SparkInfo: Designing a Social Space for
Co-Creation of Multimedia Contents
by
Jee Yeon Hwang
MASSACHUETTS UNSTFfUE
M.S. in Human-Computer Interaction
Georgia Institute of Technology, 2010
APR 1 S
B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering
Ewha Womans University, 2007
USA
Submitted to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences,
School of Architecture and Planning,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of
Master of Science in Media Arts and Sciences
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
February 2013
0 2012 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved.
Author
iJee
Yeon Hwang
Program in Media Arts and Sciences
September 10, 2012
'/
Certified by
Henry Holtzman
Research Scientist
Media Lab
Thesis Supervisor
Accepted by
Patricia Maes
Professor of Media Technology
Associate Academic Head
Program in Media Arts and Sciences
ESi
2
SparkInfo: Designing a Social Space for
Co-Creation of Multimedia Contents
by
Jee Yeon Hwang
Submitted to the Program in Media Arts and Sciences,
School of Architecture and Planning, on September 10, 2012
in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of
Master of Science in Media Arts and Sciences
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
February 2013
ABSTRACT
People can have more insights and social experiences when they collaborate
on collecting, revisiting, and utilizing their contents, such as images and
videos; however, designing a social space that offers rich co-creation and
exploration of multimedia contents remains a challenge. I propose a new
system, SparkInfo, which enables users to create, exchange and augment
their multimedia elements in ways that are personally unique and sociable.
SparkInfo is designed for a group of people, who have created multimedia
elements for the same purpose or at the same event, to collect their elements
in one place and have a meaningful experience of their co-created media
resources. SparkInfo provides a social space for the co-creation of multimedia
resources. In the process of exploring and embellishing their materials,
SparkInfo users can create new ideas, stories, and information. By utilizing
this process, the users are able to experience how SparkInfo can embody the
cycle of knowledge building, re-mixing, and sharing.
Thesis Supervisor: Henry Holtzman
Title: Research Scientist, Media Lab
3
4
SparkInfo: Designing a Social Space for
Co-Creation of Multimedia Contents
by
Jee Yeon Hwang
The following people served as readers for this thesis:
Reader
V. Michael Bove, Jr.
Principal Research Scientist
Media Lab
Reader
Mitchel Resnick
LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research
Program in Media Arts and Sciences
5
6
Contents
Abstract
3
1
Introduction
11
2
Previous Work
14
3
Related Work
17
3.1. Media Fabric & Stories
17
3.2. Co-Creation Elements
18
3.3. Active Essays
18
3.4. Externalizations and Internalizations through Actions and Reflections
19
System Description
21
4.1. System Design Approach
21
4.2. The SparkInfo Elements and Comments
23
4.3. The SparkInfo Spaces
25
4.4. View and Create Everything in One Space
26
4.5. Elements in Columns of the Flexible Plane
28
4.6. Create, Share, and Change Multimedia Contents
29
4.7. Active Multimedia Comment vs. Text-Only Comment
38
4.8. Comment as a New Element or as a Change in an Element
40
4.9. Review and Refine Elements Using the Back-End Menus
42
4.10. Rearrange Elements
43
4.11. Review and Compare Changes
45
4.12. Filtering Options
46
4.13. The Published Perspective from the Public Perspective
47
4
7
5
6
7
Evaluation
49
5.1. Study Procedures
50
5.2. Questionnaires
51
5.3. Open-Ended Feedback
59
Discussions and Improvements
63
6.1. Public Perspective vs. Personal Perspective
63
6.2. Settings for Sharing, Changing, and Remixing Content
67
6.3. Display and Track Changes
69
6.4. Number, Amount, and Type of Changes
72
6.5. More Interesting Posts and Communications
74
6.6. Filtering Options
74
6.7. Sidebar Menu
76
6.8. Drag-and-Drop Rearrangement
78
6.9. Intelligent Agent
80
6.10. Other Design Suggestions
81
6.11. Connections with People and Time
82
Conclusion
83
Bibliography
85
8
List of Figures
1-1. Example of Threaded and Text-Based Comments
12
1-2. Existing Systems for Collaboration on Multimedia Content
12
2-1. Share Images as Comments on Audiovisual Content
14
2-2. Share Videos as Comments on Audiovisual Content
15
4-1. SparkInfo User Interactions
22
4-2-1. Add Multimedia Content as a New Element to the Shared Space
24
4-2-2. Add Multimedia Content as a Comment to the Corresponding Element
24
4-3. The SparkInfo Spaces
26
4-4. Design and View All Elements in One Space
27
4-5. Design and Review Each Element in Larger View
27
4-6. Display and Manage Multimedia Resources in the Flexible Plane
29
4-7. Addable and Changeable Contents in the SparkInfo Space
30
4-8. Create and Customize a Title and Sub-Title of the Space
31
4-9. Create and Customize a Title of the Element
32
4-10. Create a New Element and Assign a Category
33
4-11. Add or Change Content of the Element Using In-Line Editor
34-36
4-12. Highlighted Borders of the Change-in-Progress Part of the Element
36
4-13. Resize and Rearrange Photos in the Element
37
4-14. Preview Photo Gallery
38
4-15. Text-Only Comment of the SparkInfo's Element
39
4-16. Multimedia-Based Comment of the SparkInfo's Element
39
4-17. Comments as Changes in the Elements
41
4-18. Preview Icons Represent the Media Formats of Elements
42
4-19. Drag and Drop Rearrangement of Elements
4-20. Review and Compare Changes of the Element
4-21. Filtered by Category and Keyword
43-44
45
46-47
9
4-21-1. View elements categorized as Day 2 related contents
46
4-21-2. Search elements that have a keyword, sessions
47
5-1. Study Procedures and User Interactions
51
5-2. Users' Reported Usage of SparkInfo on a Likert Scale
52
5-3. Using the SparkInfo System Alone or with Friends
53
5-4. Depth-Oriented List vs. Breath-Oriented Plane
53
5-5. The Data Types for Commenting
54
5-6. The Users' Preferred Methods of Adding Comments
55
5-7. One-Shared Page vs. Multiple Pages
55
5-8. The Roles of the SparkInfo Users
56
5-9. The Commonly Used Data Types in the SparkInfo System
57
5-10. The Users' Preferred Types of Changes and Remixes
57
5-11. The Purposes of Using the SparkInfo System
58
6-1. Three Types of View Mode
65
6-2. Sharing Options Using Categories Drop-Down List
68
6-3. Filtered Posts by Subgroup Name
68
6-4. Sharing Options Using Radio Buttons in the In-Line Editor
69
6-5. List of Changes with the Keyword Attribute
70
6-6. Maintaining Diverse Perspectives in Multiple Layers of Elements
71
6-7. Yellow Border Appears during the Edition
71
6-8. The Meter That Displays the Amount, Number, and Type of Changes
73
6-9. Rank Categories based on the Frequently Assigned Categories to Improve the
Filtering Function
75
6-10. A Word Cloud with Terms Related to Web 2.0
75
6-11. Recent Changes and Most Frequently Changed Posts
77
6-12. Reorder Elements with Clicking and Dragging Their Preview Icons
79
10
Chapter 1
Introduction
The Internet was initially used as a one-way communication platform where
viewers consumed static content from the content providers. The onedirectional model has shifted to incorporate users' feedback and to enable
users to even create and share content with other users. Social media, wikis,
and comment systems allow users to add information and enhance discussion
around the content itself. Most of the systems are text-based and display
information in lists (Figure 1-1), because those systems have been built to
limit users' participation as cumulative additions to the initially posted
articles.
Beyond that approach, I have explored ways to build a system for a group of
users to create and share multimedia resources. Some of the existing systems
encourage interactive participation through multimedia contents, such as
photos and videos. However, current systems for collaboration on multimedia
content are designed to pull content from multiple sources into a single list or
timeline (Figure 1-2), and they lack the potential for social and playful
interactions. Therefore, I created a new system, SparkInfo, whereby users
can explore multiple timelines and perspectives of the shared multimedia
elements.
11
Figure 1-1. Example of threaded and
text-based comments and sparse links
to external multimedia resources
Figure 1-2. Existing systems for collaboration
on multimedia content integrate scenes into
a single list or timeline
The SparkInfo system is designed to provide an explorative environment
where users can create, exchange, and play with their multimedia elements
in ways that are personally unique and sociable. SparkInfo enables a group of
users, who have a connection based on a common event, to share the scenes
and information they have taken at that event as casual documentary
without demanding organizing their posts.
After creating and posting their materials to the SparkInfo shared space as
creators, the users become viewers who make playful selections to visualize
the shared collection of media elements in multiple ways. In this respect,
viewers can utilize the shared elements as building blocks for their own
stories. The user's creating, sharing, commenting, and remixing activities in
the SparkInfo space and customized views can then be appropriated as
starting points for other users' reconstruction of their own interpretation of
the space.
The SparkInfo system aims to provide a playful visualization experience and
the new influence of its shared space where users can create, collect, and seek
interesting media elements as part of their ongoing process of embracing,
12
relating, and exploring multiple multimedia elements that they have made at
their special event. The SparkInfo users can build and remix knowledge
through a series of actions and reflections, a process of making relations, and
information found that emerges
from the playful construction of the
hyperlinked media.
