Xerox (United Kingdom)

and group activities is critical to successful collaboration and is commonly supported in CSCW systems by active, information generation mechanisms separate from the shared workspace. These mechanisms pena~ise information providers, presuppose relevance to the recipient, and make access difficult, We discuss a study of shared editor use which suggests that awareness information provided and exploited passively through the shared workspace, allows users to move smoothly between close and loose collaboration, and to assign and coordinate work dynamically. Passive awareness mechanisms promise effective support for collaboration requiring this sort of behaviour, whilst avoiding problems with active approaches.

In the 1970’s Xerox PARC developed the “desktop metaphor, ” which made computers easy to use by making them look and act like ordinary desks and paper. This led visionaries to predict the “paperless office ” would dominate within a few years, but the trouble with this prediction is that people like paper too much. It is portable, tactile, universally accepted, and easier to read than a screen. Today, we continue to use paper, and computers produce more of it than they replace. Instead of trying to use computers to replace paper, the DigitalDesk takes the opposite approach. It keeps the paper, but uses computers to make it more powerful. It provides a Computer Augmented Environment for paper. The DigitalDesk is built around an ordinary physical desk and can be used as such, but it has extra capabilities. A video camera is mounted above the desk, pointing down at the work surface. This camera’s output is fed through a system that can detect where the user is pointing, and it can read documents that are placed on the desk. A computer-driven electronic projector is also mounted above

In this paper, we seek to contribute to the Ubiquitous Computing agenda by focusing on one of its earliest, but most difficult, design ambitions - making technology "invisible in use". We draw on field studies of domestic life as this domain is becoming increasingly important for new technologies and challenges many of the assumptions we take for granted in the design of technologies for the workplace. We use some examples of domestic routines to identify a number of insights into what it means for features of activities to be "unremarkable". We conclude by using these insights to critique some of the current emphases in Ubiquitous Computing research, and suggest how we might better understand the HCI issues of what will be required to develop technologies that really are "invisible in use"

“Text messaging” — using a mobile phone to send a message — has changed how teenagers use wireless phones to communicate and coordinate. While the media reports rapid growth in text messaging, less is known about why teenagers have adopted it. In this paper, we report findings from a study of teenagers’ text messaging practices. Specifically, we show that teenagers use text messages to: arrange and adjust times to talk, coordinate with friends and family, and chat. Moreover, we argue that the reasons teenagers find text messaging quick, cheap, and easy to use, are grounded in their social context. Finally, we show that teenagers encounter three problems when text messaging: understanding evolving language, determining intent from content, and addressing messages.

Over the past 10 years, the use of sociological methods and sociological reasoning have become more prominent in the analysis and design of interactive systems. For a variety of reasons, one form of sociological inquiry—ethnomethodology—has become something of a favored approach. Our goal in this article is to investigate the consequences of approaching system design from the ethnomethodological perspective. In particular, we are concerned with how ethnomethodology can take a foundational place in the very notion of system design, rather than simply being employed as a resource in aspects of the process, such as requirements elicitation and specification. We begin by outlining the basic elements of ethnomethodology and discussing the place that it has come to occupy in computer-supported cooperative work and, increasingly, in human-computer interaction. We discuss current approaches to the use of ethnomethodology in systems design, and we point to the contrast between the use of ethnomethodology for critique and for design. Currently, understandings of how to use ethnomethodology as a primary aspect of system design are lacking. We outline a new approach and present an extended example of its use. This approach takes as its starting point a relationship between ethnomethodology and system design that is a foundational, theoretical matter rather than simply one of design practice and process. From this foundation, we believe, emerges a new model of interaction with computer systems, which is based on ethnomethodological perspectives on everyday human social action.

The rapid growth and development of the Internet and the resulting growth in interest in access to network facilities highlight an increasing prominence of computer technology in the home. In this article we report on a study of the social organization of a number of domestic environments in the northwest of England and consider the ways in which an understanding of the nature of the home is of interest to the developers of future interactive technology. Thus, in the first half of the article we consider the everyday nature of home life, and in the second half we report on an ethnographically based evaluation of a prototype set top box for the provision of digital services to the home. In addition to reflecting on the nature of activities in the home we conclude by considering the design implications that can be drawn from an examination of these activities.

No abstract available.

We describe work on the visualization of bibliographic data and, to aid in this task, the application of numerical techniques for multidimensional scaling.

