Designing an Interactive Message Board as a Technology ... - CiteSeerX

DesigninganInteractiveMessageBoardasa TechnologyProbeforFamilyCommunication HilaryBrowne, BenjaminBBederson, . Catherine Plaisant, Allison Human-Computer InteractionLab Institute for Advanced Computer Studies University oMaryland, f College Park, MD20742USA {hbrowne, bederson, plaisant, allisond}@cs.umd.edu

Druin

ABSTRACT

Inthispaper,wedescribethedesignissuesandte implementationofaninteractiveFamilyMessageBoa TheFamilyMessageBoardenablesmembersofa distributedfamilytocommunicatewithoneanother synchronouslyandasynchronouslyviasimple,pen-ba digitalnotes.EachhouseholdrunningthisJava-bas softwarecanview,create,andmanipulatenotesin zoomablespace.TheFamilyMessageBoardwillbeus asa“technologyprobe”tohelpusunderstandthe communicationneedsodistributed f families,andto design new devices tomeetthoseneeds.

chnical rd. both sed, ed a ed helpus

Keywords

Technologyforfamilies,CSCW,sharedcommunication remote awareness, zooming user interfaces, ZUIs, disappearingcomputer,cooperativedesign,particip design,technology probes.

, atory

INTRODUCTION

Today'sfamiliesaremoregeographicallydistribute dthan ever.Childrenattendschoolsfarawayfromtheirp arents; grandparents may live in a different country than grandchildren. Letters, email, instant messages, an d telephoneconversationscanhelpkeepremotefamily members up to date on major family events,butthepatternsoeveryday f lifeareoften missed.In addition,thesecommunicationtechniquesareallei ther strictlysynchronousorasynchronous,andeachsuff ers from somebothersomecomplications. Lettersandemailareasynchronousactivitiesthat don’t provideanyremoteawarenesstotheparticipatingp arties aboutoneanother.Letters areaddressedtoonlyone householdandrequireatriptothemailboxopr ost office. Emailrequirescomputerandinternetcompetence,ti me wasteddialingupandloggingin,andisolationfro m collocated family members. Both also assume that participants areabletoreadandwrite. Instant messaging and phone conversations are synchronousactivities,requiringbothpartiestob epresent tocommunicateathe t sametime,andarenotpersis tent – onceyoulogofforhangup,thereisnorecordof the interaction. Like email, instant messaging requires computerknowledgeandliteracy,andcanleadtowa sted timeandisolation.Phoneconversationscanbeexpe nsive andarelimiteditnhenumber of participants.

Figure1Family : MessageBoard

Inanefforttoaddresstheseproblems,theInterLi ving Project,pa artoftheEuropeanUnion-fundedDisapp earing ComputerInitiative[7],isattemptingtodevelope mbedded technologiestoimproveandsimplifycommunication, collaboration,andcreativityamongdistributedfam ilies. Weareworkingwithmulti-generationalfamiliesin SwedenandParisasdesignpartners,usingtraditio nal ethnographicstudyandparticipatorydesignmethods in additiontowhatwehavetermed“technologyprobes” to explorethecommunicationneeds anddesiresodistributed f families. OneofthesetechnologyprobesistheFamilyMessag Board,asoftwareprogramdesignedtobeusedwith digitalwritingsurfaceanddisplaywherefamilyme canwriteordrawnotestoeachother,muchlikepa stickynotes(seeFigure1).Localandremotefamil memberscanhaveboardsinmultiplelocations(e.g. work,school),andallarenetworkedtogethersoth messagespostedshowuponallthemessageboardsi time.Asatechnologyprobe,theFamilyMessageBoa wasdesignedtobeadaptabletoavarietyofusesa scenariossothatfamilymemberscouldexperimenta

e a mbers per y home, atallthe nreal rd nd nd

bes

PalmOS-equippedPDAstoexchangehandwritten,text andgraphicnotes toother PDA’s or viaemail[6].