13
Chapter 2
Previous Work
CommenTV is a time-sensitive social commenting system for multimedia
content [Hwang 2012]. It is able to take and display texts, images, and
related videos as social comments (Figure 2-1 and 2-2). In CommenTV,
multimedia comments appear in parallel to the audiovisual content. In this
way, users can experience both content and comments as authors and
audience, i.e., producers and consumers. As a co-creative comment system for
video content, CommenTV informs content creators about how viewers
perceive the content and lets viewers participate in creating more social
content.
Figure 2-1. Share Images as Comments on Audiovisual Content
14
"0fK
Figure 2-2. Share Videos as Comments on Audiovisual Content
While working on the CommenTV project, I found a new value of system for
co-creation. People tend to add information and see the diverse perspectives
of their contents [Diakopoulos 2011]. Beyond CommenTV, I have designed a
social space, SparkInfo, for users to participate in the co-creation on their
own multimedia contents rather than augment the information on the given
video content.
The CommenTV system displays the comment layer, which is able to contain
relevant image, video, or web page, on top of the video content. Though the
system enables users to easily navigate the multimedia comment layer, this
approach is mainly useful for annotating a video with multiple comments. In
order to provide a more flexible plane where users can create, view, and
change their multimedia elements and active comments in multiple ways, the
SparkInfo system organizes the multimedia contents in the shared space.
SparkInfo empowers user to find personally meaningful information and
casual linkage of the multimedia elements through viewing and interacting
with various multimedia materials shared by a group of people who took part
15
in the same event. In addition, SparkInfo enables users to embed multimedia
comments into the shared elements as part of their co-creation activities.
16
Chapter 3
Related Work
To design SparkInfo that enables users to present and share dynamic
perspectives of their media elements using co-creative interactions, I reviewed
the following related work.
3.1. Media Fabric & Stories
Media fabric is a collection of media artifacts and programs that allows
participants
to
make
meaningful
dialogues,
arts, stories,
and
social
interactions [Davenport 2004]. In the media fabric, the future media explorer
needs to move fluidly between creation and consumption, between making,
sharing, and exchanging. SparkInfo extends the media fabric approach and
provides an experimental tool for users to participate in creating and
exploring the interconnected and evolving multimedia elements.
SparkInfo offers users the ability to create their own stories by providing an
expressive way to play with and explore the construction of meaning. Storied
Objects [Lee 2007] and StoryMat [Ryokai 1999] show how they are integrated
into the social and living environment, but they have only audio input and
output. When it comes to multimedia content, Storied Navigation [Shen
2007] lets users combine a sequence of video clips based on their roles in
telling a story, and Mindful Documentary [Davenport 2004] assists the
videographer by predicting and suggesting potential next scenes with the
17
mindful camera. Instead of integrating the scenes into a single channel,
SparkInfo enables users to spread multiple images and videos in the shared
space as creators and to explore interesting information, interconnections,
and visual layouts of the shared multimedia contents as viewers in their own
ways using the SparkInfo system.
3.2. Co-Creation Elements
Peers [Cohen 2005] and Dandelion [Chi 2010] are examples of workspace for
collaborations
in
design
and
research.
Sketching
and
collaborative
writing/blog posting are one of the most widely studied aspects of creative
collaboration. In many settings, the artifacts generated throughout the
creation process are not only texts, but also pictures, videos and more
flexible, improvisational or abstract artifacts. SparkInfo utilizes multimedia
elements for users to have a playful experience and create special meanings
among them and their elements. In this way, SparkInfo blends the cocreation process with users' ongoing events and practices of everyday life.
3.3. Active Essays
Active Essays are forms of narrative expression in which computational
objects are integrated with text, image, and video [Resnick 1996]. For
example, an interactive multimedia object of a new concept can be connected
to the text description of the concept, so that viewers actively explore the
concept. SparkInfo supports not only active viewing but also active creating
through its multimedia elements and comments.
The SparkInfo system utilizes the multimedia content as a medium for active
essays. Most systems for sharing and collaboration contain texts, images, and
videos as passive objects. On the other hand, SparkInfo enables users to
18
create and mix their multimedia contents as active objects with other media
forms in the shared space.
While sharing new multimedia elements in the interactive SparkInfo space,
users can also refine and enrich the shared elements by adding their active
multimedia comments. In this manner, SparkInfo provides new possibilities
for creative expression and collaboration.
In active essays, small variations in the initial configuration of the parts can
lead to dynamic changes in the resulting patterns. Similarly, through
creating new multimedia elements and changing the elements with comments
in the SparkInfo space, users can find new information and patterns and
have new perspectives on the shared materials and events.
3.4. Externalizations and Internalizations
through Actions and Reflections
Creativity arises from the interaction between a person's thoughts and a
socio-cultural context [Engestr6m 2001]. The dynamic cycle of externalization
and internalization is an essential part of creativity and knowledge building
in socio-cultural and technical environments. Externalizing ideas is a matter
of actively reconstructing it, forming new associations, and expressing
concepts in external representations [Fischer 2004]. SparkInfo provides a
social space where people can externalize their thoughts by sharing and
remixing their multimedia elements and internalize diverse perspectives on
the shared elements by reviewing and interacting with the externalized
elements and comments. Their actions in the shared SparkInfo space and
reflections on their interactive experiences promote collective externalization
and internalization.
19
SparkInfo can be a reflective design space that awakens and contextualizes
people's thoughts and ideas by offering them new ways to experience
multimedia objects and reflect their actions on the objects collaboratively.
The SparkInfo users can obtain dynamic and reflective feedback regarding
their creation and interaction. They are able to respond by both reflection in
action and reflection on practice [Winograd 1996]. They can receive instant
feedback about their activities while interacting with multimedia elements
and comments in the SparkInfo space. They can also imagine their further
externalizations while experiencing and internalizing the repetitive design
and creation process in the shared space.
20
Chapter 4
System Description
4.1. System Design Approach
SparkInfo is designed for a group of people who have prepared or attended
the same event and want to collect their multimedia elements related to the
event into one place where they all can visit and have a meaningful
experience of their co-created media elements. SparkInfo aims to support
users' everyday life experiences and creative interactions by letting them
share and redesign their multimedia elements in ways that are personally
unique and sociable.
In online creative collaboration projects, the thread creator typically takes on
the role of leader, while every other participant takes on the role of artist
[Luther 2010]. The leader can set criteria or modify their work. Instead of
having a single leader or author, SparkInfo lets all users be creators or
viewers. They can switch from creator to viewer mode at any time. In this
way, SparkInfo democratizes visualization and offer each user a unique kind
of media experience.
Users can create new multimedia element and add multimedia comments to
the shared elements in the SparkInfo space. When users find certain
multimedia elements interesting, they can annotate them and share their
comments with others. Groups of people are able to produce more insights
when they can re-interpret each other's ideas [Paulus 2000]. Social commenting
21
is an example of sharing ideas and shifting from viewer to co-creator. The
major motives of comment writing include sharing information (e.g., facts,
insights, knowledge, context) and adding information in order to further
discourse [Diakopoulos 2011]. In addition, the top motive of comment reading
is social interaction because people tend to see diverse views in the comments,
such as other perspectives or dimensions. In particular, there is unexplored
potential in embedding rich information as a related comment to the shared
multimedia content. Thus, SparkInfo enables users to incorporate multimedia
comments to the multimedia elements in the shared space.
* Add multimedia elements and comments
e
Collect multimedia elements
e
Explore dynamic perspectives of the
shared elements and comments
Li
a-a-a
is
0
Publish the
customized view
...
mw
Ne,
e
Reconstruct the their own
interpretation of the space
a
* Appropriate other's perspective
Figure 4-1. Sparklnfo User Interactions
22
All users are able to participate in embedding, commenting, and utilizing
their multimedia contents. When users revisit the shared space, they can
have unique and different experiences. They will be able to experience how
SparkInfo can embody the cycle of knowledge building and sharing, which
supports a process of creating, using, and re-mixing.
4.2. The SparkInfo Elements and Comments
SparkInfo enables a group of users to trigger co-creation of their media
collection by sharing a unique link to the SparkInfo space. SparkInfo
provides a shared space where users can upload their multimedia elements
as creators and interact with the elements as viewers. In addition to the
shared space, the SparkInfo system has the publish function for users to keep
the information they created in the personal space.
As a web-based system with HTML5,
JavaScript, PHP and MySQL,
SparkInfo lets users add multimedia contents as new elements to the shared
space (Figure 4-2-1) or comments to the corresponding elements (Figure 4-22). The multimedia comment is displayed in the expandable comment area of
the element. In other words, each element is a component of the SparkInfo
space and a post that can display users' multimedia comments. Users can
easily navigate, expand, or change the elements anytime. The comments can
be utilized to augment and explore the shared multimedia elements in new
ways.
23
Sparki nfo
Ashdown House Coffee Hour Events 201-2012
Rtesidents cometed agast ther f- eods to
the be St smoothte
.M,...,..
MPKe
Wek~omenew offtets*
The old and new of(-'er hd a e together
and talked ab0ut ouf duites hew Chair W
Serve the next acdmi0cl year
1INIs..S....uO.t.
