These findings question the utility of existing assistive pointing techniques and suggest that alternative approaches might be more effective.

Application programming interfaces (APIs) are the interfaces to existing code structures, such as widgets, frameworks, or toolkits. Therefore, they very much do have an impact on the quality of the resulting system. So ensuring that developers can make the most out of them is an important challenge. However standard usability evaluation methods as known from HCI have limitations in grasping the interaction between developer and API -- the GUI, which makes this interaction obvious, is missing. In this paper we present a longitudinal approach using concept maps and a question diary to make this interaction visible and study the usability of an API over time.