Reading #23: InkSeine: In Situ Search for Active Note Taking

Comments:
SAM

Summary:
active note taking - capturing and extending creative ideas, reflecting on a topic, or sketching designs.

InkSeine is a fluid interface designed to allow users to engage in active note taking. It employs a handwriting recognizer in order to allow users to add a new depth to their notes with the incorporation of searches that can serve as extensions to their selected note or information feed. It also uses gestures such as lasso to trigger actions such as searching for the encircled, hand-written phrase. Sketch recognition techniques are used to aide users in their sensemaking tasks, and are done so intuitively. The authors took the time to conduct initial user studies with lo-fidelity prototypes in order to maximize usability and focus on potential user scenarios and tasks. Context-based searches minimize cognitive overhead and, based on the authors' formative studies, lead to happy users.

Discussion:
This paper seems like something you would read in Dr. Kerne's class. It is an excellent example of iterative design, user interface concerns, and affordances and mappings. Don Norman is probably using InkSeine right now trying to figure out how some poorly designed door opens. I also like the author's use of popup windows that do not require users to navigate away from their current tasks just to view initial results. Good design and good use of sketching.