Reading with mobile phone and large display

Roswita Gostner, Hand Gellersen, Chris Kray, Corina Sas

the paper tries to identify how interaction with two devices (mobile phone & screen) is preferred over interaction with the cellphone itself or the screen alone. The authors introduce three main hypotheses to investigate

1. completion time for SD+LD is faster than for SD only
2. completion time for SD+LD is faster than for LD only
3. SD+LD will be considered the easiest one for use by users

Dependent variables

• various user responses to the technology
  

Independent variables

• device combinations

I think some of the design issues affect what they want to measure. So the device combination is not the only thing changing in their methodology. They have different methods of interaction with the system. The keyboard size and shape is changing. The way the content is presented to the users is changing as well, so these things definitely affect the perception of the users while interacting with the large screen! I think considering the device combinations as the only independent variable is totally wrong!

The authors describe the design and the apparatus which is the physical specification of their environment. they describe the procedure and the participants and finally demonstrate the results.

Typing using the touch screen was not more difficult than using the phone! The mobile phone was ranked the second place compared to the large screen in terms of ease of use. This is interesting because it seems to me like they had typed it in faster using the screen but then they have considered the mobile phone easier to use when compared to the toch screen. Still the combination was considered faster.

The participants found working between two screens confusing! Looking at them as two separate entities as opposed to one single entity. I think in reality too it is also two separate entities. We dont do things on the mobile phone as part of the things that we can do with one computer but we actually consider it as an assitive secondary tool to do the task of typing!

Public Displays and Private Devices: a design space analysis

Alan Dix and Corina Sas, Public displays and private devices: A design space analysis, Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems (CHI 2008).

Interaction device uses

• selection or pointing
• text input
• personal memory/storage
• personal identification
• display identification
• content identification
• bespoke sensing
• display/interaction surface

people in an urban theatre

• performers
• participants (witting & unwitting)
  
• bystanders (witting & unwitting)
• passers-by

The uninteresting parts of interaction can be offloaded to the mobile device during the period of interaction.

Conlflicts

• content
• conflict between the use of the screen for content or interactive feedback
• conflict between different users wanting specific content
• conflict between the particular requirements of an individual and maintaining a content stream that is appealing for the bystanders
  
• pace: The pace of the user is different from that of the system as s/he is not the only one controlling the system.
• Not having the things right when they want it
• the flow of information can not be altered by any particular user

Spatial context

• fully public
• semi-public
• semi-private
• bound to the context
• no coupling
• weak coupling
• close coupling
• dynamic coupling

Device interactions

• alternative interface: Content is shared across the displays
  
• secondary interface: Using SMS to update the display (e.g.)
  
• coherent interface: single interaction that involves both screens
• The displays are used simultaneously