Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
veloped the technique of Tag Menu Cards for tagging with freely-chosen keywords
and integrated this into the second version of our prototype.
Process Tagging
The Process Cube and the Process Knob are two tangible tagging
techniques that open up the design space of process tagging. Here, not contents of
documents are tagged, but temporal phases in collaborative processes. On the one
hand, tagging such phases allows for indexing artifacts that are used or created dur-
ing the process. This eases future retrieval of artifacts. On the other hand, temporal
process tagging can foster successfully structuring the process itself, as the tagging
categories provide a scaffold. This scaffold supports participants of the meeting by
suggesting them a good structure and by encouraging them to reflect and discuss
about the structure. Subsequent research in the fields of design and computer sci-
ence should identify further types of tangibles that meet the requirements. Research
in social sciences should develop further process models and validate them.
Interaction Model
Our interaction model of Pen-and-Paper User Interfaces prove
beneficial as a basis for the design of the tagging techniques. It lead to simple and
reliable interactions, to a varied and rich user experience as well as to a high degree
of direct manipulation.
The interaction techniques are inspired by established practices of working with
documents and let the user maintain them. For instance, users can attach an index
sticker to a document page in order to tag this page. A small set of more formal
interactions can be used to inform the system about the semantics of these informal
artifacts. These interactions are based on a small set of recurrent core interactions.
This leads to interaction that are easy to learn and to use and that are reliable even
with the restricted feedback capabilities of Pen-and-Paper User Interfaces.
We have shown in this chapter that the novel interaction techniques draw upon
the large variety of traditional paper-based practices. This includes writing with a
pen on paper and manipulating the arrangement of physical objects. The techniques
leverage tangible interaction by attaching physical stickers on a paper document and
making pen-based associations between different documents. These varied interac-
tions stand in contrast to paper interfaces that mimic the interaction of Graphical
User Interfaces and are restricted to the interactions of writing, drawing symbols
and clicking on paper surfaces.
The user can directly interact with documents using a digital pen and - for physi-
cal documents - his or her hands. This stands in contrast to the indirection caused by
using a mouse. The interaction techniques leverage different types of paper-based
tools, e.g. for defining collections of documents, for indexing document pages and
for tagging documents. All these tools are not only instruments but also objects of
interest, as they contain and represent first-class information. In contrast to typical
tools in GUIs such as menus or toolbars, this double character lets the user perceive
working directly on and with first class objects instead of interacting with tools. This
results in a high degree of direct manipulation.