,

Themessageboardcanfunctionsynchronously,with two ormorefamilymemberscommunicatingathe t sameti me, orasynchronously,withfamilymemberscheckingthe ir boardsperiodically fornewmessages.Thissecondf unction allowsfamilymemberstoseemessagesthatmaybte otally unrelatedtothem(e.g.“Pick upmilkafterwork”),buthelp givesense a odaily f events.Theboardsareconnec tedonly toasmallsetofamilymembers,removingtheneed for complicatedsetupandrememberingnames,addresses, or buddylists.Thereins omouseokr eyboard –justapen andliteracyisnotrequired.Finally,themessage board hardwarecanbembeddedinsocialareas ofthehom seuch asafamilyroomorkitchen,andcanbemadeportab levia wireless technology.

Inthehome,asynchronouscommunicationvianotesa morepopularemailsoongavewaytosynchronous communicationviainstantmessaging(IM)andchat applicationssuchaA s OL’sInstantMessengerandIn RelayChat(IRQ)[1,29].Recently,bothresearcha commercialeffortshavebeenmadetoidentifyande additionalremoteawarenessinformationavailabled IMandchatsessions.

nd

discoverthemostvaluableones(seeTechnologyPro below).

RELATEDWORK

TheFamilyMessageBoarddesignencompassesworkfr om avarietyoffields,whichwedescribebelow.The technologyisheavilyinfluencedbysharedwhiteboa rd projects in CSCW and commercial communication softwaresuchasinstantmessaging.Asadevicefor families,ourworkbuildsongrowingresearchinto technologyforthehome.Inanefforttokeepremot feamily membersconnectedinameaningfulway,wewere influencedbyresearchinremoteawareness.Ouruse rinterfacedesignibs asedonpastexperiencewithz oomable userinterfaces.Finally,ourdesiretoinvolveour usersin thedesignprocesscomesfromexperienceinpartici patory design andleadtotheconceptof technology probes . Theideaoanf etworked,digitalwritingsurfaceha along s history in the CSCW literature through numerous implementationsosfharedwhiteboardtechnologies. From earlyworksuchasWang’sFreestyleandXerox’sTiv oli projectstomorerecentapplicationsincludingFlat landand Rekimoto’s Pick-and Drop, these whiteboards have providedinnovativefeaturesforsynchronized,netw orked communication itnheworkplace[39,30,27,32]. Thesharedwhiteboardideaquicklygravitatedfrom dedicateddevicestostandardPCdesktopsandfrom synchronousactivitytoasynchronousmessagingvia notes.Lotus’TeleNotesapplicationwasamongthef projectstorecognizetheneedforshared,asynchro workplacecommunicationbysupportingvirtualdeskt stickynotes[40].Greenberg’sNotificationCollage more recent example that supports more advanced communicationbyallowingcolleaguestopostpictur conversevialivevideoinadditiontopostingnote another [14]. Inthecommercialarena,virtualnoteapplications ubiquitousinthePCandPDAmarkets. TurboNote+i sharewareprogramthatallowsWindowsPCuserstoc onscreensticky notes thatcanbdeeliveredover th viaIPorviaemail[35].ElectricPockethasdevel applicationcalledBugMe!Messengerthatallowsuse

