Exploratory study on concurrent interaction in co-located collaboration

We present an exploratory lab study that provides observations and measures about the usage of interaction devices in co-located cooperative work situations at a tabletop display. We designed our experiment with the aim of providing a context for the collaboration that shares as many characteristics of real life as possible. Twenty-two participants were instructed to perform a shared goal task. They worked in co-located pairs on solving three sets of two jigsaw puzzles concurrently. They were allowed to use any combination of direct and indirect input device, i.e., touch and mouse, to achieve the goal. Additionally, a hidden task was imposed on the participants in the second and third puzzle task: They had to discover that pieces were mixed up between the two displayed puzzles. The role of the hidden task was to trigger spontaneous transitions from individual to collaborative work. Our observations focused on the participants' selection and usage of input devices during the task execution. Our study revealed amongst others that participants stuck to their preferred input device even when they got more engaged in coordination and communication with their partner. Our findings are based on log data, questionnaire data and video recordings.