Comparing usage of a large high-resolution display to single or dual desktop displays for daily work

Abstract

With the ever increasing amount of digital information, users desire more screen real estate to process their daily computing work, and might well benefit from using a wall-size large high-resolution display instead of a desktop one. Unfortunately, we know very little about users' behaviors when using such a display for daily computing. We present a week-long study that investigates large display use in a personal desktop computing context by comparing it with single and dual desktop monitor use. Results show users' unanimous preference for using a large display: it facilitates multi-window and rich information tasks, enhances users' awareness of peripheral applications, and offers a more"immersive experience. Further, the data reveals distinct usage patterns in partitioning screen real estate and managing windows on a large display. Detailed analysis of these results provides insights into designing interaction techniques and window management systems more suited to a large display.