virtual irst nous op isa esand tso ne are as reate Ienternet opedan rsof

ternet nd xploit uring

Nardietal.haveidentifiedanumberouf sesforI Minthe workplacethatfalloutsideoftraditionalcommunic ation, includingnegotiationofavailabilityandsustainin gsocial connections[28].ResearchersaFujitsu t areexperi menting withaugmentingIMoncellphonestoincludeicons indicatingemotionsandtextmemos[25].Yahoo’s MessengerIMservicehasrecentlyintegratedWebcam functionalitytoallowuserstoseeeachothervia livevideo [42].Inthechatarena,traditionaltext-basedapp lications havebeenaugmentedwithavatarsequippedwitha selectionofgesturesandexpressions[22]andabst ract shapesthatconveyinformationaboutauser’sactiv ity graphically [37]. OurFamilyMessageBoardborrowsfeaturesfromall of thesepreviousprojectsandproducts,butthecombi nation resultsinauniqueapplication:first,itismeant forhome usebyafixedsetofusers;second,itismeantto beused withanembeddedoportable r writabletabletdispla y;third, itcanbeusedbothsynchronouslyandasynchronousl y; fourth,iitsmeanttosupportremoteawareness;fi fth,it makesuseofapersistent,graphical,zoomableuser interface;andfinally,itis technology a probewh osedesign is being guidedbtyhefamilies using it. Thisfirstdifferenceisperhapsthemostsignifica nt. Designingtechnologyforthe homeifsardifferentthanfor theworkplace.Peoplehavegoalsotherthanimprovi ng productivityorefficiencywhenusingtechnologyin the home.Forinstance,theHomeNetstudy aCarnegie t M ellon foundthatinterpersonalcommunication(e.g.email) is more popular than information or entertainment applications[20].Homeusersarealsolikelytobe less tolerantofugly,utilitariandesignsandhardware or softwarefailures.Finally,theyarefarmorediver se,in everysenseothe f word,thanthetargetaudiences ofmany technologyproducts[33] –peopleoall fages,interests,and abilities arepotentialusers. Despitethesedifferences,householdsanddesigners householdtechnologiescontinuetotreathometechn suchasthePCaswork-relateddevices.Thesocial inthehomewherefamilymembersspendmostofthei timeinteractingwithoneanother(e.g.kitchen,de separatedfromworkspaces(e.g.“homeoffices”)wh PC’sarekept[23,36]. Thus,technologiessuchaes instantmessagingthathomeusersappeartowantto stayintouchwithremotefriendsandfamilycanha unwantedside-effectokf eepingtheseusersisolate

of ologies spaces r n)are ere mailand useto vethe dfrom

theircollocatedfamilymembers,perhapsevencausi declines in psychologicalandsocialwell-being [21

ng ].

Toavoidthisproblemofisolation,technologiesca nbe embeddedinmoresocialareasofthehome,ormade lightweightandportablesotheycanbecarriedand shared wherepeoplewishtousethem.AspartoftheDisap pearing Computer Initiative,theInterLivingprojectseeksto developtechnologiesthatdoexactlythis.Theevid encefor homeusers’desiringsuchtechnologiesicsompellin g.Ina recentstudybyMediaOneLabs,homeusersgiven portable,wireless,Internet-enabledtabletscited portability andtheabilitytomulti-taskasthenicestfeature softhe tabletas comparedtPC oa [24]. IntervalResearch’sCasablancaprojectusedethnogr aphic fieldstudiesandconsumertestingofdesignconcep tsto gaugehomeusers’interestinnewtechnologiesfor the home[15].Oneothese f devices,pa rototypesimula tionof aScanBoard,providedsimilarfunctionalitytothe Family MessageBoard.Userscouldpostmessagesusinga writableLCDscreennetworkedtootherfamilymembe rs, aswellasscaninphotos,drawings,andotherpape r artifactstobedigitizedandshared.Usersappreci atedthe abilitytokeepintouchwithomonitor r familymem bersin afun,low-cost,simpleway,andspecificallyliked the abilitytoshareviascanningandto communicateinmore expressiveways.

Mynatt’sDigitalFamilyPortraitwasdesignedtohe childrencheckinonagingparentsinanunobtrusiv mannerviaactiveiconsonapictureframe[26].Li thepersistent,real-timeupdatingofcolorfulnote drawingsontheFamilyMessageBoardprovides sen a presencetoremotefamilymembers. Another differencebetweenour Family MessageBoard manyothercommunicationtechnologiesisitspersis graphical,zoomableorganizationofmessages.This interfacedesigngrewoutofanumberofyearsof experienceinourlabwithdesigningzoominguser interfaces(ZUI’s).UnlikemostchatandIMapplica whicharetext-basedandtransient,weusedtheJaz (seeTechnicalImplementation below)tohelpusers andnavigategraphicalmessageswrittenwithadigi in large a zoomablespace[3]. ArecentstudybyBedersonandBoltmanindicatesth animatedtransitionsbetweenviewpointsinthissor zoomable environment improves users’ abililities to reconstructinformationspaces[2].TheFamilyMess Boardaimstohelpusersorganizeandfindtheirme byallowingthemtoarrangetheirmessagesinaper space.Userscanzoominandoutofthespaceandd notesinandoutofadefaultgridarrangementtod their spaceonotes f in meaningful a way.

