evaluating the effects of fluid interface components on tabletop collaboration
Tabletop displays provide exciting opportunities to support individual and collaborative activities such as planning, organizing, and storyboarding. It has been previously suggested that continuous flow of interface items can ease information access and exploration on a tabletop workspace, yet this concept has not been adequately studied. This paper presents an exploratory user study of Interface Currents, a reconfigurable and mobile tabletop interface component that offers a controllable flow for interface items placed on its surface. Our study shows that Interface Currents supported information access and sharing on a tabletop workspace. The study findings also demonstrate that mobility, flexibility, and general adjustability of Interface Currents are important factors in providing interface support for variations in task and group interactions.
effect interfaces component tabletop collaboration tabletop displays support activation plan organization storyboard continuation flow information access exploration concept paper user studies reconfigurability mobility tabletop interface surface sharing demonstrate flexibility general factor variation task group interaction interface evaluation visual interface design computer supported collaborative work