This document summarizes a study comparing two public displays at a school of information - a Thank You Board and an SI Display.
The Thank You Board had a highly directed and structured use, only allowing posts from an official website form. The SI Display had a more open ethos, allowing posts on Twitter.
Analysis found the Thank You Board posts were all thanks, directed at specific people, while the SI Display had more diverse categories of posts not directed at individuals. Interviews revealed uncertainty around the purpose and audience of the SI Display due to the open design and use of Twitter.
Recommendations included introducing displays with suggested uses, adding discussion prompts, a feedback mechanism, filtering outdated content, and providing options to
3. C3C (McCarthy et al 2008)
IM Here (Huang et al 2004)
Plasma Poster Network Notification Collage (Greenberg and Rounding 2001)
(Churchill et al 2003)
4. this study
Matt Rife,
Flickr: meddygarnet Flickr: Confidence, Comely
5. this study
Thank You Board
Highly directed, structured use;
post from official website.
Matt Rife,
Flickr: meddygarnet Flickr: Confidence, Comely
6. this study
Thank You Board SI Display
Highly directed, structured use; Use le open to interpretation by
post from official website. community, post using existing social
network site (Twitter)
Matt Rife,
Flickr: meddygarnet Flickr: Confidence, Comely
8. School of Information North
PhD students, staff, faculty
ank You Board: 17 inch display in entryway
SI Display: large touchscreen in lunch room
West Hall
Masters students, staff, faculty, administration
ank You Board: 17 inch display in main stairwell
SI Display: 17 inch display in main stairwell, large
touchscreen in student lounge
the site:
school of information, university of michigan
10. ank You Board
• Clear expectation for how
it would be used
• Post via web form
• Structured input
• Randomly show a message
from the 10 most recent,
every 6 seconds
11. SI Display
• No expectations for how it
would/should be used.
• Post via Twitter
(@sidisplay)
• Unstructured input (except
for Twitter limitations)
• Cycle through 8 most recent
messages, or all from the last
24 hours, whichever is
greater.
Morgan
Keys
making
so/ware
available:
h6ps://github.com/morgankeys/ATdisplay
13. Analysis of posts
196 posts from 100 posters 251 posts from 58 posters
25 February 2007 – 8 August 2008 5 November 2009 – 2 April 2010
120
100
80
Posts
60
40
20
0
Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
14. Analysis of posts
Code posts by category and audience
Category ank You Board SI Display
Event Announcements <1% 32%
Congratulations / praise 6% 6%
anks 100% 4%
Greetings 2% 9%
Questions & Discussion prompts <1% 14%
Information sharing 2% 34%
Response to another post 1% 8%
Referencing the display 1% 16%
Directed to the display 0% 6%
To a specific person or people 57% 8%
To a specific SI subgroup 17% 8%
15. Analysis of posts
Code posts by category and audience
Category ank You Board SI Display
Event Announcements <1% 32%
Congratulations / praise 6% 6%
anks 100% 4%
Greetings 2% 9%
Questions & Discussion prompts <1% 14%
Information sharing 2% 34%
Response to another post 1% 8%
Referencing the display 1% 16%
Directed to the display 0% 6%
To a specific person or people 57% 8%
To a specific SI subgroup 17% 8%
16. Analysis of posts
Code posts by category and audience
Category ank You Board SI Display
Event Announcements <1% 32%
Congratulations / praise 6% 6%
anks 100% 4%
Greetings 2% 9%
Questions & Discussion prompts <1% 14%
Information sharing 2% 34%
Adam saysanother post
Response to thanks to 1% 8%
[whoever put this monitor to know how many links
Referencing the display (Now,
use] for having a clue are saved in delicious or
1% 16%
can we set up some displays
Directed to the display how i would access such
0% 6%
to non-invasively broadcast information?
To a specific person or people 57% 8%
pressing questions a la
To a specific SIstuff?)
Zephyr and subgroup 17% 8%
17. Analysis of posts
Code posts by category and audience
Category ank You Board SI Display
Event Announcements <1% 32%
Congratulations / praise 6% 6%
anks 100% 4%
Greetings 2% 9%
Questions & Discussion prompts <1% 14%
Information sharing 2% 34%
Response to another post 1% 8%
Tobias says thanks to SI Career
Referencing the display students
Services for Helping 1% 16%
New Oxford American
manageto thesearches: Starting
Directed job display Dictionary 20096%
0% Word of
from resume creation etc. SI the Year: "Unfriend"
To a specific personis one of the
Career Services or people 57% 8%
To a specificservices available to
strongest SI subgroup 17% 8%
students at SI!
18. Analysis of posts
Code posts by category and audience
Category ank You Board SI Display
Event Announcements <1% 32%
Congratulations / praise 6% 6%
anks 100% 4%
Greetings 2% 9%
Questions & Discussion prompts <1% 14%
Information sharing 2% 34%
Response to another post 1% 8%
Referencing the display 1% 16%
Directed to the display 0% 6%
To a specific person or people poor @sidisplay. I know
aw 57% 8%
To a specific SI subgroup what it's like to feel 17% 8%
unrefreshed!
