Case Studies - Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy Way to Define and Refine User Interfaces - page 29

Figure 2.4: This screen shot from Symposium 5.3 shows how the instructor avatar was replaced
by a live video feed and student avatars by the Participants panel. Note the microphone symbol to
show which class member is speaking.
Users also raised some interesting concerns about using the interface in a work setting. With the 3D
version, people worried that their co-workers might think they were playing a video game instead of
working. They also anticipated the possibility of interruptions; for example, a person looking at a
computer screen and wearing headphones might appear to co-workers to be listening to music rather
than taking a class. Centra eventually offered kits for students, including a "do not disturb" sign, so that
co-workers would know that the person was engaged in training and thus not interruptible.
Six Years Later ...
As of 2002 Symposium is still alive and well in only two dimensions. Ronnie Thomson, Director of
Engineering, reports, "Interface changes in subsequent releases have been relatively minor-most of our
focus has been on providing enhancements to the functionality such as the ability to share applications.
We tried making radical interface changes in rev 5 (without paper prototyping them first), but customers
hated it so we went back to what we had. We've also used the same basic UI model for other
products." Drew Wolff, former Director of Product Marketing, concurs: "The target market includes a lot
of people who are learning about computers and applications specific to their company. Having to learn
how to use Symposium would defeat its purpose. Fortunately, the interface is elegant and intuitive-no
need for a topic that explains how to use it-so people can concentrate on the class material."