lpadult e kewise, sand seof and tent, user

tions, tzoolkit arrange talpen atthe tof age ssages sistent rag esign

TECHNOLOGYPROBES

TheCasablancaprojectalsorevealedthatinadditi ontothe moreobviousgoalsosf imple,low-costdevicestou seto keepintouch,userswanteddevicesthatrespected privacy, didnotcreatenewobligations,andofferedmultipl e communication modes. The Family Message Board addressesallofthesecriteriawithitscommunicat ion mechanisms.Notepostingcanbde onesynchronously, like IMorchat,orasynchronously,likeemail.Privacy is ensured because only known family members are connectedtothenetworkandthereinsomonitoring aspect. Thereisnoobligationtoreplyimmediatelyoraat lltoa message.

ThefinaldifferencesbetweentheFamilyMessageBo ard andmanyothercommunicationdevicesinvolveitsus aeas technologyprobewithourfamilydesignpartners.T heidea ofpartneringwithusershasalonghistoryinthe HCI community, with methodologies including contextual design[41],cooperativedesign[4],andparticipat ory design[12]allallowingadultuserstoworkwith technologists.Morerecently,Druinhasextendedth is partnershiptoincludechildrenthroughthemethod of cooperativeinquiry [9].Weextendedthisideatow orkwith distributed,multigenerationalfamilies,whichweb elieve willresultinnewmethodologies aswell.

In addition to supporting both synchronous and asynchronouscommunication,wewerealsointerested in providingremoteawarenessforfamilymemberssepar ated by distance, making frequent face-to-face meetings impossible.Workinthisarea,suchastheXeroxPA RC’s MediaSpaceproject,andthePortholes,Peepholes, and Thunderwireapplications,hasfocusedonhelping remote colleagues work together and maintain informal connectionsusingvideo,audio,andiconstocreate virtual mediaspaces [5,8,13,16].

Theideaoatechnology f probewasmotivatedbyGav er’s workwithculturalprobes –maps,postcards,disposable cameras, and other materials “designed to provoke inspirationalresponsesfromelderlypeopleindive rse communities”[11].Theseprobesweredistributedto a groupoelderly f people,whoreturnedthemoverthe course ofamonthfilledwithinformalinformationaboutt heir lives and cultures. We extended this idea to use technologies,ratherthanphysicalobjects,togain an understandingocommunication f needs,ratherthanc ultural norms.

Inlaterwork,theAROMAprojectsoughttofindmor abstractrepresentationsformappingremoteactivit localdisplays[31].IBM’sBabblesoftwareaugmente traditionalchatinterfacewith“socialproxies” digitaldotsthatmovedinandoutoafcircletoi participationinaconversation[10].Recently,res thisareahasspreadtothehomeandibsecominges popularasthebabyboomgenerationages.Forexamp

e iesinto da –small ndicate earchin pecially le,

TheFamilyMessageBoardisonesuchtechnologypro thatweplantodeployinfamilieshomes.Likethe probes,itwasdesignedtoinspirecreativityande themtothinkabouthowtheyliketocommunicate. Familiescanuseitsynchronouslyandasynchronousl draworwriteinmultiplecolors,anddevelopconve toarrangenoteshowevertheylike.Wewillgather

be cultural ncourage y, ntions this

information via log files, interviews, written correspondence,andothermethodsandusethefeedb inform designs for futurecommunication devices.

