A Scalable, Portal-Based Interface for Managing Applications in Interactive Workspaces

Iconic interfaces have been used to enable users to visually manage applications in interactive workspaces. However, current implementations do not scale for larger numbers of applications and do not allow users to maintain adequate awareness of collaborator activities. Following an iterative design process and building on our previous work, we developed a new iconic interface called SEAPort. Our new interface uses zooming and animation-based interactions to improve scalability and uses application icons and thumbnails to improve awareness. Results from a user study validate these claims. The interaction techniques are applicable to the broader class of iconic and portal-based interfaces. ACM Classification: H.5.2 User Interfaces, H.5.3.b Collaborative Computing, C.3.h Ubiquitous Computing.

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