19. Analysis of posts
Code posts by category and audience
Category ank You Board SI Display
Event Announcements <1% 32%
Congratulations / praise 6% 6%
anks 100% 4%
Greetings 2% 9%
Questions & Discussion prompts <1% 14%
Information sharing 2% 34%
Response to another post 1% 8%
Referencing the display 1% 16%
Directed to the display 0% 6%
To a specific person or people 57% 8%
To a specific SI subgroup 17% 8%
20. Semistructured Interviews
Questions about: Participants
• How they used the displays n = 14
• How they thought others
should use them 9 masters students
• Likes / dislikes about each 3 staff members
2 PhD students
13 with Twitter accounts
6 recalled the ank You Board
7 had posted to SI Display
25. Participants valued flexibility of SI Display
“open ethos” (P6) “serendipity” of unexpected things (P13)
… but had concerns about using it inappropriately.
“I guess I would feel better if there were more established
norms about it. If we knew more about what its purpose was
and what are the goals and how people should use it.” (P13)
“people are unsure how it’s supposed to be used … and because
people, I’m a firm believer that if people don’t want to offend
other people, they won’t do something they think might
offend them and that might be use the board in a way they
don’t think other people think it’s intended to be used
for.” (P7)
26. issues with how SI Display was introduced
emphasis on usability over uses
no example uses given
uncertainty about purpose the
You may have noticed that How to post
[display] is displaying public &
thankhave no freakingthankI really don’t. displays] can be used for
“I yous. You can clue. “[the” (P9)
someone, too! Just go to sharing short, public
http://si.umich.edu/thanks. messages.”
27. issues with how SI Display was introduced
emphasis on usability over uses
no example uses given
uncertainty about purpose
“I have no freaking clue. I really don’t.” (P9)
28. issues with how SI Display was introduced
emphasis on usability over uses
no example uses given
uncertainty about purpose
“I have no freaking clue. I really don’t.” (P9)
uncertainty about audience
Couldn’t remember all locations
Not sure if it was for students, the entire SI community, or for external
visitors to see
but norms did not develop over the months of use
29. issues with how SI Display was introduced
emphasis on usability over uses
no example uses given
uncertainty about purpose
“I have no freaking clue. I really don’t.” (P9)
uncertainty about audience
Couldn’t remember all locations
Not sure if it was for students, the entire SI community, or for external
visitors to see
but norms did not develop over the months of use
31. ank You Board had required too much memory for how
to post and these steps were too disconnected from seeing
the display
SI Display used Twitter to make posting easier, but did
require that posters have a Twitter account
32. Twitter as posting mechanism: easier, but not without issues
Further confounded audience: Twitter users or broader?
Twitter syntax made some posts hard to read.
Sometimes hard to link Twitter usernames and avatars with
identity in community.
Some community members did not want to use Twitter on
principle. Others did not want to reveal their personal Twitter
account to their professional colleagues.
Feelings of exclusion for some community members, while
others felt it was more inclusive.
33. Twitter as posting mechanism: easier, but not without issues
Further confounded audience: Twitter users or broader?
Twitter syntax made some posts hard to read.
Sometimes hard to link Twitter usernames and avatars with
identity in community
Some community members did not want to use Twitter on
principle. Others did not want to reveal their personal Twitter
account to their professional colleagues.
Feelings of exclusion for some community members, while
others felt it was more inclusive.
34. Twitter as posting mechanism: easier, but not without issues
Further confounded audience: Twitter users or broader?
Twitter syntax made some posts hard to read.
Sometimes hard to link Twitter usernames and avatars with
identity in community
Some community members did not want to use Twitter on
principle. Others did not want to reveal their personal Twitter
account to their professional colleagues.
Feelings of exclusion for some community members, while
others felt it was more inclusive.
35. Twitter as posting mechanism: easier, but not without issues
Further confounded audience: Twitter users or broader?
Twitter syntax made some posts hard to read.
Sometimes hard to link Twitter usernames and avatars with
identity in community
Some community members did not want to use Twitter on
principle. Others did not want to reveal their personal Twitter
account to their professional colleagues.
Feelings of exclusion for some community members, while
others felt it was more inclusive.
36. Twitter as posting mechanism: easier, but not without issues
Further confounded audience: Twitter users or broader?
Twitter syntax made some posts hard to read.
Sometimes hard to link Twitter usernames and avatars with
identity in community
Some community members did not want to use Twitter on
principle. Others did not want to reveal their personal Twitter
account to their professional colleagues.
Feelings of exclusion for some community members, while
others felt it was more inclusive.
37. Twitter as posting mechanism: easier, but not without issues
Further confounded audience: Twitter users or broader?
Twitter syntax made some posts hard to read.
Sometimes hard to link Twitter usernames and avatars with
identity in community
Some community members did not want to use Twitter on
principle. Others did not want to reveal their personal Twitter
account to their professional colleagues.
