a performing medium for working group graphics
Writing and drawing together on a common display often assist a working group in a task. For example,face-to-face groups have long enjoyed the richness of graphic communication found on blackboards. The spontaneous image manipulations which take place over time on a blackboard can be viewed as a text-graphic performance . A human performer generates and manipulates text and graphics for the purpose of assisting the working group in their task.The phenomenon of performed text-graphics presents opportunities for research in the area of computer-supported cooperative work. 1] Spontaneous generation demands a performing medium where the focus is on live manipulation of text and graphics. Design of a computer-based medium with enough agility and generality to support blackboard-like activity is a challenge for interface design. 2] Agility and generality must not be achieved at the expense of specializability. After a group has initially sketched an idea in text and graphics, then that same medium should also support refining the sketch according to formal schema. 3] The performing medium can also be used as a recording medium for studying image manipulation as part of the working group process.This paper presents a stepwise approach to the design of a performing medium for working group graphics. First, examples of non-computer text-graphics for groups are examined to get a preliminary idea of the underlying phenomenon: the performing of text-graphic manipulation to assist working groups. Next key features of that kind of text-graphic manipulation are isolated. Then, third, the architecture and behavior of a graphics editor providing those features is described.
group graphics writing drawing task examples communication image manipulation place timing text human generation generation research support design activation challenge interface design sketching refine formalism schema records process paper feature architecture behavior graphic design computation general computer-supported-cooperative-work