ackto

DESIGNISSUES

OurmaingoalindesigningtheFamilyMessageBoard tokeepias tsimple,adaptable,andopen-endedas Astechnology a probe,thedesignneededtoallowf tofindinnovativeandunexpectedusesforitwitho encumberedbyrestrictivefunctionality.Oncethef haddiscoveredthebestusesforit,wecouldthen existingdesign,hardware,andsoftware,orperhaps startoverandbuildsomethingtotallydifferent,t whatthey reallywanted.

was possible. amilies utbeing amilies alterthe even ocreate

Wedecidedtobuildamessageboardbasedaroundvi notesbecauseoftheuniversalpopularityofpaper notesforinformalfamilycommunicationsandremind Wewouldlosetheverynicefeatureobf eingablet notesonanythinganywhereinthehouse,butgaina unlimitedsupplyofnotesandtheabilitytoshare remotelywithothers.Asmuchaspossible,wewante simulatetheexperienceowriting f realpapernotes awayfromstandarddesktopcomputingandtowardsa single,small,embedded,portable,devicethatuser view andwriteonwith digital a pen.

rtual sticky ers. ostick n them dto moving ,

Thisdesigngoalwasreinforcedbyresultsfromthe MediaOnewebtabletstudy,whichshowedthatusers small,portablekeyboardsandhandwritingrecogniti weredifficulttousewiththetablet[24].TheFam MessageBoardonlytakesfree-forminputfromasin pen.We alsochosetostayawayfromaddedfeatureslike voiceovideo r annotations,assupportedintheNot Collage[14],ortheabilitytoscaninrealpaper, supportedintheScanboard[15],fortworeasons.F didn’twanttocomplicatethedeviceoirntroducef thatmightthreatenfamilies’perceptionsofprivac Second,asatechnologyprobe,wewantedthemessag boardtoencouragefamiliestosuggestsuchfeature their own ithey f reallywantedthem.

scould

found on ily gle ification as irst,we eatures y. e son

TheinterfacedesignfortheFamilyMessageBoardp roved tobethemostinterestingdesignissue.Withthep otential formultipleremotefamilymemberstobeviewing, manipulating,andwritingontheirdevicessimultan eously, therewere number a ofusability andsynchronizatio nissues toconsider.Notonly itshemessagespacesharedb yfamily members at multiple locations, but multiple family membersatthesamelocationshareasinglemessage creationandviewingdevice.Asaresult,thereis reallyno senseoindividual f ownershipitnhespace. Thus,wechosetoimplementba ullitinboard-likei rather than oneinvolvingmailboxes or separatevis fornotestoorfromindividualusers,topics,ord Controlofthenotesinthemessagespaceishared users.Anyonecanwriteon,move,ordeleteanynot space,regardlessowho f createdit.Whennote a is amarginnearthetopothe f noteistampedwitht ofthedevicethatcreatedi(chosen t byeachfamil

nterface ualareas evices. byall ienthe created, hename ylocation

whenthedeviceisinstalled)andthedateandtime created.Thisinformationius sedtogiveasenseo awareness and timing when the board is used asynchronously. Newnotesareimmediatelysenttoallthedevicesi familyandaredisplayedinthesamelocationonal devices.Bydefault,newnotesarearrangedaccordi theircreationtimeigrid na demarcatedbyello ya Newnotesappearinthelowerrightcornerotfheg oldernotesarescaledtoprogressivelysmallersiz pushedtohigherrowsinthegrid.Notescanbemp by tappingan“!”iconinthetopleftcornerofth thepen,causingito tbecomeslightlylargerandc thebackgroundcolorotfhetopmargin.Notesared bytappingan“X”iconinthetoprightcornerotf Allactionsexceptfordrawingaredelayedonremot devicesuntilthedeviceisidlefor10secondsto remoteactionsfrominterferingwithsomeoneintera with device a locally. Wedidnotwanttoforceanykindoorganization f o onusers,butneededsomewayoafrrangingthemini andofmanagingthespacerequiredtodisplayalar numberofnotes.Wechosetoarrangetheminagrid accordingtotheirtimeofcreationbecauseitist knownnotefeature.Anyoneofthemultiplefamily membersthatshareadevicecancreateanote,and otherfamilymember,locallyoremotely, r canlater it. Organizationandpersonalizationofnotesbeyondth defaultplacementisentirelyuptousers.Notesca draggedoutofthemessagegridanywhereinthemes space.Notescanalsobedraggedbackintothegrid theyresumetheirplaceinthetime-basedorder.Th backgroundcolorof naote’stopmarginchangescol is movedinandoutofthegrid.Asnotesareaddedor removedfromthegrid,thegridreorganizesitself emptyspace.Thisdesignchoicemeansthatspatial consistencyislostasnotesaremovedinandouto grid,perhapsmaking notes harder tofinditnhegrid.

