Using the Framework of Distributed Cognition in the Evaluation of a Collaborative Tool

Abstract

This paper reports on the preliminary findings of an on-going research on the usability of an interactive tabletop, DiamondTouch in a computer-supported collaborative design environment. It summarizes the analysis of the collaborative design activities around the table. Modelled after a household coffee table, DiamondTouch provides users with an informal environment where users can sit on comfortable chairs while interacting with the table concurrently.  The framework of  distributed cognition was used as an analytic tool which demonstrated how the communicative events around the tabletop were used to bring the design representations into coordination with one another and how information processing activity was performed.  Researcher examined the relationship between actors, artifacts, and the settings in which interactions occur.  Within a single conceptual framework, the representations flowing through functional systems as objects of analysis could be identified and allowed researcher to reason about design artifacts and cognitive artifacts. These helped in identifying characteristics which could enhance the usability of DiamondTouch, and potential weaknesses of the tabletop.