Integrative Workplace : Employing Reality-based Interaction to join Digital and Analog Media at a Workplace

Abstract

This thesis presents the development and the evaluation of an interactive workplace which supports knowledge workers by integrating printed media. The major benefit of the workplace is the possibility to use features of digital devices within paper documents. Features of this thesis’ prototype that demonstrate this benefit are digital full- text search as well as the simple excerpting of contents. Furthermore, digital content and its analog sources can be related to each other. To process digital and printed texts in the same manner, the same stylus and the same interaction techniques are used. The unique characteristic of this system is the combination of aforementioned features and their application in a real working environment.A case study with participants solving a legal record showed that this system is actually facilitating knowledge work. The study revealed that it is necessary to picture the linear evaluation order of legal issues to support the juristic working methodology. In addition it proofed that users appreciate the way paper was integrated into the prototype and enjoy the experience of using features known from digital devices on paper documents. Most of all, the evaluation discovered that users having problems with the distinction between pen and finger for context-switching in pen and touch user interfaces.