As they dd for the jaghiw Pu!zzle Night, the
top thee team got awards
i
et
C00spt
cohee
An array of
We hrad
ho
jrack
oft pumpkin,
-
0
aotmers n raiy day
patterns,
and
Figure 4-2-1. Add Multimedia Content as a New Element to the Shared Space
Sparkinfo
Ashdown House Coffee HourEvents 201-2012
Rmx*w ftwe
-n
Mpm
n o
OfMfCTrnsu1Dissr
Wetome
n.ewoffifer S
tebet smoote"end
The old and new off ers ha d ner together
ad talked abofutOurduties Ne* chars w
serve the next Wademnttear
As the did foe the Jiigsw Puze
top thret team got awards
A-sse'M
k
tric*ntrw*t
Nght. the
An arfay of ack o' antan% n rainy Cay
9A
Wehad more pumpkns, patters, and
ffe
Figure 4-2-2. Add Multimedia Content as a Comment to the Corresponding Element
24
W
The SparkInfo's shared media collection consists of the user-generated
multimedia elements and comments. The system provides menu options for
viewers to explore the media collection in various ways based on key
information of the elements and the comments. The system creates unique
information (e.g., media type, category) of the elements and comments when
users post them. The information is useful for finding new connections among
the multimedia elements and comments during the explorative visualization
of the media collection.
The users' knowledge, stories, and information needs are not satisfied by one
or several multimedia elements but rather by a series of visualizing
selections, a process of making relations, and bits of information found along
the way. In this respect, SparkInfo introduces a new way of exploring and
interconnecting the shared multimedia contents, comments, and their real
space event.
4.3. The SparkInfo Spaces
When logging into the system and clicking the system title, "SparkInfo," the
system displays links to spaces of various groups (e.g., Festival of Learning,
Ashdown House Events). User can create a new space or select one of the
links to get into the group's space and start interactions with the group's
users (Figure 4-3).
25
SparkInfo
A
Select aSpace or Create a New Space
Festval of LWng
AshdownHouseEvents
Create aNew Space
Figure 4-3. The SparkInfo Spaces
4.4. View and Create Everything in One Space
The SparkInfo users can design and view everything in one space (Figure 44). SparkInfo gives users an overview of the rich information, a set of
multimedia elements, to let them share and comment on the information
easily. After having this overview of titles, preview icons of media types,
images, and videos of elements in the SparkInfo space, users can select and
zoom in to focus on elements of interest. When an element is clicked, the
element is displayed as an individual component in full length of the page in
order to let users see its multimedia contents and add comments in larger
view (Figure 4-5).
26
Sparki nfo
MIT Media Lab Fesitival of Learning
A ddy of gaenthg "
iaring Itw
he
Med Lab commuiy
Fesvaeflemnt Day 2
e
Day2:Gat times
Weenjoyed play nq and
learning
Day 1: Leaminfrm Each Other
here
Thisis short sumiay video of what
happened during Day 1 at the Festvat of
Sessions an aded Ruby or Ra is Chitune
Laptop OrChestra.
CAD MakingMrxh the
Frnt e-s of Physc, !sten ng onRepeat, -eeBrewn , MV~s, Sete- un Catan, iprov
Comedy, etm
oEditi
1).
LeammgA two day festival rom Januar
2-S2,the Ftival of Learnn
at-e f
us to teach. learn, and olaborate on any
topicwe w'sh. Wehad ar ipants from the
NI MediaLab,CMS,andACT h video
was shot, edited, andpresered in the saten
day
I
0
Create Steps
BrainstormingSessions
Figure 4-4. Design and View All Elements in One Space
Spark Info
MIT Mida Lab Fesitival of Leaning
nLneneang
a
r ne
i
Mom
aOtnhy
0
Day 1:LeamingframuEach Other
Th isrte nannamryen
t
eameng
watapened durnaDy t nthe Fesas
uadlCaborane n- an eoo<
eres,nned n the
enr
earn,
.5aentimeonnnto
a~eeas not.edte.
an
Saiday
momin
f
leansn'
We hen
Atn
wodyeMh'aln- MJanuaMry ??
rome MIT Metd Lab
par~ittannti
Figure 4-5. Design and Review Each Element in Larger View
27
8efinina
C M
S
T'
nc ACTi This
4.5. Elements in Columns of the Flexible Plane
Unlike the fixed lists of current online communities and commenting systems,
the SparkInfo space organizes its multimedia elements in the flexible plane.
The plane is designed for the SparkInfo users to switch from creator to viewer
mode anytime. The users have capabilities to view and arrange the
multimedia elements in multiple ways within the plane. They can select,
drag, and drop the shared elements to reorganize the elements, or retrieve
some elements to focus on a specific element using menu options.
SparkInfo provides a space where users can display and manage multimedia
resources effectively by combining the advantages of both the breath-oriented
plane and the depth-oriented list (Figure 4-6). The SparkInfo space has the
list-like frame in order to prevent too much overlaps among elements on its
flexible plane and arrange elements in a constructive way. To provide the
neat layout and some margins among the components, SparkInfo has three
columns within the flexible plane. Users can rearrange components across
the loosen columns.
28
SparkInfo
Add New
MyDas
di
MIT Media Lab FesitIval of Learning
8mVing
and shainlg or theMedia
Labcvmmunity
A dayof
Fus~aftlewrbgu0D 2
0
0
Dw2:Guhatnes
DeMkdgfrembacWr
0
Weenjoyed p!ayng and learning here.
Sessions included Ruby on RaIs Chiptune
Laptop Orchestra, CAD, Making Moch the
Fvrtyir of Physc, Istening on Repeat, e
rewIng, MMOs,sett es of Catan,improv
Comedy, etc
userdi
Crea
I
.'
T"i5 isshort simmay v deo of what
gDay 1 at the Festvat o'
happened c
LeaIi
A two cay IesIva' ot January
c : 28s the
Festa cif Learnig isa tine to.
is to teacha
lea-- and co latorate on any
pra pants t-om tIe
topc we ws 5 We
V- Med aiao CVS,and ACT Th s video
was snot, edited, and presented i the same
I
0
Steps
0
Brainstnimlng Sessions
7thec~rWj
and
We nad the
to do is...
FesovaIfleami?
ssons
the 3rd f
r Atrium.
0
festiva of leam sg we had the MT
Meilaba provided diverse expe ences,
such asore on onet
ats, donis
ator
adscussio crs
workshops playdates
T
What
isbeingqcatve?
Iftond this n-arrat ve video, which gave
some thoughts and answers-
games, collabora
ve construcion~ projects
an rnomre
Figure 4-6. Display and Manage Multimedia Resources in the Flexible Plane
4.6. Create, Share, and Change Multimedia Contents
The SparkInfo system empowers users to create multimedia elements and
comments with others collaboratively in the shared space. The system
enables them to create, share, and change multimedia contents easily. The
system provides the content creation and editing tools to let them create,
share, and remix different types of contents as elements and comments and
see their activities in one space. By providing fully integrated front end and
back end tools, the system supports three types of content changes in the
29
SparkInfo
space: creating new elements, changing the elements with
multimedia comments, and rearranging the elements.
In order to allow users to add and edit multimedia contents easily and apply
their changes quickly, the SparkInfo system enables direct content creation
and editing on the SparkInfo plane with its front-end tools (Figure 4-7).
When the user hovers the mouse over the editable area of the SparkInfo
space, the system presents the 'Edit' button of the in-line content editing tool.
By clicking the button, the user can start creating and editing contents
within the space. First of all, the user can create and customize a title of the
SparkInfo space and a sub-title for short description of the space (Figure 4-8).
The user is also able to customize an existing element's title (Figure 4-9).
F
SparkI nfo
Title and sub-title of the space
MIT Media Lab Festival of Learing
A dajy
Y Aeamning
and SlWing Af
Title of the element
14cJ'"LabCommruitty
Luntime Tis
Wepcnxluce
ad
Owl:LeaWmingfuEach0tlr
ing,0w2
n Dy
]
ofth
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Figure 4-7. Addable and Changeable Contents in the Sparklnfo Space
30
Sparki nfo
MFestivaIof Learning
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31
sauit
Sparki nfo
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Figure 4-9. Create and Customize a Title of the Element
The multimedia content creation starts with adding a new element to the
SparkInfo space. The system provides the front-end menu, Add New, with
rich content editor in order to create a new element. When the user creates
and submits a new element to the SparkInfo space, the system saves the
element's author and content information to the database server. The system
allows the user to assign a category to the element in order to use the
category later for filtering and viewing elements in the shared space (Figure
4-10).
32
Sparki nfo
Add New
MIT Media Lab Fesitival of Leaming
Aday of Aeamng aid stang for MheMedl LabCommumnty
Add New
Title*
Lunchtme Tais
category *
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AM
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the interesting sessions we attended to each otherl
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Collaboration
Day I
Image
Quote
Uncategorized
Video
Visual
n Day 2 of the Festival of Learning. We introduced
re attended to each other.
Path: p
Tags
Submit
Figure 4-10. Create a New Element and Assign a Category
33
After the user submits the new element to the shared space, the user and
other users can add multimedia contents, such as messages, pictures, and
videos, to the element as comments and change contents of the elements by
using the SparkInfo's in-line content editing tool (Figure 4-11). The in-line
tool activates its functions on the SparkInfo space with other elements, so the
user has an overall view of the space while changing the element.
The in-line editing tool has easy-to-use interface and ability to foster
collaboration in designing and sharing multimedia resources. While the inline editor is in use, the system highlights the border of the change-inprogress part of the element (Figure 4-12).