Feelings of exclusion for some community members, while
others felt it was more inclusive.
38. Design Implications
Authoritative vs. User Interpretations
Content Lifespan
Twitter as posting mechanism
Social Context
39. Design Implications
Authoritative vs. User Interpretations
Content Lifespan
Twitter as posting mechanism
Social Context
40. With SI Display, we created discomfort by going too far toward
emphasizing usability over use (Sengers and Gaver 2006).
Confounded by a lack of reification of community expectations;
no clear feedback process.
Recommendations:
• Introduce display with suggested uses (& an invitation to
use it other ways)
• Post discussion prompts / content invitations to Twitter or
the display
• Add a feedback mechanism (voting posts up and/or down)
41. Design Implications
Authoritative vs. User Interpretations
Content Lifespan
Twitter as posting mechanism
Social Context
42. SI Display had more time sensitive content, but the “staleness”
of outdated announcements became an issue.
Recommendation: Parse posts for time; filter out dates in the
past.
43. Design Implications
Authoritative vs. User Interpretations
Content Lifespan
Twitter as posting mechanism
Social Context
44. Twitter as posting mechanism easier for most
barrier for non-Twitterers
jargon
mixing contexts
Recommendations:
• continue using, but give non-Twitter users a way to post
(web form, SMS, etc).
• Arguments for accepting some jargon and syntax, or
filtering it out / replacing it
45. Design Implications
Authoritative vs. User Interpretations
Content Lifespan
Twitter as posting mechanism
Social Context
46. Social context Where are the displays? Who will see them?
Mixing of audiences
Recommendations:
• Map of displays, or video links between them. (also not
without problems!)
• Control over to which display one posts, e.g.,:
– @sidisplay: to all of them
– @sistudents: Master’s student lounge
– @sistafffac: staff, faculty, and PhD student lunchroom
– @sipublic: displays in public spaces
47. Social context
how to drive adoption?
where are displays?
who will look at them?
Conclusions
Recommendations:
• Contests vs. open ethos: open ethos preferred over structured
Designated useat launch or to drive particular kinds of posts
• Consider go too far in not specifying locations make potential
content, but canadding maps of display use; need toor video feeds
users feel comfortable with appropriateness ofaudience less for
of who is looking at them to make their posts. Need
reification.
“imagined”
• Keep displays from reaching too and easier than the ank
Twitter as posting mechanism: appreciatedbroad of an audience
You Board form, but also caused some feelings of exclusion that should be
mitigated in future deployments.
48. Thanks and Tweets:
Comparing Two Public Displays
Sean Munson samunson@umich.edu @smunson
Emily Rosengren emirose@umich.edu @emirose
Paul Resnick presnick@umich.edu @presnick
anks to
Erica Willar and Alex Burrell, research assistants
Jim Leach, Michael Hess, and SI Computing for helping deploy the displays
Morgan Keys, for continuing to push this forward
Funded by the National Science Foundation under grant IIS-0916099.
Editor's Notes
Even before their digital versions, public displays have had an important role in the communication of communities and organizations. They might take the form of a place to post public thank yous other members of the community, or they might be general purpose displays used for announcements, information sharing, or showing favorite comics.
Public displays have also been major part of CSCW research. They’ve often been used with the goal of strengthening workgroups, through collaboration, sharing news, or increasing cohesion by raising awareness about both work related activities and unrelated interests. Showing up everywhere now, more relevant.
530 students, faculty, staff. 500 person community vs. workgroup. Not homogenous. Larger than many other deploymentsunmet need (michi poster, c3c). Didn't work very well.
goals for designingwhy we need two more very directed open. alternative posting mechanism (parasitic)
Similar to displays featured at some confereneces
OVERALLThank You Board: liked, fostered sense of politeness and appreciationSI Display: fun, helped connect different groups (e.g. SI career office with students; the two campuses), bur purpose remained unclear
Clear ideas of what not to post (profanity, negative posts about community members). Not clear about what should be posted.Self censorship rather than a sense that posts were inappropriate.
Clear ideas of what not to post (profanity, negative posts about community members). Not clear about what should be posted.
“too many steps” (P13) or as requiring them to “go out of [their] way” (P05),
Syntax example: Names in thank yous on SIDisplay often were twitter usernames rather than real names
“too many steps” (P13) or as requiring them to “go out of [their] way” (P05),
“too many steps” (P13) or as requiring them to “go out of [their] way” (P05),
“too many steps” (P13) or as requiring them to “go out of [their] way” (P05),
“too many steps” (P13) or as requiring them to “go out of [their] way” (P05),
More inclusive – offered window into a conversation they otherwise could not see.
Mostly going to talk about these around a future deployment of SI Display, the preferred system.
Possibly predicted by Huang et al “systems introduced for the sake of promoting specific collaboration or information sharing tasks generally were more successfully adopted than those introduced for general collaboration purposes,” Feedback already used on C3C
Addresses exclusion as well as some audience issues, maybe.
But for now, it’s just running in the student lounge.