Ambiguous Intentions: a Paper-like Interface for Creative Design

by

Mark D. Gross and Ellen Yi-Luen Do

Summary

"While most computer interfaces are text-based, we wonder how far we can push pen based, freehand additions."

Gross and Do begin by stating that most designers when working in the early design stages prefer pen and paper to a computer. It makes sens; pen and paper provides more fluidity than menu based computer applications. Computers are definitive and precise. The authors propose that a pen based computer application could have ambiguity, imprecision and be created in such a way to encourage incremental formalization of ideas. I had often viewed ambiguity and imprecision as something to be avoided, but the authors point out that ambiguity allows for alternatives to be considered and that imprecision allows for decisions to be postponed.

Gross and Do developed an Electronic Cocktail Napkin (They used Macintosh Common Lisp, my heart is a flutter). The program was suppose to function like a normal drawing application, but to also allow for retrieval, simulation, design critiquing and collaborative work. ECN can recognize "configurations", which are user defined patterns and beautification rules. Recognition of these configurations depends on the context in which the user is drawing in. The system allows for alternative recognitions, it is capable of waiting for more information to clarify another recognition. In the systems contexts are chained, the system checks for the glyph to be recognized by the first and then works its way down. Recognition of the glyphs and configurations takes place with consideration of the context. The system is able to recognize which context the author is creating in.

A variety of user studies were performed, focusing on how architectural student would use such as system. Gross and Do wanted ECN to be a general purpose drawing diagram that end users could make more specific.

Discussion

The retrieval component seemed similar to Brandon's MARQS application. The whole "general purpose that users make more specific" is something that LADDER accomplishes with domain descriptions. Architecture is such a drawing based field, I would find it more interesting if they perused a discipline that didn't so heavily rely on drawing and show how they could work more efficiently through a pen based input. All of these types of applications depend heavily on the concept of diagrams. They don't want people to actually sketch what they want, the want them to sketch simple shapes that have a metaphorical connection to what the author is visualizing.

Citation

Gross, M. D. and Do, E. Y. 1996. Ambiguous intentions: a paper-like interface for creative design. In Proceedings of the 9th Annual ACM Symposium on User interface Software and Technology (Seattle, Washington, United States, November 06 - 08, 1996). UIST '96. ACM Press, New York, NY, 183-192. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/237091.237119