Although 70-80% of problems have some component of human error, its overall contribution to many problems may be small; studies of complex systems have revealed that up to 85% are primarily due to deficiencies in the lay-out and processes of the system. The anaesthetist has to operate in a complex system; many problems originate from deficiencies in this system. Information of relevance to system failure was extracted from the first 2000 incidents reported to the Australian Incident Monitoring Study (AIMS). A system-based deficiency directly contributed to one-quarter of problems (four-fifths if human factors are included), some aspect of the system minimized the adverse outcome in over half of all cases (four-fifths if human factors are included), and in two-thirds (three-quarters if human factors are included) a system-based strategy would have been helpful; the system was implicated in 90% of all incidents (97% if human factors are included). Regardless of whether or not all human error should be regarded as part of the "system", attempts to modify its incidence and nature have to emanate from the system. AIMS reporting pathways and the organizations involved in developing and implementing strategies to improve the system operate at four levels. Level I involves the use of AIMS reports by hospitals and group practices for audit at a local level. Level II involves AIMS participants sending forms to the AIMS central office; collated information is then sent back to contributors by newsletter. Level III involves interaction between AIMS and the major professional bodies and level IV interaction between AIMS, these bodies and a variety of national and international agencies. Over 100 topics were identified from the AIMS data for consideration at one or more of these levels. AIMS has the potential not only to play a vital practical role in the continued enhancement of the quality of anaesthetic practice, but also to provide a valuable resource for research at the increasingly important interface between human behaviour and complex systems.

Media spaces support collaboration, but the limited access they provide to remote colleagues' activities can undermine their utility. To address this limitation, we built an experimental system in which four switchable cameras were deployed in each of two remote offices, and observed participants using the system to collaborate on two tasks. The new views allowed increased access to task-related artifacts; indeed, users preferred these views to more typical “face-to-face” ones. However, problems of establishing a joint frame of reference were exacerbated by the additional complexity, leading us to speculate about more effective ways to expand access to remote sites.

Article A diary study of work-related reading: design implications for digital reading devices Share on Authors: Annette Adler Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 3333 Coyote Hill Rd., Palo Alto, CA Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 3333 Coyote Hill Rd., Palo Alto, CAView Profile , Anuj Gujar Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 3333 Coyote Hill Rd., Palo Alto, CA Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 3333 Coyote Hill Rd., Palo Alto, CAView Profile , Beverly L. Harrison Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 3333 Coyote Hill Rd., Palo Alto, CA Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, 3333 Coyote Hill Rd., Palo Alto, CAView Profile , Kenton O'Hara Xerox Research Centre Europe, (formerly Rank Xerox Research Centre) 61 Regent St., Cambridge, CB2 1AB, UK Xerox Research Centre Europe, (formerly Rank Xerox Research Centre) 61 Regent St., Cambridge, CB2 1AB, UKView Profile , Abigail Sellen Xerox Research Centre Europe, (formerly Rank Xerox Research Centre) 61 Regent St., Cambridge, CB2 1AB, UK Xerox Research Centre Europe, (formerly Rank Xerox Research Centre) 61 Regent St., Cambridge, CB2 1AB, UKView Profile Authors Info & Claims CHI '98: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsJanuary 1998 Pages 241–248https://doi.org/10.1145/274644.274679Published:01 January 1998 147citation2,498DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations147Total Downloads2,498Last 12 Months123Last 6 weeks12 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteGet Access

Article Free Access Share on Technomethodology: paradoxes and possibilities Authors: Graham Button Rank Xerox Research Centre, Cambridge Laboratory (EuroPARC), 61 Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1AB, United Kingdom Rank Xerox Research Centre, Cambridge Laboratory (EuroPARC), 61 Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1AB, United KingdomView Profile , Paul Dourish Rank Xerox Research Centre, Cambridge Laboratory (EuroPARC), 61 Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1AB, United Kingdom Rank Xerox Research Centre, Cambridge Laboratory (EuroPARC), 61 Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1AB, United KingdomView Profile Authors Info & Claims CHI '96: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsApril 1996 Pages 19–26https://doi.org/10.1145/238386.238394Published:13 April 1996Publication History 97citation2,450DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations97Total Downloads2,450Last 12 Months98Last 6 weeks14 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteView all FormatsPDF

ABSTRACT This article is based upon a chapter in a book to be called Britain! Be Your Age! It begins with a discussion of schemes for dividing the life-course, describes the fresh division to which the title the Third Age belongs and refers briefly to a general theory of the Third Age. It is claimed that the Third Age as thus defined did not emerge in Britain and other Western countries until the 1950s, nor did it become a settled feature of their social structures until the 1980s. Expectation of life in a number of countries, developed and developing, is contrasted, and a comparison is undertaken between life expectation in the contemporary Third World and that in England in the historical past, that is since the early 16th century. It is concluded that contemporary developing societies have much longer life expectation than that in the English past, but markedly fewer elderly people. The implications of this for the modernisation theory in relation to ageing are drawn out, and the concept of modernisation shown to be unacceptable to historical sociologists. A Third Age Indicator (3AI) is then suggested, expressing the probability of a person of 25 years attaining 70 years. The Third Age is defined demographically in a two-fold way, as a condition of a population in which the general expectation of living from 25 to 70 is 0.5 or over for men, and so more for women, and of 10% or more of the whole population being over age 65. 3AIs for a number of contemporary countries are then presented, along with those for England since the 1540s. A list of countries demographically qualified on the two counts is then drawn up, along with the appropriate dates of their attaining that status.

