Group Interfaces: A Profile and a Prototype.
Abstract
This work addresses human factors aspects of group information technology support--specifically, novel ways of configuring the technology to meet the needs of teams operating as teams (as opposed to operating as collections of individuals). We outline the relevant background issues and state of the art in group IT support, then analyze what the state of the art represents. Based on our analysis, we lay out a research strategy reversing what we consider a 'backward' tendency in prior HCl efforts to support complex interactions in co-located teams with technological configurations initially developed for limited bandwidth distributed messaging. By concentrating on concrete engagements between users and IT artifacts, we generate an analytical framework appropriate to the issues critical in defining a Group Interface (GI), then apply that framework to delineate the design tradeoffs in constructing a GI artifact. We then describe our initial 1994 prototype of a GI artifact--the Unified Interface Surface (UlS)--and discuss the results of our usability evaluation of this UlS prototype.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA302158
Entities
People
- Michael D. Mcneese
- Nicholas E. Longinow
- Randall D. Whitaker