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Workshops

Sunday, May 10, 2009
 

Time      
9am - 5pm Approaching "Amateur" (Room tbd) Collaborative information behavior: Developing new research directions (room tbd) From CSCW to new workstations: The Istme project (room tbd)

 

From CSCW to new workstations: the itsme project
Giorgio De Michelis and Marco Loregian
DISCo, University of Milano-Bicocca and itsme srl
Milan, Italy
{gdemich,loregian}@disco.unimib.it

In the last 30 years, the desktop metaphor has become the standard user interface for workstations, with its pros (e.g., ease of learning) and cons (e.g., interaction constraints for skilled users, lack of context awareness). In this tutorial we present itsme, an initiative to create the next-generation workstation – especially designed for users who think that what they do holds value. Much of what we present derives from CSCW research, while Interaction Design research shapes the project, as well as the involvement of a wide and heterogeneous community of contributing people. The early design phases of the project led to the definition of a new metaphor for personal computing, called ‘stories and venues’. The metaphor is being adopted for the development of a radically new front-end for the Linux operating system.
The tutorial illustrates (through the itsme case) how CSCW research can drive the design and development of an innovative project, for example:

  • from a theoretical concept (conversations), to its embodiment in a metaphor (stories), and how to deal with it (venues);
  • from studies on communities, to how to communicate with them and involve them in appropriate ways (e.g., participatory design).

Tutorial online
We cover the following topics:

  • The scenario: the evolution of the PC market
  • What CSCW research taught us about Personal Computers and workstations
  • The impact of the Web
  • A new idea for a new workstation: the metaphor of “stories and venues”
  • The itsme project: design and development of the concept
  • The creation of a community coupling design and future marketing

Requirements and target audience
No special prerequisites required. Instructors welcome requests for clarification during the tutorial and a final discussion.
Audience: researchers, practitioners and students who are interested in innovation, personal computing and collaboration technologies.

References