SparkInfo
Add New
Edit
MIT Media Lab Festival of Learning
A day of Iearring and sharing frrhe Mediatab commurdty
Lunchme Taim
0
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riveJ
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34
I
This isshort summary video of what
happened during Day I at the Festival of
Learn ing.A two-day fest ial from january
27 28, the Festival of Learning is a time for
us to teach, learn, and colaborate on any
topic we wish. Wehad partcipants from the
MIT Media Lab, CMS,and ACT,This video
was shot, edited, and presented in the same
day.
Sparki nfo
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ftstW of LemIng, Day 2
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Sessionsincluded Runy o-r Ralns,Chiptune
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Comedy, etc.
O~~L.amhigfwumbchDUwO
This issthortsummary video of what
appenedidur ng Day I at the Festival of
Learn sq A :wo day test ai frOr January
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us to teach, earn, and cal aborate on any
topic we wish We had partcipants tfrm the
MIT Media Lab, CMS,and ACT Tis video
wvs shot, edited, and presented in the same
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day.
35
2jjEji
LunchmeTalk
4
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Sessins included Ruby on Rails,Chipt
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comedy.etc
Ra, s, ch pt
king Vocl
Repea
Frontiers of Physic,Listening
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Conedy,etc.
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Figure 4-11. Add or Change Content of the Element Using In-Line Editor
Sparkinfo
Sparki nfo
MIT Media Lab Festival of eaming
X_ ' C-W
'AaBocc
AaBh
Lunchtme Talbs
AaBb
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We had a pcn c
Festiva of1Learning.qWe mt oduced the
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interestngi sessions wateddto
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o
Sess-onsmncluded Ruby
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Fronrer of Physrc. L ster
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Sessronasincuded Ruby 0
Laptop Orcrestra, CAD, X
Frontiers of Physrc,Lister
Brewinrg,MMOS.Settlers
Comedy. etm
I
ornemuny
userilAisN,al,
As Day2 0C
[Edo'3
(Edit!]
2
, ord
IEdrtr
Figure 4-12. Highlighted Borders of the Change-in-Progress Part of the Element
If the user tries to leave the element without saving changes, then the system highlights
the border of the change-in-progress part of the element in yellow to help the user
remember to save or cancel changes.
36
The in-line content editing tool is designed not only for inserting a new photo,
but also for resizing and rearranging photos in the element (Figure 4-13).
When the user adds more than one photo to an element, then the system
automatically creates preview photo gallery of the element with jQuery
(Figure 4-14).
t!I
Fmt .
kstk
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eded
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oded Rub, a' Ra> a,
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Wehad a cpacn lnc ota D 2 of thec
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Figure 4-13. Resize and Rearrange Photos in the Element
37
..
AaBh
to,
0 Repea
Figure 4-14. Preview Photo Gallery
By using the front-end content creation and editing tools, the SparkInfo users
are able to experience different types of comments: Text comment in the list
vs. multimedia comment in the element, and one element as a comment vs.
multiple comments inside of an element. These types of comments that the
SparkInfo system provides will be described in the following sections.
4.7. Active Multimedia Comment vs. Text-Only Comment
The SparkInfo's multimedia commenting is different from typical text
commenting because it is a more active and co-creative commenting with
utilizing the multimedia elements in the shared space. To offer the new type
of commenting, the SparkInfo system enables the in-line content editor, photo
and video comments, preview photo gallery, title and category creation, etc.
SparkInfo supports both new multimedia comments and traditional text-only
comments to let users experience and compare both types of comments. The
list of text-only comments has a separate space apart from the element
38
(Figure 4-15). On the other hand, multimedia comments are applied to the
content of the element as augmented and remixed information of the element
(Figure 4-16).
Spark Info
MIT Medialab Festival of Learnig
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Figure 4-15. Text-Only Comment of the Sparkinfo's Element
Spark Info
SparkInfo
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ah A.BC, A119
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Figure 4-16. Multimedia-Based Comment of the Sparklnfo's Element
39
G
4.8. Comment as a New Element or as a Change in an Element
The SparkInfo system enables the user to add multimedia content and
thoughts as a comment in two different ways: a comment on the overall
SparkInfo space that contains many components (i.e., elements) by posting a
new component (Figure 4-2-1), and a comment on the specific component by
adding new content to the component (Figure 4-2-2).
Adding a new component could be a way to express the user's overall
impression on the shared components or spark new insight with more
content. When commenting, the SparkInfo users preferred to add and remix
some parts of the shared components (Figure 4-17) rather than post a new
component. They usually created a new component in order to share
information about another sub-event or start new sub-story of their event
within the SparkInfo space.
40
Sparkinfo
And--
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The Sparkinfo users added pictures and videos to the elements as their comments.
Figure 4-17. Comments as Changes in the Elements
41
4.9. Review and Refine Elements Using the Back-End Menus
In addition to the direct changes on the SparkInfo plane, the system also
enables users to review changes and refine settings of the space and the
elements using the back-end menu items.
Each element can describe its essential media type with presenting its
preview icon in the SparkInfo space. From the back-end menu, users can
select and assign the element's media format (e.g., image, text, video) and its
preview icon (Figure 4-18).
Sparki nfo
MIT Media Lab Festival
A dTy
a
d lN
shvng
k
Lunchtime Talks
r rALe
te
Day1:LmngfinmmEachOther
Sercrrr~ 'rdudea RaCyo~ RW s, Ch p'ane
LaptopO~estra CAD,Mae rtq ~~O(P the
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Btewr~'4MMOo SetPetsot Cata~rImptos
Comedy et
~
ws tot,
eaedandpresete
n hea
,x~
La
day.
Figure 4-18. Preview Icons Represent the Media Formats of Elements
While the SparkInfo system enables users to filter and rearrange elements by
using its front-end keyword and category searches, the system also supports
their rearrangements of the elements by using its back-end drag and drop.
The SparkInfo system maintains the list of changes of each element for users
to review and compare changes among users. The system introduces a new
42
type of remix by giving them the opportunity to review, undo, and redo their
changes on elements.
4.10. Rearrange Elements
The SparkInfo system supports three types of changes and remixes: creating
a new
element, changing elements
with
comments,
multimedia
and
rearranging elements. The third type of remixing is the rearrangement of
elements. Drag-and-drop (DND) is the comfortable and intuitive method of
reorganizing elements. The SparkInfo system has the jQuery-based function
for DND and another jQuery-based function for in-line editor. When the
functions are called from the front end together, they conflicted with each
other. That's because they access the same fields and table of elements in the
database. Therefore, the DND arrangement of elements is implemented and
imported in the back-end menu (Figure 4-19).
Rearrangment
Rearrangment
LunchtimeTas
Tk
LUnchtime
ofLewnim. D"
Festival
of Lamina
2
P1l1
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Rearrangment
Eac Othe
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a
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retaive
o
rmv
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tp
By using the back-end rearrangement menu, drag the element, "Dayl: Learning from
Each Other," and drop it under the "Playful Learning" element. After updating this
rearrangement, "Playful learning" is shown upper than "Dayl: Learning from Each Other"
in the Sparklnfo space.
43
Sparki nfo
Add New
MIT Media Lab Festival of Leaming
A dayof MewaVand sha*g
&
Me6
Edit
MyDash
Before the Rearrangement
Labanmnuiy
G
LunhimeTali
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rte-est ing
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Laptop Orchestra. CAD, Mak-ng Vochi the
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on Repeat Beer
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Comedy,
ett
-apoened dur rtg Day I at the Festival of
:earn ng. A two day fsti val from, Januar
2 7 28. the rest va!of Learning is a tine for
us to teach earn and cotao-ate on any
topic we ish Wesad part opants romnte
MIT MediaLab. CMS ard ACT Tis viceo
was shot, edited arid oresented n the same
day
Sparki nfo
Add New
MIT Media Lab Festival of Leaming
After the Rearrangement
A dayof amng and sharng Artte MfdlaLabctirnsarIy
Lunktime Talks
oon
We had a ocri c ionc
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iterest
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rg sessions we attended to each
ard
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Sessions mncluded Ruby on Rails, Ch ptune
LaptopOrcestra CAD,Making Vocni the
Frontiers of Physic.Listening on Repeat. Beer
MMOs.Settlers of Catan,tnprov
Brewing,
Comedy,etc
serdi
ilDay2
ELot
0WO 101
[Edit
Figure 4-19. Drag and Drop Rearrangement of Elements
44
learning here
MD. 1-,
4.11. Review and Compare Changes
The SparkInfo users can create new elements, add multimedia comments to
the elements, and rearrange the elements. While they have those active
changes in the SparkInfo space, their changes can be reviewed by each other.
When they make the changes, their usernames, types of changes, and time
stamps are saved on the server. The SparkInfo system calls its PHP script to
retrieve information of the users, changes, and time from the server and
display the information in the list of changes (Figure 4-20). The system let
users select any two items from the list to compare changes, which are made
by different users or at different times. They can also undo and redo changes
and apply the changes to the shared space. This comparison function enables
users to review and remix their changing processes.
