1. Designing Digital Tabletop
Menus for Public Settings
Mindy Seto
University of Waterloo

2. Agenda
 Background
 Challenges with Tabletop User Interfaces
 Research Focus
 Design Methodology

3. Touch
apple.com
webdesignstrategy.co.nz
www.scansource.com blackberry.com

4. Digital Tabletops
Large-scale
Horizontal
Multi-Touch
Multi-User
microsoft.com/surface
smarttech.com
Natural User Interface

5. Challenges with Tabletop UIs
 Multi-User
 Screen Size & Real-Estate
 Orientation
 Touch

6. Challenges with Tabletop UIs
 Multi-User
 Screen Size & Real-Estate
 Orientation
 Touch

7. Challenges with Tabletop UIs
ABC
ABC
ABC
ABC
 Multi-User
 Screen Size & Real-Estate
 Orientation
 Touch

8. Challenges with Tabletop UIs
 Multi-User
 Screen Size & Real-Estate
 Orientation
 Touch

9. Menus
Linear Menus
www.askdavetaylor.com

10. Research Focus
 How do we communicate to users how they can interact
with the digital tabletop menu?
 Menu Invocation
 Menu Navigation
 How can the use of visual affordances and self-revealing
gestures guide users’ interaction with the menu?

11. Design Methodology
Identify Needs
&
Requirements
Design
Alternatives
Develop
Prototypes
Evaluate
Prototypes
from Sharp, Rogers, & Preece (2007)
User Centered
Design

12. Needs & Requirements
 Literature review
 Existing menu designs
 Interaction techniques for touch / digital tabletops
 Information organization
 On-site work with Infusion
 Microsoft Surface projects
Identify Needs
&
Requirements
Design
Alternatives
Develop
Prototypes
Evaluate
Prototypes

13. Design Considerations
What?
 Direct-Touch Digital Tabletop
Where?
 Public Setting / Walk-Up-and-Use
Who?
 Novice Users
How?
 Support Collaboration
Why?
 Data Exploration / Discoverability
Identify Needs
&
Requirements
Design
Alternatives
Develop
Prototypes
Evaluate
Prototypes

14. Design Alternatives
 Menu Invocation
 Menu Navigation
Identify Needs
&
Requirements
Design
Alternatives
Develop
Prototypes
Evaluate
Prototypes

15. Prototyping
 Low Fidelity
 Wireframes / Sketches
 Medium Fidelity
 Prototype programmed using Windows Presentation
Framework (WPF) / C#
 High Fidelity (planned)
 WPF application on digital tabletop
Identify Needs
&
Requirements
Design
Alternatives
Develop
Prototypes
Evaluate
Prototypes

16. Evaluation (planned)
 User study in public setting (i.e. The Museum)
 System Usability Scale (SUS)
 Data analysis
Identify Needs
&
Requirements
Design
Alternatives
Develop
Prototypes
Evaluate
Prototypes

17. Acknowledgements
Dr. Stacey Scott (Supervisor)
Justin Lin (Undergraduate Research Assistant)

18. Thank You for Listening!
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