How a freeform spatial interface supports simple problem solving tasks

Authors:
Eser Kandogan;Juho Kim;Thomas P. Moran;Pablo Pedemonte
Affiliations:
IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California, USA;IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California, & Massachusettes Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA;IBM Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California, USA;IBM Argentina, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Venue:
Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Year:
2011

Citing 13
Cited 0

The intelligent use of space

Artificial Intelligence - Special volume on computational research on interaction and agency, part 2
Data mountain: using spatial memory for document management

Proceedings of the 11th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology
Spatial interpretation of domain objects integrated into a freeform electronic whiteboard

Proceedings of the 11th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology
Transcending the individual human mind—creating shared understanding through collaborative design

ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI) - Special issue on human-computer interaction in the new millennium, Part 1
A tangible interface for organizing information using a grid

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Are informal tools better?: comparing DEMAIS, pencil and paper, and authorware for early multimedia design

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Forms/3: A first-order visual language to explore the boundaries of the spreadsheet paradigm

Journal of Functional Programming
Mind maps and causal models: using graphical representations of field research data

CHI EA '97 CHI '97 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Keepin' it real: pushing the desktop metaphor with physics, piles and the pen

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
InkSeine: In Situ search for active note taking

Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Tool support for creativity using externalizations

Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCHI conference on Creativity & cognition
TEAM STORM: demonstrating an interaction model for working with multiple ideas during creative group work

Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCHI conference on Creativity & cognition
Thinking with hands: an embodied approach to the analysis of children's interaction with computational objects

CHI '09 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.01

Visualization

Abstract

We developed DataBoard, a freeform spatial interface, to support users in simple problem solving tasks. To develop a deeper understanding of the role of space and the tradeoffs between freeform and structured interaction styles in problem solving tasks, we conducted a controlled user study comparing the DataBoard with a spreadsheet and analyzed video data in detail. Beyond improvements in task performance and memory recall, our observations reveal that freeform interfaces can support users in a variety of ways: representing problems flexibly, developing strategies, executing strategies incrementally, tracking problem state easily, reducing mental computation, and verifying solutions perceptually. The spreadsheet also had advantages, and we discuss the tradeoffs.