List of Changes
oDelete
Compare
S 0
0Q
0
o
o
o
)0 0
0
Actions
Date Created
Author
18 Juty, 2012 @ 1920 [Current Change)
userdi
18 July, 2012 @ 18:08
userth
Restore
2012 @ 19:51
17 July,
userdi
Restore
lJuty2012V1939
users4
Restore
@
'7July 2012
1937
usera2
Restore
CQ
17 Ju'y 2012
1936
usera2
Restore
Figure 4-20. Review and Compare Changes of the Element
45
4.12. Filtering Options
The
SparkInfo
system has menu items to provide more
meaningful
experience with elements and visualize the elements based on the augmented
information and comments of the elements. By assigning and selecting
categories to their elements, the SparkInfo users can more easily discover
and understand the relationship between media elements. They can filter
some elements to focus on a particular element by using category and
keyword searches (Figure 4-21). In this manner, users can adjust salience of
the shared content to themselves. All of their adjustments affect only their
own perspectives.
Sparkinfo
AddNew
MIT Media Lab Festival of Learning
A day ofmearnig and Sharng ifr the Media Labcommuny
Day 2
Lunchtime Talks
0
FstivaoftLming,Day 2
We had a picnc lrunc on Day 2 of the
Festiva; of Learning We introduced the
nteresttnq sessions we attended to each
ther.
Figure 4-21-1. View elements categorized as Day 2 related contents
46
Edit
MIT Media Lab Festival of Learng
A Cey 1'1
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1
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0
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Add N+
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MIT Media Lab Festival of Learing
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andshiningtcr ltheoWi
P*ab rmmu'*Y
Search Results for sessions
Lunchtime Talks
icn l l
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*
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uncho
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ne
sesios a he 3rdC
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had :he
0u
Al
Sessions ,Incuded Ruby on Rails. Ch prune
LaowpOrchestra, CAD,M angMoch the
Frontiers of
Physc I
Se
improv
Repeat,
Catan,
stening on
Brewing.
MMOs, Settlers of
Figure 4-21-2. Search elements that have a keyword, sessions
Figure 4-21. Filtered by Category and Keyword
4.13. The Published Perspective from the Public Perspective
SparkInfo supports the user to save an instance of the shared space as a
published perspective using the back end menu. The user can keep a personal
perspective, special meaning, or specific arrangement of the elements apart
from the shared space.
To maintain both a shared page that applies activities from all users and
multiple pages that separate and keep activities from individual users, the
system creates a connection of the pages. When users make changes on the
shared page, the SparkInfo system updates the same database table. When
47
they publish their own pages from the shared space, the system starts using
separate database tables. In this manner, users are able to have both public
and personal perspectives while using the SparkInfo system.
Not only the shared page but also the published page can be appropriated as
a starting point for other users to change and re-create as their own
interpretation of the space. The user is able to share the published page with
other users or place a link of the page to other online spaces where it can
fascinate newcomers. In this way, SparkInfo can motivate users to find
potential values and to start social behavior.
48
Chapter 5
Evaluation
SparkInfo aims to offer explorative environment where users can share and
experience their multimedia elements in ways that are unique, playful, and
sociable. SparkInfo enables users, who have created multimedia elements at
the same event, to collect their elements in one place and have meaningful
experience of their co-created media resources.
I had user study sessions to evaluate the impact of the SparkInfo system on
people's experience of the shared multimedia elements within the SparkInfo's
social space that reflects their events in real space. The purpose of this user
study is to assess how the system provides better and easier ways to create,
organize, and navigate the co-created multimedia resources. I asked groups of
people to create and exchange multimedia resources of the events that they
attended using the SparkInfo system and complete questionnaires about the
system. The user study sessions were designed to test SparkInfo with
participants of the actual events, such as social events at the MIT Ashdown
House and the Festival of Learning sessions at the MIT Media Lab.
The questionnaire results, open-ended feedback, logged user interactions, and
the created views during the user study sessions have been reviewed to
investigate the role of SparkInfo in sparking and facilitating meaningful
media experiences.
49
5.1. Study Procedures
I selected two groups for my evaluation after reviewing their sense of
community event and their configuration of multimedia and social space.
People in those two groups are (1) student officers who have organized social
events at the MIT Ashdown House and (2) student members who have
attended the Festival of Learning sessions and other group events at the MIT
Media Lab. I recruited participants from those groups by sending email
messages.
For the user study sessions, participants from group (1) explored multimedia
resources of weekly coffee hours at the Ashdown House, and participants
from group (2) utilized multimedia resources of the Festival of Learning at
the Media Lab. SparkInfo users from the two groups had different contents
and comments based on their group events, but they had the same study
procedures and similar interactions (Figure 5-1) within the SparkInfo space.
A personal computer with the system was used in a typical office environment.
As an investigator and facilitator, I seated in the same office when participants
interact with the system.
Participants were instructed to interact with the SparkInfo interface using a
mouse and keyboard. I briefed participants on the system and instructed them
to read an informed consent prompt screen. After logging in and starting using
the SparkInfo system, participants were asked to create a title of the
SparkInfo space for collecting and organizing materials of their event. They
also added a new element to the space and several multimedia contents (e.g.,
images and short video clips) taken from their event to the related elements.
The SparkInfo users customized parts (e.g., title, content, and category) of an
element and added both text and multimedia comments to elements. In
addition to experiencing different types of comments, they compared their
comments with others. The SparkInfo users had enough time to explore the
50
multimedia elements and comments. They also experienced creating and
saving the
customized
arrangement
of the
multimedia
elements
and
comments. After trying this system, participants completed a questionnaire
about the system.
- Login
- Create a title of the Sparkinfo space
- Create a sub-title for short description of the SparkInfo space
- Customize the title of an existing element
- Create a new element
- Add a message to an element
- Add a picture to an element
- Add another picture to the element and view those pictures in the element's
photo gallery
- Resize and reorder pictures in the element
- Add a video to an element
- Select or Change the element format and its preview icon
- Assign and change category
- Experience different types of comments
(1) Text comment in the list vs. Multimedia comment in the element
(2) One post as a comment vs. Multiple comments inside of an element
- Review comments and compare changes among users
- Rearrange elements by drag-and-drop and filtering functions
Figure 5-1. Study Procedures and User Interactions
5.2. Questionnaires
In order to measure the overall impact of SparkInfo on exploring and cocreating the shared multimedia elements, I asked the SparkInfo users to
complete
the
Likert-scale,
multiple-choice,
questionnaires after using the system.
51
ordinal,
and
open-ended
The study participants reported their usage on a Likert scale of 1 (Strongly
Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) (Figure 5-2).
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
1
2
I
Neutral
3
Agree
Strongly
Agree
4
5
I
Overall, I am satisfied with this
system.
The system makes the
multimedia-based task I want to
accomplish easier to get done.
The system is useful in
organizing and navigating
multimedia resources.
The system is flexible to interact
with.
The system has increased my
interactions with multimedia
resources.
It is easy to explore new features
of the system by creating
resources.
I would recommend it to friends.
Figure 5-2. Users' Reported Usage of SparkInfo on a Likert Scale
The SparkInfo system can support both individual creation and collaborative
sharing of multimedia resources. Participants were asked to state their
preferences in using the system alone or with friends. There was a clear
52
preference (90%) for using the system and its capabilities with friends
(Figure 5-3).
Would you prefer to use the system alone or with your friends?
10%
Alone
90%
With friends
Figure 5-3. Using the Sparkinfo System Alone or with Friends
Unlike the fixed list of current commenting systems, SparkInfo organizes its
multimedia contents in the flexible plane. To display and manage multimedia
resources, 70% of participants preferred the breath-oriented plane to the
depth-oriented list (Figure 5-4). Some participants would like to have the listlike frame to arrange resources in a structured way. To provide the neat
structure and some margins among the components, SparkInfo has three
columns within the flexible plane. Users can rearrange components across
the loosen columns.
Which one do you prefer to display and manage multimedia resources?
Breadth-oriented plane
Depth-oriented list
- l........
Figure 5-4. Depth-Oriented List vs. Breath-Oriented Plane
53
Participants actively utilized both multimedia and text comments while using
the SparkInfo system. When they were asked to select one of the comment
types, 60% of participants chose multimedia as more preferred type for their
comments. Other participants, who preferred text to multimedia, said they
would take a shorter route to leave comments with text though they also liked
the SparkInfo's multimedia commenting and remixing functions (Figure 5-5).
While using the system, you experienced both text-based comments and multimedia
-based comments. Which data type do you prefer to use as comments?
Text
Multimedia
(e.g., image and video)
Figure 5-5. The Data Types for Commenting
The SparkInfo user is able to add the user's contents and thoughts as a
comment in two different ways: a comment on the overall SparkInfo space
that contains many components by posting a new component and a comment
on the specific component by adding new content to the component. When
commenting, participants preferred to add and remix some parts of each
component rather than post a new component to express their overall
impression on the shared components (Figure 5-6).
54
Which one do you prefer to do in order to leave your comments and thoughts
while using this system?
30%
Posting a new component
Adding and remixing some parts
of the shared components
70%
Figure 5-6. The Users' Preferred Methods of Adding Comments
The SparkInfo system can support both one shared page and multiple pages
for a group of users. All participants would prefer to see their final outputs in
one shared page rather than multiple pages when adding, sharing, editing
and remixing multimedia resources. Though some participants would like to
have sharing settings to control their changes in a shared page, all
participants prefer to interact with one shared page that applies activities
from all users rather than the multiple pages that separate and keep
activities from each user (Figure 5-7).
When a group of users add, share, edit and remix multimedia resources, would
you prefer to see their final outputs in one shared page or multiple pages?
