Secrets to success and fatal flaws: the design of large-display groupware

Abstract

Research in the field of large-display groupware applications has yet to yield a killer app, a common look and feel for applications, or a set of broadly applicable design principles. It's therefore difficult to understand what constitutes a successful large-display groupware application and what affects their adoption. Although large-display groupware faces many of the same adoption and use challenges as conventional desktop groupware, how people perceive and interact with large-display groupware yields some unique challenges. We've built and evaluated several large-display groupware systems that address various workgroups, functions, and environments. This experience has given us broad expertise regarding the social dynamics and technical challenges surrounding large-display groupware's design. To enhance our understanding of these challenges, we've also undertaken a broad survey of existing large-display groupware systems to understand how their purpose, design, and deployment affect the success of their integration into everyday tasks and practices.