Design and Implementation of Post-WIMP Interactive Spaces with the ZOIL Paradigm

Post-WIMP (post-“Windows, Icons, Menu, Pointer”) interactive spaces are physical environments or rooms for collaborative work that are augmented with ubiquitous computing technology. Their purpose is to enable a computer-supported collaboration of multiple co-located users that is based on a seamless use of and “natural” interaction with multiple devices and displays. This thesis answers the research question how the designers and developers of such ubiquitous computing environments can be supported to create more usable multi-user and multi-device post-WIMP interactive spaces for co-located collaborative knowledge work. For this purpose, it first defines concepts such as post-WIMP interaction, interactive spaces, and knowledge work. Then it formulates the novel ZOIL (Zoomable ObjectOriented Information Landscape) technological paradigm. The ZOIL paradigm is the main contribution of this thesis and consists of three components: 1.) The six ZOIL design principles that define ZOIL’s interaction style and provide “golden rules” to support interaction designers. 2.) The ZOIL software framework that supports developers during the implementation of post-WIMP interactive spaces for collaborative knowledge work and enables the realization of ZOIL’s design principles in practice. 3.) The four example prototypes based on ZOIL that can serve as exemplars for designers and developers likewise. Each of the six ZOIL design principles is derived from literature of disciplines related to Human-Computer Interaction including Ubiquitous Computing, Information Visualization, Computer-supported Cooperative Work, Cognitive Science, Personal Information Management, and Software Engineering. The formulation of the ZOIL design principles is empirically validated and extended based on the experiences and the findings from own user studies during creating and deploying the four ZOIL example prototypes for different application domains (e.g., eScience, collaborative search, creative design). The new open-source ZOIL software framework serves the implementation of post-WIMP interactive spaces that follow the ZOIL design principles. This software framework is described in its architecture and software design patterns and is evaluated in terms of its usability and practical value for developers in an API usability evaluation study.