Towards a design space for ubiquitous computing
Download as PPTX, PDF1 like379 views
The document proposes a design space to help interaction designers better understand their options for designing ubiquitous computing systems. It was created through a literature review on ubiquitous computing challenges, issues, technologies, and focus areas. The design space maps questions about system characteristics, enabling technologies, design challenges, goals, and quality attributes to potential options and criteria for evaluating those options. It was tested on the LearnMix project and provided guidance on important design considerations. The design space is intended to explore design directions without commitment and present relevant factors for designers to consider for their projects.
Towards a design space for ubiquitous computing
- 1. Towards a Design Space for Ubiquitous Computing Ilya Shmorgun, David Lamas Institute of Informatics Tallinn University Supported by the Tiger University Program of the Information Technology Foundation for Education.
- 2. Introduction • While the field of ubiquitous computing is quite mature, it lacks robust analytical tools devoted to design. • Design issues are commonly being solved on a case-by-case basis in small teams, where it is sufficiently easy to convey ideas. • There appears to be a need for means of helping interaction designers better understand the potential options available to them for the design of ubicomp systems and the reasons for choosing among those options. • One such potential means is the ubiquitous computing design space. 17.08.2014 Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University 2
- 3. Procedure • The design space is a result of a literature review, which was guided by the question: “What constitutes the field of ubiquitous computing?” • Additional questions were related to the main challenges, issues, focus areas, and technologies being used. • Articles from international peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings were collected in ACM Digital Library, IEEE Computer Society, and Springer Link, in addition to several books from Amazon.com. • The findings were structured with the help of the QOC notation, which is part of the design space rationale approach, proposed by Maclean et al. 17.08.2014 Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University 3
- 4. Design Space • The design space can be presented as a node-and-link diagram or in tabular form. • The Questions are related to characteristics, enabling technologies, design challenges, design goals, and quality attributes. • Options are presented as potential answers to the Questions, and Criteria argue for or against the Options. • Criteria arguing for the Options are connected with a full line or are marked with a “+” in the table, the Options arguing against are marked with a dashed line or a “-”. 17.08.2014 Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University 4
- 5. Example Visualization of the Design Space 17.08.2014 Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University 5
- 6. Examples of Use • The design space was used in the LearnMix project, where suitable Options were selected based on the project’s design values. • The Options were ranked by using a 3-point scale to identify their relevance to the project. • The results suggest that it is important to focus on designing a system reliant on embedded infrastructure, enabled by multimedia, alternative forms input, low-power high-performance processors, communications, and web technologies. The main design challenge is to understand user needs with a goal of augmenting existing practices and with attention to usability. 17.08.2014 Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University 6
- 7. Discussion • The design space does not provide answers to all possible issues and should be further matured through use. • Alternative forms of visualizing the design space could be explored as existing approaches do not work well with too many Options and Criteria. 17.08.2014 Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University 7
- 8. Conclusion • The proposed design space attempts to map the status quo of ubiquitous computing and provide a way of exploring possible directions without premature commitment. • The design space aims to present potential design goals, characteristics, challenges, technologies, and quality attributes to be used by ubicomp designers. • It is up to the designer to select the Options based on the requirements of a particular project. 17.08.2014 Institute of Informatics, Tallinn University 8