Andrew Warr

Can we do without GUIs? Gesture and speech interaction with a patient information system

We have developed a gesture input system that provides a common interaction technique across mobile, wearable and ubiquitous computing devices of diverse form factors. In this paper, we combine our gestural input technique with speech output and test whether or not the absence of a visual display impairs usability in this kind of multimodal interaction. This is of particular relevance to mobile, wearable and ubiquitous systems where visual displays may be restricted or unavailable. We conducted the evaluation using a prototype for a system combining gesture input and speech output to provide information to patients in a hospital Accident and Emergency Department. A group of participants was instructed to access various services using gestural inputs. The services were delivered by automated speech output. Throughout their tasks, these participants could see a visual display on which a GUI presented the available services and their corresponding gestures. Another group of participants performed the same tasks but without this visual display. It was predicted that the participants without the visual display would make more incorrect gestures and take longer to perform correct gestures than the participants with the visual display. We found no significant difference in the number of incorrect gestures made. We also found that participants with the visual display took longer than participants without it. It was suggested that for a small set of semantically distinct services with memorable and distinct gestures, the absence of a GUI visual display does not impair the usability of a system with gesture input and speech output.

Distributed participatory design

Over the years a consensus has developed that involving users directly in the software development process can lead to more useful and usable systems. This has found its clearest expression in the Participatory Design (PD) movement. However, a limitation of PD is that it has primarily focused on project stakeholders being co-located, whereas in recent years we are starting to see software development projects involve more distributed collaborations. This workshop is aimed at researchers and practitioners with an interest to overcome the challenges of performing PD in distributed design teams. Several critical issues need examination in order to understand the usefulness and constraints of distributed participatory design (DPD).

Tool support for creativity using externalizations

Within the creativity community, researchers and practitioners have developed and studied various support tools and environments. It is important to learn from these tools and environments, identifying requirements for improving the future support of creativity in design. In this paper, we focus on support for generating and interacting with external representations to facilitate shared understanding and common ground amongst stakeholders. In considering external representations, we distinguish between artifacts provided by the tools and boundary objects created by the participants. We evaluate the use of a particular creativity support tool: the Envisionment and Discovery Collaboratory (EDC). From this evaluation we identify requirements for future tools and environments to support creative design.

Public social private design (PSPD)

We present a computer-based tool for the support of collaborative sketching activities in design: Public Social Private Design (PSPD). We provide an overview of the empirical studies that have informed the development of PSPD. We present the current version of PSPD, briefly report an initial evaluation and highlight future developments and studies.

The effect of operational mechanisms on creativity in design

Creativity is frequently referred to as an important dynamic of design. However, over 50 years of empirical research has suggested that social influences have a detrimental effect on creativity in collaborating groups. The results of this research indicate that design teams may not be as creative as they could be, resulting in a negative impact on the design process. In this paper we build upon previous research to identify what effect operational mechanisms have on creativity, in order to determine how best to support the creative process in design.