Multiple comparable pages, which
contain activities of each user
0%
One shared page, which
contains activities of all users
100%
Figure 5-7. One Shared Page vs. Multiple Pages
55
Many participants chose "creator & designer (31.7%)" as the primary role
they would take when interacting with the system (Figure 5-8). They would
also like to grasp the collaboratively shared and remixed contents as a viewer
(28.9%), read and write comments an active communicator (20.2%), and
rearrange and filter components as an organizer (19.2%).
Please provide the primary role you will take when interacting with the system.
Please also state your priorities within the roles. (Figure 5-8: Average Percentage
Score)
Creator & Designer
Viewer
Communicator
Organizer
0.0
5.0
15.0
10.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
35.0(%)
Figure 5-8. The Roles of the Sparklnfo Users
The SparkInfo users expected to access "image (32.7%)" most frequently from
the system in terms of data types (Figure 5-9). In addition to image, they
would like to interact with other types of content: video (28.9%), text (25.9%),
and sound (12.5%).
56
Please select one of the following data types that you expect to access most
frequently from the system. Please also state your priorities. (Figure 5-9: Average
Percentage Score)
Image
Sound
Text
Video
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
25.0
20.0
30.0
35.0(%)
Figure 5-9. The Commonly Used Data Types in the Sparklnfo System
The most preferred type of changes and remixes the SparkInfo users would
like to have when using the system was editing and adding some contents to
the existing elements (i.e., commenting on posts). They also consider remixing
and changing multimedia materials in the SparkInfo space by adding new posts
and rearranging elements (i.e., reordering or filtering posts) (Figure 5-10).
Which type of changes and remixes do you want to do with this system? Please
also state your priorities. (Figure 5-10: Average Percentage Score)
Adding new elements
Editing and adding some
contents to the existing
elements
(i.e., commenting on posts)
Rearranging elements
(i.e., reordering or filtering posts)
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
Figure 5-10. The Users' Preferred Types of Changes and Remixes
57
40.0 (%)
Participants indicated their primary purpose of using the SparkInfo system
was sharing multimedia resources and comments (34.6%). They also used the
system to explore and navigate various multimedia resources effectively
(26.9%), create multimedia resources with others collaboratively (26.0%), and
customize multimedia resources (12.5%) (Figure 5-11).
What would be your primary purpose of using this system? Please also rank the
selection category. (Figure 5-11: Average Percentage Score)
Exploring and navigating various multimedia resources effectively
Customizing multimedia resources
Sharing multimedia resources and comments
Collaboratively creating multimedia resources with others
[
0.0
5.0
10.0
20.0
15.0
25.0
30.0
Figure 5-11. The Purposes of Using the Sparkinfo System
58
35.0 (%)
5.3. Open-Ended Feedback
In the questionnaire, I asked the following open-ended questions to users in
order to gain a better understanding of benefits and values of specific features
in the SparkInfo system: What's your favorite feature or function of this
system? Did you have any interesting experience while using the system?
When asked these questions, their responses were generally congruent with
my research
goal of supporting collaborative
creation and sharing of
multimedia resources in the SparkInfo's social space.
One of the interesting experiences that participants had while using the
system is creating, sharing, and changing multimedia content easily.
UserS1 said, "Sharing different types of materials in one page without
executing many commands. I think this is the characteristic of the SparkInfo
system. It's distinguishable and not a common feature. Everyone can create
multimedia element with others and see what others are talking about and
changing. The interesting experience I had was sharing things easily and
creating multimedia elements collaboratively within the SparkInfo space."
UserA2 said, "What I like about SparkInfo is that it is easy to add and edit
multimedia content and see the results very quickly." Likewise, UserP1
answered that he was particularly interested in using the easy in-line content
editing tool. UserS4 also said that easy-to-use interface and ability to foster
collaboration with multimedia resources are his favorite things of the
SparkInfo system.
SparkInfo users were also interested in active commenting and remixing.
They liked to experience a new form of commenting that goes beyond general
text commenting. UserH1 said, "I had the delightful experience of dynamic
commenting and remixing instead of text-only commenting." UserP1 said one
of his favorite features was drag-and-drop rearrangement of components for
remixing. UserS3 said her favorite function was active commenting using
59
multimedia content. She also said, "One of the interesting things is I could
experience the combination of viewing, creating, remixing, and commenting
on shared materials as a SparkInfo user."
As UserS1 mentioned, placing multiple things in one space was one of their
favorite features of SparkInfo. UserD1, UserS2, and UserS3 also liked to
view everything in one space. UserS2 said, "The most impressive thing is the
overall view of SparkInfo supports the mechanism of reflection. Sometimes,
it's even real-time reflection. By designing and viewing the SparkInfo space,
users can give and get reflective feedback on their activities and events. I like
to have this overview of titles, images, and videos in the SparkInfo space. I
won't even read all texts. I want to skim and grasp first and go deeper into
details later." UserS3 said, "It's interesting to have a combination of
overviews of some events, which a group of people joined, with all types of
multimedia.
The SparkInfo users were interested in exploring the combination of the
past, the present and the future. They were able to get a broader and
deeper view of the events that they had been involved in by sharing their
multimedia elements and comments about the events. UserS2 liked that
SparkInfo could be used as a post-event tool for documentation, a currentevent tool for reflection, and a pre-event tool for planning the next event
together. UserS3 said, "One of my favorite things of SparkInfo is keeping
history and memory that I have made with other people."
The next outstanding attributes of SparkInfo that users liked are its design
layout and visualization. UserJ1 said, "The SparkInfo's great asset is
enabling content sharing based on its visual information and layout. It's hard
to find both text and visual information associated with a shared resource in
existing content sharing systems. On the other hand, SparkInfo offers more
flexible and straightforward ways to start remixing and rearranging shared
60
resources by presenting visual information of the resources in the SparkInfo
space effectively. In this way, it provides more collective and active ways than
current file sharing sites."
UserS4 said he liked visually appealing layout and consistency of SparkInfo.
He said, "I particularly enjoyed being able to customize visual layout and
organization while still within the WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-YouGet) interface." UserA2 said, "I like how clean the design is. The SparkInfo
design makes it a simple-to-learn-and-use system." UserD1 also said "Its
visualization is good" with mentioning his favorite feature that SparkInfo has
preview icon as a summary of the content type.
I also asked participants how they would introduce the SparkInfo system to
their friends in order to know how they recognize, use and describe the
system. Participants accentuated multimedia capabilities of SparkInfo in
its social space. They said, "This is a system that we can use to interactively
share all types of content while retaining the ability to more fully customize
and craft how that sharing and commenting is done."
The SparkInfo users said they would introduce SparkInfo as a system for a
group of users, who get involved in some type of social activities, to their
friends. They said, "When we have series of social activities, we can exchange
our materials, such as photos, videos, texts to share our experiences and
opinions. We can keep using SparkInfo in more collective and active ways."
UserS3 stressed that SparkInfo is a unique space for a group of people, who
have a common interest, to share their multimedia materials, ideas and their
previous events, experiences, etc. Similarly, UserP1 introduced the system as
a mixture of social media and invitation system, which allows people who
have a common event and interest to share user-generated content.
61
UserD1 said he would suggest his friends to explore and build spaces using
this system. UserD1 said, "I have already had many shared projects with
them using existing tools. However, they can't support multimedia-based
flexible interactions. I would say SparkInfo is a new type of collaboration
tool."
When
introducing
the
SparkInfo
system in their
own words,
some
participants emphasized collaborative reflection among the SparkInfo
users. They highlighted that SparkInfo provides great ways for a group of
users to collaborate on reflection based on a diverse set of multimedia
resources. UserS2 described SparkInfo as a "reflection wall." To explain its
co-creative and reflective features, UserA2 described SparkInfo as a good
system to share multimedia "diaries" among users.
Some SparkInfo users focused on describing interactive flow among users
as creators and viewers. UserH1 would like to introduce SparkInfo to his
friends through hands-on experience: create an element, direct friends to his
element, encourage them to add multimedia comments to it, and review their
comments on the element.
As UserDI, UserJ1, UserS1, and all other SparkInfo users said, this system
can be useful to share ideas and search information to spark a new
discussion. By sharing and remixing multimedia contents, a group of people
can start discussing, organizing, and proposing their events.
62
Chapter 6
Discussions and Improvements
Open-ended feedback from users yielded further discussions and improvements
of the SparkInfo system. Discussions and improvements are described in the
following paragraphs.
6.1. Public Perspective vs. Personal Perspective
The SparkInfo system can support both one-shared page for all users and
comparable page for each user. As all participants prefer to see their final
outputs in one shared page (i.e., public perspective) rather than in their own
pages (i.e., personal perspective) when adding, sharing, editing and remixing
multimedia resources, UserAl also said, "I would use SparkInfo to share
multimedia and participate in the shared experience of public view rather
than organize my custom view." UserS1 said that she would like to compare
her page to others' pages by keyword search if she would maintain and make
changes to her personal page.
Some participants would like to control their changes in the shared page. For
example, UserD1 talked about reviewing comments before they are applied to
the shared page. He said, "I think sometimes it would be good to check
sharing settings of initial author when making changes to the author's
element with comments in public page. On the other hand, if the changes are
saved as changes in personal page, then it doesn't need to review settings for
changing the private page."
