FLEXIBLE, COLLABORATIVE ORGANIZATION ON A TABLETOP

As part of our research on designing computer-based systems for organizing materials, we have conducted several qualitative and quantitative investigations of tabletop use both with and without technology. We are interested in exploring more flexible metaphors for organizing materials, such as an informal "pile"-based metaphor, in a collaborative setting around a tabletop. Our goal is to provide more casual, flexible systems for everyday users. Research Vision We envision that there might be abundant opportunities for interaction on post-desktop surfaces that may include tables in public spaces, offices, homes, and schools. We hope that new interfaces for such surfaces will be flexible and fluid enough for novices and experts to use, and that they will easily support collaboration. We hope that the unique properties of tables will be taken advantage of, including allowing people to comfortably move or sit around a large surface in a setting they are familiar with in everyday life. We also hope the computer's capabilities are employed, for example, by creating additional space by altering the size of images and by distorting them. We envision utilization of the computer for archiving images, logging actions, and representing multiple versions of images and image groupings. This approach will allow for novel uses, particularly informal group activities, including the sharing of stories and memories. In workplaces, schools, and homes, electronic materials are increasingly used in information-rich collaborative projects; however, current tools to help categorize such materials are typically constraining or nonexistent. As more users bring their own pre- existing electronic collections to a project, and as electronic content collected throughout a project becomes increasingly essential to a successful task outcome, this need for appropriate and powerful categorization systems will increase. Currently, when users organize non-electronic materials, such as photographs, they use techniques ranging from flexible methods, such as creating loose piles, to very structured approaches. Current computer-based collaborative systems only support the more rigid methods in which an inflexible classification system, such as file folders, must be set up early in the organization phase of the task. In addition, the majority of organizational tools are designed only for a single user. We envision computer-based tools and metaphors that can support less rigid organizational methods in a collaborative environment.