Observations and Summaries

Observations

- group of people squeezing onto one computer.
- one person does most of the work while other people just look on.
- Information sharing is easier because everyone is looking onto the
same screen but research is limited and severely slowed.
- Small space, uncomfortable and cramped.
- Person a wants person b who is controlling the mouse to click onto a
link but the person b cannot understand what the person a means.
Instead, Person a has to move the screen and mouse in order to get to
where he wants the group to go.

- group of people working on separate computers.
- people not interacting with each other a lot.
- each person is working on either their own part of the project or
surfing the internet.
- no way to make sure your team members are working unless one person
moves over to look at the other people’s screen.
- Person a wants to send person b some information he found. Person a
decides to email person b the work instead of calling him over to his
computer. Person b finds person b’s email useful and finds similar
information to send back to person a.

Interview Responses

The first group we interveiwed comprised of a Mechanical Engineer and a Environmental Engineer.  They both were very excited about the product idea and were wondering if it was actually possible.  In terms of privacy they didnt really feel like it was going to be an issue.  One felt like his behavior online might be a little more cautious if he was using the product, but the general concensus was that

1) probably public setting – facilitating public face

2) libary just looking up things, not much facebook. could understand people being bothered public keeps it from being invasion of privacy – in private place like apartment

3) probably not, laptop for personal things – only use computer for homework subconsciously would make you behave differently even though nothing’s wrong

4) yes - be great because usually when you’re surro0unding a table, the screen’s tiny and everyone’s trying to see what you’re doing and trying to interact with each other, while few are trying to collaborate

5) file transfers, comparing work – autocad throwing files at each other right away to make sure things are compatible and fit up right

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The Second group was composed of ID and Architecture major.  They seemed to be very on top of design, while at the same time not as proficient with computers as some of the other people we talked to.  They were very interested in how the product would look like and how it would fit into a classroom.

1) “i’m cool with it”.
i feel it depends. it might be distracting and then privacy. if someone could see what i’m doing
i guess it depends on the setting
i get shy when i’m doing design – it’s like someone who hovers over youl, you know
i feel if you’re going to a coffee shop, you’re trying to be seen
sometimes you want to sit in the corner and do your own thing
i think it’d be good for teaching, especially for – currently classes have presentation screens, but if you had a smaller group or one on one – i think it’d be a really good teaching element

2) in this settinbg, people can see what you’re doing, and it’s ok, but i guess it depends on your expecation. not good in all situations. if you had a laptop, that would be awkward, but at the same time you have those tablet screens. i feel like that’s what it is.

3) yeah, i think i would. depends on what i’m doing. what if you did like story time for little kids, and it’s like a picture book, but you know the storyu. it’d be like the ipad but usable and worth it. it’s almost like a 2d product that’s 3d because it has a front and a back with no width. especially with icons, some icons look like people. you could see the back of people

4) i mean, yeah. i guess. i guess it depends. would you be able to interact with both sides. would it be like 5 people on one screen? but then it would be backwards, but then you could flip it. people prefer the mirror image of pictures because that’s how they see themselves, that might be cool.
i’m more interested in a tablet type screen you can use on either side. it’d be good for groups. what if it was were mirrored on both sides, and you were both working on it. you could work with a lot of different iterations of something. you could get different perspectives at the same time.

5) it’s like the DS mixed with an iphone. it’d just encourage laziness. hey, hey you, send me that. kthanks. you never see who people are because they’re behind computer screens, so you could see someone talking, and your head fades away and the presentation emerges. nice to have a really nice interface, and you could smack itm, and it’d go to another desktop. you hit it, and it’ll switch over. i think it would look really, really good in a situation in the multimedia section when you’re working with potential college students.

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The last group we talked to were the only people that weren’t into the product very much.  They seemed to think the thing would be an invasion of privacy.  When we started talking about the change of transparency and really getting into detail about the file sharing, they got more on board.

1) annoying. you’d be trying to focus on something, and you’d have top see everything behind your computer. difficult to use. have to get used to it. definitely be an adjustment. significantly different 0 to make the change

2) “i would not like that.” “invasion of privacy”

3) resounding yes. in class. professor knowing you’re not doing what you’re supposed to be doing. knowibng not taking notes. at work, serious issue. might cut down on the facebook stalking,.

4) if you could figure out how to read it. “eh” “maybe” “yeah” “blah”

5)     that’d be really cool.

Summary of Findings

Privacy is not as much of an issue as we thought it would be. Most
people are okay with the idea of using a transparent in a classroom or
public setting and would not change their behavior severely. Others
believe that they will change their behavior by taking notes more in
class and not going on Facebook as much at school or at work. Some
people believe that using a transparent screen would be awkward at
first and would take time to get used to. The use of transparent
screens might also be distracting if not in a classroom setting. One
group did not like the idea of a transparent screen at all.

All groups enjoyed our product’s use of information sharing and
thought it would be highly beneficial in their work. Sharing
information would be easy and allow for work to be collaborated more
readily. But at the same time, this ability could also promote
laziness and you would not see people face-to-face but it is great for
multimedia.

Change of Product Idea

The interviews were the best source for information regarding the specifics of our project and what needed to be changed and made better.  The first group seriously loved the idea to be able to drag project files from screen to screen.  This was a side of the feature that wasn’t really thought about before, but makes perfect sense.  Where we had initially seen this as a way to share links, opening it up to any file type allows for an addition level of usage.

The second group we interviewed provided a totally different outlook on the product.  They seemed to have more focus on usability.  Their primary concern was the see-through technology not being as useful in certain situations.  They brought up the point that sometimes you don’t want everyone in a room seeing what you’re doing, for instance if you’re working in the lab when class isn’t going on.  As such we decided to add a transparency setting on your computer.  If you want the computer to be transparent you have control over that.  In addition the teacher of the classroom will have control over all the computers in the classroom as a way to set them all transparent during class.

The last group we interviewed commented some on the previous ideas but focused more on the idea of a tablet.  What they wanted was a dual sided tablet so people can draw on each other’s screens, sort of like two people on a white board.  We feel like this would be a bad idea, for when someone is trying to get a thought into a more concrete form, they don’t want people drawing while they are drawing.  This idea did influence a change we want to make to our product, and that would be to make the screen a tablet.  Since these products will be interactive, adding a tablet will allow people to draw what they are thinking in a program like paint and instantly share it across the group.  If you’re not a tablet user, you will still be able to use the computer normally without this feature.

Experience Reflection

The data gathering experience was an excellent learning opportunity for us with regards to both the design process and our design itself. We came across different perspectives we had not previously encountered or considered with regards to the product. We noticed how subjects’ different frames of mind greatly affected their actions and answers. With this in mind, having a questionaire may not have been a bad idea after all. Design aspects we considered to be non-issues were brought up as points of debate, and new ideas for the product emerged during the data gathering. Examples include the mirroring of the screen versus forcing screen contents to appear correctly on both sides and adding a tablet to the screen. At several points, we found ourselves debating with the responses given by our subjects. We learned to temper our opinions with our subjects and vice versa. We still believe our choice of semi-scripted interviews was a good idea, but a smaller amount of structure to the scripting may have produced more opportunities for discussion with the subjects and yielded more valuable information.