We assert that the product of user interface design should be not only the interface itself but also a rationale for why the interface is the way it is. We describe a representation for design based around a semi-formal notation which allows us explicitly to represent alternative design options and reasons for choosing among them. We illustrate the approach with examples from an analysis of scrolling mechanisms. We discuss the roles we expect such a representation to play in improving the coherence of designs and in communicating reasons for choices to others, whether designers, maintainers, collaborators or end users.

This paper describes ethnomethodologically informed ethnography (EM) as a methodology for information science research, illustrating the approach with the results of a study in a university library. We elucidate major differences between the practical orientation of EM and theoretical orientation of other ethnographic approaches in information science research. We address ways in which EM may be used to inform systems design and consider the issues that arise in coordinating the results of this research with the needs of information systems designers. We outline our approach to the “ethnographically informed” development of information systems in addressing some of the major problems of interdisciplinary work between system designers and EM researchers.

General practice consultations were video-recorded before and after the introduction of a desk-top computer system into the practice. The recordings were analysed by detailed qualitative scrutiny of tape and transcripts (conversation analysis) to discover regular patterns of interaction. This analysis confirmed that the introduction of computers into the consultation had a significant impact on the communication between patient and doctor. In particular, we found that computer technology has had an impact on the practitioners' conduct and on the disclosure of information by the patient. The analysis also points to some recommendations both for training general practitioners in the use of computerized systems in the consultation, and for the (re)design of the technologies themselves.

In order to understand some problems associated with workflow, we set out an analysis of workflow systems, identifying a number of basic issues in the underlying technology. This points to the conflation of temporal and dependency information as the source of a number of these problems.

In a naturalistic study, we aimed to uncover the relationship between thinking about and remembering intentions. Electronic badges allowed us to track the activities of subjects within their work environment. Over two weeks, subjects were asked to respond using a button on their badges (1) every two hours (Time task); (2) whenever they were in a particular room (Place task). In addition, whenever they thought about the task, they were asked to indicate this with their badges. Although subjects thought about the Time task more, they forgot to respond more often than in the Place task. In the Time task, there was a marked absence of thoughts about the task following successful remembering. When subjects remembered the Place task, thoughts increased with proximity to the target location. In both tasks, thoughts about intentions occurred more in places such as stairwells than in locations where people tended to settle. On the basis of these findings, possible mechanisms for prospective memory are discussed.

Many efforts have been made to exploit the properties of graphical notations to support argument construction and communication. In the context of design rationale capture, we are interested in graphical argumentation structures as cognitive tools to support individual and collaborative design in real time. This context of use requires a detailed understanding of how a new representational structure integrates into the cognitive and discursive flow of design, that is, whether it provides supportive or intrusive structure. This paper presents a use-oriented analysis of a graphical argumentation notation (QOC). Through a series of empirical studies, we show that it provides most support when elaborating poorly understood design spaces, but is a distraction when evaluating well constrained design spaces. This is explained in terms of the cognitive compatibility between argumentative reasoning and the demands of different modes of designing. We then provide an account based the collaborative affordances of QOC in group design meetings, and extend this to discuss the evolution of QOC argumentation from short term working memory to long term group memory.

Article Free Access Share on Two approaches to casual interaction over computer and video networks Authors: Alan Borning Rank Xerox EuroPARC, 61 Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1AB, United Kingdom Rank Xerox EuroPARC, 61 Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1AB, United KingdomView Profile , Michael Travers Rank Xerox EuroPARC, 61 Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1AB, United Kingdom Rank Xerox EuroPARC, 61 Regent Street, Cambridge CB2 1AB, United KingdomView Profile Authors Info & Claims CHI '91: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing SystemsApril 1991 Pages 13–19https://doi.org/10.1145/108844.108847Published:01 March 1991Publication History 62citation667DownloadsMetricsTotal Citations62Total Downloads667Last 12 Months38Last 6 weeks5 Get Citation AlertsNew Citation Alert added!This alert has been successfully added and will be sent to:You will be notified whenever a record that you have chosen has been cited.To manage your alert preferences, click on the button below.Manage my AlertsNew Citation Alert!Please log in to your account Save to BinderSave to BinderCreate a New BinderNameCancelCreateExport CitationPublisher SiteeReaderPDF