Thesis Work (Overview)
Overview
The main purpose of people gathering in a meeting or conference room is the sharing of information. How this information is shared varies tremendously, ranging from formal presentations, using visuals, or simply having a group discussion. With the advent and ubiquity of powerful technology devices with Internet connections, access to a wealth of information is at each attendees' fingertips.
However, the primary research within this area focuses more on new interaction techniques or developing software frameworks to deal with transferring information to shared public displays. Relatively little is known about how the presence and location of multiple shared displays influence the performance and satisfaction of teams collaborating. (Conversely, there are several research papers exploring positive benefit gains of individuals using multiple-monitor setups at their own workstations.)
My thesis work investigates how increasing the number of shared pixel spaces in a meeting room changes meeting dynamics. Do meetings become more interactive? Is more information discussed? To understand the potential impacts, I employed both qualitative and quantitative methods initially conducting two field studies at large corporations and further investigating with a focused laboratory study. Finally, I develop visualization techniques and tool to graphically examine the collaborative process–what is the visual fingerprint left behind during these meetings?
Thesis Statement
A second shared display within a meeting environment, can A) result in same or improved collaboration and communication amongst meeting participants, and B) result in same or improved overall satisfaction with the meeting.
Research Agenda
I believe in the complementary power of qualitative and quantitative research, and as a result, use both within my thesis work. Initial field studies were conducted to 1) gain a sense of what practices (specifically technology and display usage) are currently employed in everyday meetings, and 2) gauge reaction and adoption to placing a second shared display into the observed meeting rooms. Findings were followed up with a focused laboratory study to isolate and control for external variables.
Field Studies
Two US corporations were the sites for the initial studies. Corporation A is a global company designing and selling office furniture, technology, and services, employing 13,000 companies worldwide. Observation Site A focused on a meeting space for members of the Supply Chain department whose collective purpose is to ensure the availability of commodities for products within the company. In addition, they seek out ways to reduce costs and expenses. A largely "mobile" group, 50 out of the 80 employees have no permanent cubicle or desk.
Corporation B is a wholly owned subsidiary of Company A, but operates as an independent small company specializing in developing and selling ergonomic tools such as VESA-mountable monitor arms, task lighting, and keyboard trays. Observation Site B was a traditional-style conference room used by Corporation B employees to conduct routine staff meetings, brainstorming sessions, and contact suppliers, and manufacturing plants of located out-of-state.
Lab Study
To follow up on the findings of the field studies–that there was evidence that the presence of a second shared display improved satisfaction with the meeting process and improved information sharing–a laboratory study was conducted to systematically explore components of the collaboration process. I conduced a user study using several shared display configurations with groups collaborating on a data-intensive analytical task. Teams completed the same task in a meeting space containing a single, side-by-side dual, or opposing dual shared displays. General findings (submitted for publication) include a significant impact of the second display's location on the ability for teams to make logical connections amongst the data. Also, the presence and location of the shared displays impacted social protocols during the collaboration process.
Visualization
The data obtained from the lab study is at a very fine level, specifically at one-second intervals. While statistics and observations yield interesting (and some surprising findings), they were not capturing all of the subtle changes to the meeting process. I worked to develop a visualization tool to dynamically explore various components of the meeting process including content shared, speaking, pointing, and using the whiteboard. My goal was to create a visual "fingerprint" of the meeting process to aid understanding of the impact of multiple shared displays on the meeting process.
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(c) 2008 Christopher Plaue
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Last modified 29 October 2008 at 2:37 pm by Chris Plaue |