63
Similarly, UserH1 suggested three types of pages (Figure 6-1. three types of
view mode), which support control over changes:
(1) Unchangeable public page
(2) Changeable public page
(3) Customizable personal page
Login status makes the difference between (1) and (2). Before login or after
logout, the user has (1) unchangeable public page.
After login, the user
comes into (2) changeable public page, which has complete control over
changes. The user can make changes on an element in the public page after
checking the sharing options of author of the element. The user can make all
changes apply to (3) the user's personal page. The user is able to set
customized content, layout, and menu in the personal page.
64
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(3) Personal Page: Customizable
Figure 6-1. Three Types of View Mode
65
The sharing options of the content to manage the user's creations and
changes will be further described in the following section. In this regard,
several users talked about having control over their elements (i.e., posts) and
comments in the shared page. On the other hand, many users would like to
have direct and interactive experience with their elements and comments in
the shared page without having delays in the approval process. That's
because they have already agreed to add and remix their multimedia
contents in the shared space. They want to maximize their shared experience
with the contents without any limitation. Therefore, they would consider the
settings for sharing as their additional options.
66
6.2. Settings for Sharing, Changing, and Remixing Content
While some users enjoyed continuous sharing and changing in the SparkInfo
space, some users would like to have control over their own posts and
comments to some extent. UserH1 suggested providing default settings that
enable users to define sharing and editing options on their posts and
materials when they first enter SparkInfo.
UserAl thought about having sharing settings for each component and each
comment with utilizing the SparkInfo's functions. For example, procedures of
assigning categories to the SparkInfo components using its drop-down list
can be applied to sharing settings for each component (Figure 6-2).
In addition, UserAl proposed a new type of filtering capability that
SparkInfo could support. After making and assigning subgroups, which is
similar to categories, to posts, it's possible to see the posts that are only
assigned to a subgroup of users by clicking the subgroup's name (Figure 6-3).
UserS3 also considered having subgroups within the SparkInfo space. As a
Cultural Committee officer at the MIT Ashdown House, UserS3 has worked
with people from Coffee-Hour, Brunch, and Social Committees. When
preparing for special events and officer transitions, she would like to have
the hidden layer that can be only visible to a special group of Ashdown
officers.
67
userAl
- None -
(Edit]
Public
I
Changeable
Not Changeable
Figure 6-2. Sharing Options Using Categories Drop-Down List
Sparki nfo
Add New
hd I
Ashdown House
ug
s
H
u p:Sec
rd
aa remCffe
Subgroup: Special Coffee Hour
Be. Smets Cpitu
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0
Dinne
Wekome new officers
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thi yar.
old and new off cer had danner fogether
and taked about our dutes. New chaIrs w
serve the next academic year
The
o
usex asped
As they did for theJigsaw Puzzle Night, the
top three team got awards
toA
owg)l
posts,
these
a
ae 1teIn
dea
An array of Jack-o' anterns n rainy day
We had more pumpkins, pattens, and
Figure 6-3. Filtered Posts by Subgroup Name
68
0
By including selectable radio buttons for sharing options (Figure 6-4) next to
other menu tabs of the in-line content editing tool, SparkInfo is able to
support the sharing settings for new comments.
Ifternet JInsert
ChnebeONthagbe
Public (~)' Private
AaBoCc
AaBb
AaBh
AaBb
Figure 6-4. Sharing Options Using Radio Buttons in the In-Line Editor
6.3. Display and Track Changes
Within the SparkInfo space, users create new elements and add multimedia
comments to the existing elements. Those activities can be considered as
"changes" in the space. When users make changes, their usernames, changes,
and time stamps are saved and displayed in a list of changes. Users can
select any two items from the list to compare changes made by different users
or at different time.
UserS1 would like to assign a tag-like keyword to each change and use the
keyword later to filter changes. She said, "When I can't review or compare
many comments from all users one by one, I want to find interesting
comments based on keywords. Can I add a keyword to each comment and use
it when retrieving comments related to the keyword? SparkInfo already
supports keyword search and tag assignment for each element, so I think it
can also support those functions for each comment."
If keyword of each change (i.e., comment) is displayed in the list of changes as
one of the list attributes, the keyword could represent and characterize the
type of change the comment has. By searching keywords not from the overall
69
-Boom,
SparkInfo space but only from the list of changes (Figure 6-5), users are able
to focus only on their interesting changes and comments.
Serc Kw "I
List of Chang"s
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Figure 6-5. List of Changes with the Keyword Attribute
On the other hand, UserJ1 thought adding keyword search or tag for tracking
each change would generate too much load and cause too much extra work for
both users and developers. As the current SparkInfo users do, she prefers to
search keywords in posts and content rather than in the list of changes.
In order to display and track changes of an element effectively, UserA2 and I
discussed another possible layout, which lets each element contain changes
that users have made in multiple layers (Figure 6-6). After UserAl heard
about this layout, she also wanted to have the multi-layered element. She
said, "Clicking on the tabs of layers could be easy way to track changes of the
element from the front end. Just click it and take that layer to the top." For
other versions of the element displayed in the back layers, she would like to
have highlighted boxes around the changed parts. As UserJ1 liked the
highlight border around the change-in-progress area (Figure 6-7), UserAl
wished she could make the changed area distinguishable in a similar way.
70
Sparki nfo
Add New
Edit
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Figure 6-6. Maintaining Diverse Perspectives in Multiple Layers of Elements
Cretiv steps
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some thoughts and answers.
Figure 6-7. Yellow Border Appears during the Edition
71
y.nos
6.4. Number, Amount, and Type of Changes
The number and amount of changes can provide effective information to
users in order to view and compare their activities in the SparkInfo space.
The number of changes in an element, in other words, the number of
comments on the post, can be displayed and utilized as a useful index for
users to select and view the post. The number of comments can represent
users' activities on that post. As UserH1 and UserS4 mentioned, some
participants consider posts that have more changes are more popular and
interesting posts. SparkInfo could use the number of comments as its sorting
factor and display posts that have more commenting activities first.
In this respect, UserS3 wanted to get a quick view of the posts that have
more comments. She also said, "I think I could find more interesting
comments from the most commented post. Besides, if users assign and search
for the tags of changes by utilizing the SparkInfo's tags, then it would be
easier to find more interesting comments. E.g., Adding two types of tags: local
tags that represent types of changes and global tags that count and show the
number of changes on that post."
When it comes to the amount of changes, just adding a word to a post and
adding an image or a paragraph to that post have different amount of
changes. UserA2 said he would like to review posts that have radical changes
first. UserH1 and I talked about measuring the active and radical changes on
posts and designing a meter to display the amount, number, and type of
changes. The meter increases more for more radical changes, such as adding
an image or a video (e.g., word change = + 3
,
image change = +3)
In addition to the amount and number of changes, the meter is able to give
information on the type of changes (e.g., image, text, video) and the meter can
be placed in the tag area of each post (Figure 6-8).
72
Changes
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Figure 6-8. The Meter That Displays the Amount, Number, and Type of Changes
The meter blocks accumulate changes from previous participants. Therefore,
the meter could encourage users to have more conversations and connections.
After checking meters of other users' changes, User A can find a User B who
has made interesting changes. Then, they can find their common interests or
experiences and start having more conversation.
73
6.5. More Interesting Posts and Communications
According to UserAl and other participants, the SparkInfo users could infuse
a high level of creativity and new ideas into the shared space and
communicate their ideas effectively by creating and changing posts within
the SparkInfo space.
As the number of changes on posts could represent their activities on the
posts, the number of clicks on posts could indicate more interesting posts. In
this
respect,
UserS3
assumed
that she could
find more
interesting
communications and posts by utilizing the number of clicks.
Many participants including UserJ1 and UserS1 considered SparkInfo as an
entrance to the special layer, where users can make and find a more
interesting post using its editable multimedia content block. For each post,
SparkInfo provides its unique multimedia content block between title and tag
in order to let users get essential parts of the post without reading the whole
text.
6.6. Filtering Options
In order to have more meaningful experience with posts, UserP1 talked about
filtering by frequently assigned categories. "I wish SparkInfo could display
ranking of categories in sidebar with clickable filters (Figure 6-9). In addition
to add and assign categories to posts, I'd like to know which category is
frequently assigned to posts by reviewing the number of assignments and
which posts are included in that category by clicking the category."
He compared this category-based filtering option to 'word cloud' that is used as
a categorization method for content items. In a word cloud (Figure 6-10), also
known as tag cloud, words are represented in a cloud where larger words
represent the aggregated frequencies and quantity of content items in that
74
category. Similar to word clouds, categories can represent the most popular
information or the most common ingredients of the SparkInfo's posts.
fevval ueang
The
f
#
we had
the M1T
d et diete~ee~pt
Vedj LaOOfe
C*fl9O
d scussion Oces, workshops,playdates,
conmuction project
game S,
Dy
andJmore
imnage
cojafnOrahve
Un!egorized
Ar
CATEGORES
IFCATEIMIES
Image (14)
Collaboration
Video (12)
Day I
Collaboration (9)
Day 2
Day 1 (5)
Image
Day 2 (3)
Uncategorized
Uncategorized (2)
Video
Figure 6-9. Rank Categories based on the Frequently Assigned
Categories to Improve the Filtering Function
Figure 6-10. A Word Cloud with Terms Related to Web 2.0
75
6.7. Sidebar Menu
As UserP1 wanted to display the ranked list of frequently assigned categories
in sidebar, other participants also thought about designing sidebar menu in
different ways to improve their interactions with shared elements and
comments in the SparkInfo space. For instance, UserH1 and I talked about
having the list of "Recent Changes" rather than "Recent Comments" and the
list of "Popular Posts" rather than "Recent Posts" in sidebar menu.
