Lecture 04: Tangible User Interface

Air Traffic Control system:

• Spend a lot of data & write a system - but scrapped and went to old system.

1. Reason 1: 2 years to get used to the system.
2. Reason 2: The way you interact with the system is too difficult/different.

• Old system:
• designed by traffic controllers
• physical/tangible objects to utilize
• visible
• entire system evolved - didn't have air ports before, only start to emerge after the air traffic controllers have developed a system.

• Focus on the work and setting of the work
• two roles of flight strips
• a representational role
• a coordinational role
• making work visible
• public availability of action over flight strips
• strips as a record of history
• work and the setting are intertwined
  

Ethnography - looking at how humans behave.
Social computing - people are remarkably sensitive to the behaviour of those around them, and make countless decisions that are shaped by their social context.

Design-focused social computing

• gathering field data and studying working settings - begin prototyping and see what works, what doesn't and why.
  
• Beyond single-user interfaces
• Participating
  

Tangible Computing

Social Computing