itwas remote f

nthe l ngto wborder. ridand esand hasized neotewith hanging eleted henote. e prevent cting notes f tially ge heonly any modify e nbe sage where , e orasit tofillup fthe

However,webelievethatspatialconsistencywillb e achievedbyusersremovingnotesfromthegridto rganize thenotes themselves.Withouttheautomaticreorgan ization, thegridwouldrapidlybecomehuge a wasteospace f filled withholes.Thus,thedesigndoesnotprecludethe ideaof organizingnotesbytopic,creator,inkcolor,what ever; rather itleaves this decisionuptotheusers coll ectively. Thisdesignalsoallowsforsomeinteresting,andp erhaps unexpectedinteractions,whichaddtousers’sense of remoteawareness.Twouserscandrawonthesameno teat thesametimeoone r usercoulddeletenote a that someone isinthemiddleofwriting.Thereisalsonoerase functionality –userssimplyaddtoexistingnotes,create newones,anddeleteoldones.Likepaperstickyno tes, crossingouterrorsosimply r startingoverisless effortthan finding aenraser.

Theonlythingsthataren’tsharedcollectivelyby remoteusersarethetoolbarcontrolsfixedtothe messagespaceineachdevice.Althoughthearrangem thenotesinspaceitshesameforalldevices,eac controlsitsabilitytocreatenewnotesanditsse pencolorforwritinganddrawing.Thisallowsmult userstointeractwiththemessagespaceathe t sam Buttonsareavailableforcreatingnewnotesandse oneofour f pen colors.

localand topothe f entof hdevice lectionof iple etime. lecting

Inaddition,eachnotecontrolsitsownselectiono interactwithanditsownviewofthemessagespace allowsusersaet achremotelocationtocontrolthe viewofthenotesforbrowsing.Onlyonenoteaat eachdevice’sviewofthespacecanbeselected.Th istheonlynotethatalocalusercandrawon,emp move,ordelete.Tappinganotewiththepenmakes activenoteandanimatesitintoafullscreenview zooming thecurrentview of themessagespace.

notes f to This . irown timein isnote hasize, itthe via

Sixnavigationbuttonsenablelocaluserstoviewt messagespaceinvariousways,independentlyofrem users.Leftandrightarrowbuttonsnavigatethroug intheordertheywerecreated.Tappingtheleftar button animates theview tothenotethatwas creat thecurrentlyselectednote,ifany.Tappingtheri buttonanimatestothenotecreatedafterthecurre selectednote,ifany.Thesearrowsaredisabledif nocurrentlyselectednoteornonotebeforeoraft currently selectednote.

he ote hnotes row edbefore ghtarrow ntly thereis erthe

Zoominandoutarrowbuttonsanimatethecameravi focusonmoreoless r othe f messagespace.Ifna o localdeviceiselected,theviewzoomsaroundthi Otherwise,theviewzoomsaroundthecenterotfhe messagespace.A“ShowRecent”button zooms thevie thatonlythetwomostrecentrowsom f essagesint arevisible.A“ShowAll”buttonzoomstheviewso themessagesinthespacefitinthedevicewindow unselects thecurrently selectednote,if any.

