Activitybased User Interfaces

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Activity-based User Interfaces

• Rachel Jones and Chris Khalil

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Objectives

• Opportunities
• Multi-Function Devices (MFDs) are digital devices
  offering the capability to print, copy, fax and
  scan in one box
• MFDs are networked devices making accessible
  facilities at remote locations
• Problem
• User interface is focussed on device capabilities
  
• MFDs have the potential to support complex
  functionality
• Objectives
• To develop strategies for making MFD services
  more accessible
• To improve the user interface of MFDs
• To extend the services offered by MFDs

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Plan

• The way things are Current user interface of
  Hodaka
• A typical work setting The Mortgage Application
  Process
• The way things could be ActivitySets
• System Architecture
• Issues
• Futures
• Demo

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Problem with Hodaka User Interface- take
Scan-to-File

• What do I have to do to scan this document?
• A template must be set-up from the desktop
• What do all these parameters mean?
• Parameters that change often, such as file
  location, are mixed with default parameters, such
  as the IP address of MFD
• Which is the right template?
• Difficult to navigate a long list of up to 500
  templates
• Where is my file?
• Files are stored on ftp server using an obscure
  naming convention

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Desktop Interface
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Template selection at the Hodaka

• PHOTO.

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The Mortgage Application Process
Document intensive knowledge work distributed
across intra and inter-organisational boundaries

• Locations studied
• High street branch offices
• Regional Centres
• Central Headquarters
• Rich source of examples of work practices
  involving document capture, document distribution
  and document assembly
• Similar examples of case assembly in other
  domains - e.g. legal, insurance, government.

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Fieldwork Results

• From studying the co-ordination of work in a
  distributed setting, we obtained
• An understanding of a work setting
• Descriptions of typical work patterns
• Scenarios illustrating opportunities for MFD
  services

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Design strategy

• Carried out a work process analysis to identify
  activities
• Adopted different views of MFDs
• Document portal
• Document repository
• Examined activities to identify document transfer
  and document access regularities
• Used views and regularities to structure UIs
• Focussed particularly on Scan-to-File

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Different views of MFDs
Process Activities e.g. Request references
Document Repository A service for accessing a
file store
Document Portal A service for transferring
information to a different location or medium
Document Services e.g. scan, fax, copy, print
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ActivitySets

• Document portal set
• Document repository set
• File set
• User set

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Document Portal ActivitySet

• Interaction steps derived from field-work
• Direct interaction with the templates affords the
  possibility to control the interaction
• Semantic clustering of templates set the work
  context
• from Case to Activity to Document

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Document Repository ActivitySet

• Support basic document management system
  functionality
• Storage Add to case
• Distribution To multiple parties
• Retrieval Use information in case
• Archive

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File ActivitySet

• Navigate document repository to file a scanned
  document
• No direct interaction with templates
• Coherent document collections set the work context

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User ActivitySet

• Separation of user-specific settings from device
  settings in templates

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System Architecture
Our software is running on PC
Touch screen connected to PC
touch screen
User interacts with touch screen
Data fetched by our software and actions taken
corresponding to the user interaction
Then, user presses the green button
ftp server
Hodaka
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Platform for connecting to Hodaka

• Adopt a low-coupling approach between platform
  and UIs
• Use DAE as underlying software
• Develop a set of services to support existing
  Hodaka functionality
• Develop notification and awareness services

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Services for existing functionality

• Scan to file
• plus the ability to re-locate a file
• plus the conversion of a file into a readable
  format
• Print
• conversion of a file into a printable format
• Copy
• (Fax)

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Notification and Awareness services

• E-mail confirmation of scan to file completion
• Logging document activities
• user information
• file information
• document monitor information
• Reminders
• daily log
• e-mail

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Working Demonstrator

• Shown in Rochester and PARC in November 1998

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Achievements

• Demonstrated the potential of a customizable UI
• Operation takes place at MFD rather than from
  desktop
• Organized interaction steps
• Selection of values from fields rather than field
  entry
• Specification of additional services at job entry
• Extended functionality of MFD

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Issues

• Usefulness of going to higher levels of activity?
• What do we customize and what can we make
  generic?
• How do we know this strategy makes MFD services
  more accessible?

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Futures

• Capture regularities as a set of services to be
  customized to the work setting
• Develop notification and awareness services
• Support interaction dependencies to develop a
  primitive workflow system
• Test generality of strategy by applying it to
  another work setting