W e s t m i n s t e r U n i v e r s i t y , H a r r o w , U K K E Y W O R D S : i n t e r a c t i v e T V , P D A , u s e r i n t e r f a c e , s e c o n d s c r e e n I nteractive television (iTV) has the potential to revolutionize the way we consume broadcast media, but users still find both the notion of iTV and the services currently available problematic. This paper describes a project that investigates a representative group of users' aspirations, and barriers to iTV service engagement in the UK. This primary research informed the development of new User Interface (UI) and service solutions that addressed these barriers. Specifically, a second screen solution was developed to remove the need for iTV services to use on-screen graphics, dramatically improving the possibilities for effective interaction and navigation for iTV interfaces and services. The effectiveness of these solutions was evaluated through the testing of these new iTV services in a representative group of family homes. INTRODUCTIONBy 2012 all TV broadcast in the UK will be in digital The move to digital from analogue offers some remarkable possibilities for viewers, broadcasters and programme makers. In addition to improvements such as choice (the UK currently has only five analogue broadcast channels) and an improvement in picture quality and sound, there is a range of possibilities for new types of content. These include interactive services, data casting and niche/community broadcast channels. In essence,• anything that can be represented in digital form can be broadcast, ranging from computer programs and websites to instructions for home automation systems.Research within households tells us the practical development of these possibilities is being stifled by a lack of engagement with current iTV services by users. The overarching aim of the research on which this paper is drawing is the identification and resolution of these problems with user engagement in iTV. We argue that the control and access to interactive content is restricted by current interaction models, that is, the conventional remote control (see England & Finney, 2002; Eronen & Vuorimaa, 2000; and Steemens, 1998). This was supported by our experience in the fieldwork but clearly this is a complex picture informed by the services on offer and their marketing, user perceptions and willingness to engage with new technology. A more sophisticated form of input and control needs to be introduced for iTV to reach its full potential.We present research that tested the use of personal touch screen devices, in this case Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), as a mechanism for accessing iTV services and controlling television operating systems (for example, Electronic Programme Guides (EPGs)) without having to interrupt broadcast programmes at all. The objectives of this research were:• To identify some of the barriers to usage of current digital TV systems through a series of interviews in the homes of a representative sample of the current users of digital TV;To design technical...

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In this paper we report on a study conducted in 2007 and 2008 looking at the media use habits of 27 families in the Greater London area. The project builds on previous work studying media use within a similar group in 2006. The study investigated attitudes towards different types of media and the role Television (TV) currently plays and could play within the home environment. To facilitate the study we rapidly prototyped an experimental home media device and asked participants to use and respond to it. We explored issues of interactional simplicity and sharing media using a TV and employed the experimental device as a focal point for discussion and the generation of new ideas. Our key findings indicate a strong desire for services which support media presentation and consumption through the TV (combined with a suitable control device) and cater for social interaction within the home such as sharing photos and videos with other household members. In addition we found a strong user preference for services that offer fast and immediate access to specialised online activities, such as quick checks of e-mail accounts and social networking services. KeywordsInteractive Television, user studies, media use in the home, sharing media, experimental device, user experience.

Increasingly public sector practitioners are turning to design to help them do more with less. This often takes the form of designing tools or resources that are used by public sector workers in their everyday practice. This paper critically examines the practice of tool design with the aspiration to improve creative engagement (that is, novel interactions that result in the creation of new knowledge or understanding in the public sector). We assert that designers should not be attempting to define what is a 'right' or 'wrong' way to use an engagement tool, but instead seek to enable new interpretations and adaptations of tools so the creativity of practitioners is supported and amplified. We present a proposal for a framework that supports people in organising the multitude of creative engagement tools in a manner that is meaningful to them rather than imposing taxonomies form the outside, enabling them to fix their own meanings, significance and use of the tools they use. To explore this we present 2 use cases, one by IRISS (a leader in innovation in the social services in Scotland) and a second by Leapfrog (a research project led by Lancaster University looking to transform public sector engagement by design).We believe this change in the terms of reference when thinking about the creation and use of tools has profound implications for designers working in the social services and wider pubic services sector.

Folders are a commonplace metaphor in computing environments, constituting a link to physical work materials and are a key means for individuals to impose order on their digital work materials. This paper presents the findings of a novel qualitative study examining folder use by 12 information workers, using logging to accurately capture how folders were used in individual everyday work over 6 weeks, and challenging participants to work without using folders. Through observation and interviews, the study provides new descriptions of how folders are used and the dependence some study participants had on their folders to think and create, as well as to access files. The findings call into question whether search and recency-based lists of files could fulfil the functional role of folders, identified as key means for individuals to construct and specialize their work environments. Implications are discussed for document management tools, and more generally for operating system design. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS• Folders are often considered an unwelcome legacy of physical information technologies.• Views of folder structures can offer valuable perspectives on personal information in themselves, independent of the content of the files they contain.• Folders can be strongly intertwined with the process of information work, both in the computer and in the mind of the worker.• Search and recency-based views of files do not eliminate the need to creatively categorize and combine information.• Eliminating folders and manual organization of files may compromise information worker's ability to control their environment, and in turn thinking and working processes.