ewto teinthe snote. entire wso hegrid thatall and

TECHNICALIMPLEMENTATION

TheFamilyMessageBoardsoftwarewasbuiltusingJ ava2 andthreeJava-basedtoolkits:theUniversityoMa f ryland’s Jazz,Sun’sJavaSharedDataToolkit2.0(JSDT),an d Interbind’sXIO,allavailablefordownloadonthe web [19,18,17].TheMessageBoardhardwarerequirements includeawritableLCDdisplay,suchasSony’sSlim top [34]orWacom’sPLSeries[38]pentablets,anda Windows-basedPC.Thesoftwarewillalsoworkwith a regulargraphicstablet,suchasaWacomGraphire, anda regularmonitor. WeusedtheJazztoolkitforthespatialarrangemen tof messagesintheFamilyMessageBoard.Jazzprovides a two-dimensionalscenegraphstructurefororganizin g graphicalobjectsinalarge,zoomablecanvas. Obj ectsare viewableandzoomablethroughavirtualcameraand can betranslated,rotated,andscaled.Messagesinthe Family MessageBoardarearrangedonthecanvasigrid na asthey arecreated,witholdermessagesshiftedandscaled toless

prominentgridpositions.Individualmessagesanda thegridcanbezoomedinorout,andmessagescan draggedoutofthegridandplacedinarbitraryloc thecanvas.

reasof be ationson

WeusedJSDTtosupportcommunicationbetweenmulti ple FamilyMessageBoardsscatteredamongthevarious householdsoadistributed f family.JSDTprovidess upport forcollaborative,networkedapplicationsbysuppor ting full-duplex,multicastcommunication.Multipleclie ntscan joinandleavecommunicationsessionsinorderto exchangeandshareinformation.Eachinstanceoft he FamilyMessageBoardisaclientthatjoinsawellknown sessionestablishedbyacentralserver,whoiasls oaclient in thesession.AseparateJSDTregistry processke eps track of alltheclients in thesession. Eachtimeaclientcreatesormodifiesamessage,J SDT sendsinformationaboutthismessagetoallotherc lients andtheserverusingareliable,TCP-basedcommunic ation channel.Whenaclientreceivesthismessageinform ation, itcreatesorupdatesitslocalcopyofthemessage and updatesitsdisplaytoreflectthechange.Whenthe server receivesthismessageinformation,itstoresiloc t allysothat newclientswhojointhesessionlatercanrequest the currentmessagesinthesystem.Thereceiptofnew or modifiedmessageinformationissynchronizedateac h clientsothatonlyoneisprocessedatatime intheevent thatmultipleremotedevices areactive. Finally,weusedInterbind’sXIOtoproviderobustn essin theeventof saerverfailure.XIOis Java a packag tehatcan beusedtoreadandwriteJavaobjectstoandfrom XML files.Userscreatetemplatesdescribingtheobject sina classthattheywantwrittenouttoanXMLfile.XI Ouses thetemplate,aserializationmanager,andtheclas s’s JavaBeanssetterandgettermethodsfortheseobjec tsto createthefilewhenwritingandtorecreatetheob jectsfrom thefilewhenreading.TheserverfortheFamilyMe ssage BoardusesXIOtowriteoutinformationtoanXMLf ile abouteachmessageinthesessionwheneverirecei t vesan update.Iftheservercrashes,allofthemessagei nformation canbreetrieved fromtheXMLfiletorecreatethemessage space. FUTUREWORK

Withthedesignandimplementationothe f Family Me ssage Boardcomplete,ournextstepitsodeployiin tth ehomes ofourfamilypartnerstobeusedastechnologypro bes. Usingfeedbackfromtheircomments,suggestions,an d systemlogfiles,aswellasfeedbackfromotherte chnology probesintheInterLivingproject,wewillgainab etter understandingoftheircommunicationneeds.Withth is information,wecanworkwiththemtodesignnew communicationtechnologiesthataddresstheseneeds better. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Wewouldliketothank our collaborators on theInt project,includingourfamilydesignpartners,for andfeedback.

erLiving theirinput

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