Inter-Contextual Distributed Participatory Design

Most studies of participatory design examine the development of a single, customized software system that supports typical workflows within a single client organization. To cope with other use contexts and new forms of work – such as communities and virtual networks – the traditional repertoire of PD methodology needs to be expanded to deal with distribution and diversification of users. Based on a ten-year case study, we describe experiences with PD in the development of a groupware system that initially targeted a single use context, but was continually extended and adapted to new contexts of use with new requirements and work practices. To enable distributed participation across contexts, new methods had to be established: inter-contextual user workshops bring users from different contexts and developers together to reflect on the usage and design of the software and its further development. Commented case studies make this face-to-face interaction persistent, providing a written documentation of distributed use experiences and design decisions. In the process of building an inter-contextual community of users, the PD focus shifts from custom software development to empowering users in assessing their own practice and technology use

Partizipative Softwaregestaltung im Kontext virtueller Gemeinschaften

Partizipative Softwaregestaltung zielt darauf ab, sowohl die Softwarequalität als auch die Kontrolle der NutzerInnen über die Gestaltung ihrer Arbeitssituation und -umgebung zu erhöhen. In diesem Beitrag diskutieren wir anhand der Erfahrungen, die wir mit der (Weiter-) Entwicklung einer Groupware für ein virtuelles Netzwerk von FreiberuflerInnen gesammelt haben, inwiefern und warum sich Vorgehensweisen der partizipativen Softwaregestaltung zur nachhaltigen Entwicklung virtueller Gemeinschaften eignen. Die vorgestellte Fallstudie verdeutlicht, welch wichtige Rolle die Wahl der Vorgehensmethodik für die Entfaltung virtueller Gemeinschaften spielt, wenn es darum geht, das nötige Verständnis und die Kooperationsbereitschaft bei sich ständig ändernden Anforderungen - vor allem auch auf organisatorischer Ebene - zu entwickeln

The Indirect Authoring Paradigm – Bringing Hypertext into the Web

Building hypertext systems to provide the required functionality to write hypertexts has always been a goal of hypertext research. The parallel development of hypertext research prototypes and the World Wide Web has resulted in repeated attempts to replace the Web or offer world-wide all-purpose services to augment the Web with "missing" functionality. The paper argues that focusing on the development of tools that offer support to hypertext authors for specific tasks is a necessary first step for the introduction of sophisticated hypertext features into the Web. Following a brief history of interaction with the Web, we demonstrate why authoring tools for the Web are a critical target for efforts to extend the use of hypertexts in the Web. We introduce indirect authoring as a label for a shared characteristic of different approaches that try to reduce the complexity and cognitive overhead involved in authoring hypertext. Drawing on this analysis, we lay out some consequences for hypertext research. We provide pointers to projects that have started to experinment with indirect authoring, and list immediate research questions. Developing a diversity of task-oriented authoring tools to reduce the cognitive overhead for authoring hypertexts could change the face of the Web

Simplifying Annotation Support for Real-World-Settings - a Comparative Study of Active Reading

Despite the multitude of existing interfaces for annotation, little is known about their influence on the created annotations. In this paper, first findings of a comparative video-supported study of active reading are presented. The support for active reading offered by traditional paper-and-pencil vs. two existing annotation tools for the World Wide Web is examined and possible implications for annotation systems are drawn

General Terms

We examine the effects of using scenarios in interaction design drawing on the experience from two courses held on Scenario-Based Design. In this approach to usability engineering, scenarios are employed throughout the design process to describe both the current and envisioned work context, facilitate communication between user and designer, and serve as a medium for exploration. The hypothesis elaborated in this paper is that representation of design thoughts in the form of scenarios considerably reduces the number of design options; thus, designs created using scenarios tend towards minimalism. This effect is analyzed using the notion of minimalism in different literatures, examining more closely where “less is more” and where the scenario technique decreases design choices

H.5.4 [Information Interfaces and Presentation (e.g. HCI)]:

Links are one of the most important means for navigation in the World Wide Web. However, the visualization of and the interaction with Web links have been scarcely explored, although Links have severe implications on the appearance and usability of Web pages and the World Wide Web as such. This paper presents two studies giving first insights of the effects of link visualization techniques on reading habits and performance. The first user study compares different highlighting techniques for link markers and evaluates their effect on reading performance and user acceptance. The second study examines links-on-demand, links that appear when pressing a dedicated key, and discusses their possible effects on reading and browsing habits. The findings of the conducted studies imply that the standard appearance of link markers has seriously underestimated effects on the usability of Web pages. They can significantly reduce the readability of the text, and alternatives should be carefully considered for the design of future Web browsers

Automatic support for web user studies with SCONE and TEA

This paper describes the concepts of TEA, a flexible tool that supports user tests by automating repetitive tasks and collecting data of user inputs and actions. TEA was specifically designed for..