"Recent changes" embrace not only recent additions of comments but also
other
recent
changes
on
shared
multimedia
resources,
post
title,
arrangement, category assignment, etc. He considered and described "the
most frequently changed post" as "the most popular post" within the
SparkInfo space. Therefore, the linked title of post that has more changes
than other posts comes first on the "Popular Posts" list.
UserH1 said, "If I maintain both personal perspective and public perspective,
I would rearrange and move posts freely in my personal page. However, in
public page, I would arrange posts by popularity. I would like to see posts
that have active changes on the top-level space."
In order to discover more interesting activities in the SparkInfo space, the
SparkInfo users could more effectively utilize new sidebar menus, "Recent
Changes" and "Most Frequently Changed Posts," than "Recent Posts" and
"Recent Comments" (Figure 6-11).
76
71UPbNPibhbd
0
fiiyapb.?
0
OftwTuuihnN~f
0
UEW
a .pampIacar spanmn
Figure 6-11. Recent Changes and Most Frequently Changed Posts
While some participants (e.g., UserA2) explicitly said that they liked to have
the side menu to customize their perspectives, other participants (e.g.,
UserS2) said they preferred to see posts and comments in full screen mode
without having the side menu.
UserS2 said, "If SparkInfo provides the collapsible and extendable side menu
instead of the fixed one, I would hide the side menu and have a full screen
view, where elements and comments use full width of the view." That's
because UserS2 was mainly interested in
getting an overview of titles,
images, and videos in a full screen view of the SparkInfo space as a reflection
wall.
On the other hand, UserA2 mentioned the advantages of keeping and using
the sidebar functions. As he said, the SparkInfo's sidebar menu enables users
to see and select their activities in elements, comments, and the overall page
in various ways and redirects them to other related places with links. In this
respect, people can reach out to similar things within the SparkInfo space.
77
6.8. Drag-and-Drop Rearrangement
To prevent any conflicts among the jQuery functions and support the dragand-drop arrangement on the front end, UserD1 and I talked about providing
two modes, rearranging mode and editing mode, and add a button to the
SparkInfo interface in order to change from one mode to the other.
UserAl said, "I wish I could use the preview icon of each element as a handle
to move the element." Using the preview icon is another way to support
draggable and sortable interactions from the front end (Figure 6-12).
78
Sparkinfo
Ashdown House Coffee Hour Events 2011-2012
Wekome to our n-history tradionalevent! :P
Best SmOthie Competitini
Specil Dinner. Cffee Hour
0
Residents competed against their friends for
the best smoothie.
Many residents and triends attended special
dinners we had last year.
Sparkinfo
Ashdown House Coffee Hour Events 2011-2012
Wekone to our long-hitory traditonal event! :P
Speciallmner.Ceffee Hour
(
Best Smoeeige Compettilen
0
Residents competed against their friends for
the best smoothie.
Many residents and friends attended special
dinners we had last year.
Figure 6-12. Reorder Elements with Clicking and Dragging Their Preview Icons
79
When using the drag-and-drop arrangement from the back end, some users
wanted to have multi-column layout, consistent with the front-end layout of
multiple elements.
As UserP1 mentioned, some users particularly liked the drag-and-drop
rearrangement of elements based on their preferences. Meanwhile, some
users including UserS3 preferred to rearrange and display elements by
filtering options than by drag-and-drop operations.
6.9. Intelligent Agent
A major focus of the SparkInfo system is to provide a social space where users
can reflect themselves and create patterns and connections of their shared
data by themselves collaboratively. On the other hand, a major focus of
machine learning systems is to automatically learn to recognize complex
patterns and make intelligent decisions for users.
Machine learning systems generate a function that maps inputs to desired
outputs and attempt to decrease the need for human intuition, creation,
selection and collaboration in data management and representation. However,
within the SparkInfo space, not the system's machine learning algorithm but
the user specifies how the information is to be represented and what
mechanisms will be used to add, remix, and categorize the information. That's
the difference between the SparkInfo system and machine learning-based
intelligent agent system. During the evaluation, I asked participants their
thoughts on embedding machine learning algorithms in the system.
UserD1 said, "It depends on people, event (i.e., topic of the Sparkinfo space),
and amount of information. If I have too much text data to review for my group
80
project, then I would need machine learning system. However, for this kind of
social co-creative purpose, I would prefer to have the SparkInfo interface."
After having a discussion with several users, I have thought about having an
intelligent agent that could influence the strength of a relationship between
users. If the agent finds interesting content related to my post or comment
and highlight the user who made it, then I would have more conversation
with the user about our common interests and experiences.
6.10. Other Design Suggestions
The SparkInfo users and I also had other design-related discussions. After
getting used to create
multimedia-based elements and comments, the
SparkInfo users tried to make the most of their abilities in the SparkInfo
space. For example, they preferred to insert more than one sentence or
multimedia content at a time. When UserD1 assigned a title and subtitle of
the SparkInfo space, he would like to include longer description of the space.
UserAl tended to add more than one image as photo album to an element at
once.
Some participants would like to add space or border between the shared
contents. For example, UserAl suggested inserting a line between comments
in an element to give some margins between them, and UserS1 proposed
giving some space in between groups of posts to classify posts for a specific
time period. Besides, UserS3 wished she could have emoticons on posts and
comments to attach additional meanings to the shared materials.
81
6.11. Connections with People and Time
The SparkInfo users share a link to the SparkInfo space and log in to the
space to have further co-creation. As UserS2 and I discussed, there are
advantages and disadvantages of utilizing existing social identity providers
in order to invite people to the SparkInfo space. We can send the link to our
friends of friends in connections with social identity providers. However,
some people could be omitted or excluded if they are not already included in
the providers. For instance, children can't get this opportunity, because they
can't make accounts for some of those providers if they are under 15 years
old. It's difficult to include all participants who have attended the same event
in the SparkInfo space through existing identity providers, so SparkInfo has
accepted and maintained its own group of users apart from those providers.
The SparkInfo users share and remix multimedia elements, which they took
from their social event. Therefore, by visiting and revisiting the SparkInfo
space, they explore the combination of the past, the present and the future of
the event. To apply what they have got from the multimedia elements of the
SparkInfo
space to the upcoming event effectively,
SparkInfo already
provides the archive function that supports close connections between their
elements of SparkInfo and their activities at the event. In addition to the
archive, the embedded calendar could make the multimedia elements influence
over their plan for the next event.
82
Chapter 7
Conclusion
SparkInfo enables a group of people who have attended the same event to
collect their multimedia elements related to the event into one place where
they all can visit and have a meaningful experience of their co-created media
elements. SparkInfo aims to offer an explorative environment where they can
have creative interactions and share their multimedia elements in ways that
are unique, playful, and sociable.
While sharing multimedia elements in the interactive SparkInfo space, users
can also refine and enrich the shared elements by adding their active
multimedia comments. SparkInfo empowers them to create, change, and
remix their multimedia contents as active objects collaboratively in the
shared space. During the user study sessions, the SparkInfo users mentioned
that the outstanding attributes of the SparkInfo system are enabling them to
create, share, and remix different types of contents as elements and
comments easily and see their activities in one space.
By providing the flexible content creation and editing tools, the system
supports three types of content changes and remixes in the SparkInfo space:
creating new elements, changing the elements with multimedia comments,
and rearranging the elements. When commenting, the SparkInfo users
preferred to add and remix some parts of the shared elements rather than
post a new element. They usually created a new element when sharing
information about another sub-event or starting new sub-story of their event
83
with having more content in the SparkInfo space. Some users particularly
liked rearranging elements based on their preferences. Through creating new
multimedia elements, changing the elements with comments, and rearranging
them in the SparkInfo space, they could exchange new information and have
new perspectives on the shared materials and events. In this respect,
SparkInfo provides new possibilities for creative expression and collaboration.
The SparkInfo users would like to keep using the SparkInfo system in
collective and active ways for a series of their social activities. Some
participants particularly emphasized collaborative reflection
among the
SparkInfo users. As they highlighted, SparkInfo can provide great ways for a
group of users to collaborate on actions and reflections on a diverse set of
multimedia objects. Their actions in the shared SparkInfo space and
reflections
on
their
interactive
experiences
can
promote
collective
externalization and internalization.
The SparkInfo users could get a broader and deeper view of the events that
they had been involved in by sharing their multimedia elements and
comments
about
the events.
They were interested
in exploring the
combination of the past, the present and the future in the SparkInfo space.
Thus, SparkInfo
could be effectively utilized as a post-event tool for
documentation, a current-event tool for reflection, and a pre-event tool for
planning the next event together.
The SparkInfo system enables people to collect, construct, and find insights of
the
shared
media
elements
by
creating
and exchanging
interactive
multimedia elements and comments. The SparkInfo users can reflect other's
perspectives in the shared elements and can enhance their social awareness
and communication with other users. Therefore, SparkInfo could pave the
way for new approaches to human-based computation and co-creative media
space.
84
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