Clippit Post Mortem Panel

1
Clippit Post Mortem Panel

• Tim Bickmore
• John Davis
• Lewis Johnson
• Brian Whitworth

2
Format

• Overview Objectives
• Motivation behind Genesis of Clippit
• Panelist presentations
• Audience QA

3
Panelist Questions

• What is the best thing about Clippit from an
  etiquette perspective?
• What is the single worst thing about Clippit from
  an etiquette perspective?
• What could have been done to detect and fix the
  problem?
• Is there a role for character-based interfaces in
  desktop applications?
• What etiquette model(s) would you use?
• What design methodology would you use?
• How would you evaluate your design?

4
What could have been done differently?

• A Look at Interruptions
• Tim Bickmore
• MIT Media Lab

5
Turn-taking in f2f conversation

• Duncan, S. On the structure of speaker-auditor
  interaction during speaking turns. Language in
  Society 3, 1974, 161-180.
• Goodwin, C. Achieving Mutual Orientation at Turn
  Beginning. Conversational Organization
  Interaction between Speakers and Hearers.
  Academic Press, New York , 1981, 55-89.
• Sacks, H., Schegloff, E. A., and Jefferson, G. A
  Simplest Systematics for the Organization of
  Turn-Taking for Conversation. Language 50, 1974,
  696-735.
• Torres, O., et al Modeling Gaze Behavior as a
  Function of Discourse Structure, in Proceedings
  of First International Workshop on Human-Computer
  Conversation, 1997.

6
Turn-taking in f2f conversation
Function
Behavior
Speaker Give-Turn
Paralinguistic drawl on final syllable of
clause Termination of hand gesture Discourse
markers (but uh, you know) Completion of
clause
Auditor Take-Turn
Gaze away Start of hand gesture
Speaker Keep-Turn
Gaze away
Speaker Request Feedback
Gaze towards End clause Pause or Restart
7
Interruption in f2f conversation

• Bargiela-Chiappini, F. and Harris, S. J.
  Interruptive strategies in British and Italian
  management meetings. Text 16, 3, 1996, 269-297.
• Brown, P. and Levinson, S. C. Politeness Some
  universals in language usage. Cambridge
  University Press, Cambridge, 1987.
• Tannen, D. Conversational Style Analyzing talk
  among friends. Ablex, Norwood, New Jersey, 1984.
• Ulijn, J. M. and Li, X. Is interrupting impolite?
  Some temporal aspects of turn-taking in
  Chinese-Western and other intercultural business
  encounters. Text 15, 4, 1995, 589-627.

8
Interruption in f2f conversation

• Any deviation from a smooth speaker switch
• Ulijn Li
• Unmarked gives impression of a normal turn
  switch.
• e.g. during hesitation in 2nd half of utterance
• Marked Depicted as unexpected by the speaker
• e.g. during planning hesitation, or while
  speaking
• Marked interruptions are more frequent
• Study of Chinese, Finnish, Dutch Ulijn Li

9
Interruption as Face Threat

• True interruption (violation of norms) is a face
  threat.
• Threat to positive face (desire for inclusion)
• Threat to negative face (desire for autonomy)
• Depending on nature of relationship, some amount
  of mitigation is called for
• Positive politeness Im really enjoying your
  story, but..
• Negative politeness Im very sorry, but

10
Interruption in f2f conversation

• Significant cultural variation in involvement
  style
• Turn overlap / Inter-turn delay
• Significant variation based on relationship
• Power Distance
• Significant variation based on personality

11
Interruption in f2f conversation

• Interruptions are not always bad
• In a study of British and Italian management
  meetings, the majority of interruptions were
  facilitative (supporting, reinforcing, etc.).
  Bargiela-Chiappini Harris
• Power
• Conflicting findings on relationship with
  frequency of interruptions.
• One study high power interrupt and are
  interrupted more (and have more floor time) low
  power individuals rarely interrupt and are rarely
  interrupted. ibid

12
Back to Clippit

• Two levels of interrupt
• Shortcut tip displays light bulb
• Important, timely information taps at the
  screen and gestures.
• In both cases, character appears if not already
  displayed.
• Both wanting turn signals, may be interpreted
  as interruptions.

13
Suggestions for Clippit2

• Only interrupt at transition relevant points
• When user has paused, or is otherwise in-between
  tasks.
• Use gaze to help determine when user is giving
  the turn.
• Be sensitive to culture, personality,
  relationship, even task context
• e.g., a user on deadline probably doesnt want
  tips
• Be clear about how the relationship works
• Express appropriate politeness