Shared Views
While having access to digital information can be beneficial in many instances, it is difficult for multiple people to view information simultaneously on handheld computers. In particular, we are interested in exploring whether or not the ability to share annotations across handheld computers can benefit users' coordination and collaboration. This summer we undertook a study examining shared views in the context of mobile co-located users collaborating across handheld devices.
The City Chase
The first study involved three pairs of participants using handheld computers in a city wide race called the City Chase . This was an organized event in which teams were required to navigate a city, solve clues, find race pit-stops and perform unusual tasks at these stops. The objective of the race was to finish these challenges before any other team. Our three research teams were equipped with handheld devices, cell phones, paper and electronics maps, and bus schedules to help them achieve this goal. A "command center" was setup in the lab where race participants could call to request online resources.
Methodological Challenges
In order to collect data during the City Chase, the participants were outfitted with audio recorders and one team was videotaped during the race. Interactions with the handheld devices were logged. Finally, participants took part in a verbal debriefing session with the other researchers following the race and wrote retrospective discussions of the day's event. Although these seem like basic, routine data collection methods, within the realm of evaluating collaborative mobile computing, this was not the case.
Weather was a significant factor that negatively affected our ability to collect data. Very heavy rain fell for the first two hours of race, meaning that all electronic devices (handhelds and the video camera) were wrapped in baggies. The quality of the audio recordings was very poor due to the downtown area's background noise, such as traffic. Only one group was videotaped because it was difficult to find observers who could keep up with the team and videotape at the same time. The video recordings we did capture were very shaky and the viewing angles were less than ideal. Finally, we were not able to evaluate the use of shared views between participants because the handhelds were seldom used. This was attributed to several factors such as weather and the fact the participants were constantly in motion and under time constraints. It was much easier and quicker to use a paper map or call the "command center".
We have reflected on the difficulties and challenges we experienced in evaluating collaborative mobile computing in the paper "Evaluation of Mobile Collaboration: Learning from our Mistakes"
Proposed study
We are now undertaking a second study in which we will explore the effect of shared or separate views on users collaborating together with handheld computers in a controlled environment. Pairs of users will work together to complete both map-based and document-based tasks under three different conditions:
- A single handheld between the pair
- Two handhelds, each with a separate view, between the pair
- Two handhelds, with the options for shared views, between the pair