Abstract. In this paper we will give an overview of the Semantic Desktop paradigm, beginning with the history of the term, a definition, current work and its relevance to knowledge management of the future. Existing applications and research results are listed and their role as building blocks of the future Semantic Desktop described. Based on the analysis of existing systems we propose two software architecture paradigms, one for the Semantic Desktop at large and another for applications running on a Semantic Desktop. A view on the context aspect of the Semantic Desktop and the Knowledge Management aspect is given. Based on the current events and projects, we give an outlook on the next steps. 1

Abstract: This paper introduces the NEPOMUK project which aims to create a standard and reference implementation for the Social Semantic Desktop. We outline the requirements and functionalities that were identified for a useful Semantic Desktop system and present an architecture that fulfills these requirements which was acquired by incremental refinement of the architecture of existing Semantic Desktop prototypes. The NEPOMUK project is primarily motivated by three real-life industrial use-cases, we briefly outline these and the processes used to extract required functionalities from the people working in these areas today, and we present a selection of typical tasks where the Semantic Desktop could be of benefit.

We present research leading toward an understanding of the optimal audio-visual representation for illustrating concepts for illiterate and semi-literate users of computers. In our user study, which to our knowledge is the first of its kind, we presented to 200 illiterate subjects each of 13 different health symptoms in one representation randomly selected among the following ten: text, static drawings, static photographs, hand-drawn animations, and video, each with and without voice annotation. The goal was to see how comprehensible these representation types were for an illiterate audience. We used a methodology for generating each of the representations tested in a way that fairly stacks one representational type against the others. Our main results are that (1) voice annotation generally helps in speed of comprehension, but bimodal audio-visual information can be confusing for the target population; (2) richer information is not necessarily better understood overall; (3) the relative value of dynamic imagery versus static imagery depends on various factors. Analysis of these statistically significant results and additional detailed results are also provided.

Abstract. While the user-centered design methods we bring from humancomputer interaction to ubicomp help sketch ideas and refine prototypes, few tools or techniques help explore divergent design concepts, reflect on their merits, and come to a new understanding of design opportunities and ways to address them. We present Speed Dating, a design method for rapidly exploring application concepts and their interactions and contextual dimensions without requiring any technology implementation. Situated between sketching and prototyping, Speed Dating structures comparison of concepts, helping identify and understand contextual risk factors and develop approaches to address them. We illustrate how to use Speed Dating by applying it to our research on the smart home and dual-income families, and highlight our findings from using this method.

Software developers, designers and researchers have been looking to technology for solutions to help and educate people with autism for over two decades. There are many examples of seemingly successful technology-based products and prototypes, yet very little is known about how well these solutions are currently integrated into lives of children and adults with autism and their families. This paper reports on results from an anonymous on-line survey intended as a first step to elucidate information about software and technology use. Additionally, data was analyzed to aid creation of future technology-based products for people with autism that are not just effective, but that also meet important user goals and align to their interests and strengths. Major findings included: (1) very few respondents (25%) had any experience with software or technology designed for people with cognitive disabilities; (2) when asked an open-ended question about what they desire in technology design, respondents reported three major goals (social skills, academic skills, and organization skills), and many suggestions for improvements to software and hardware design; and (3) technology was reported as both a major strength and interest for people with autism.

Design is an inherently multidisciplinary endeavor. This raises the question of how to develop systems in ways that can best leverage the perspectives, practices, and knowledge bases of these different areas. Agile software development and usability engineering both address important aspects of system design, but there are tensions between the methods that make them difficult to integrate. This work presents a development approach that draws from extreme programming (XP), a widely practiced agile software development process, and scenariobased design (SBD), an established usability engineering process. It describes three key questions that need to be addressed for agile software development methods and usability engineering practices to work together effectively, and it introduces interface architectures and design representations that can address these questions.

We introduce the information flaneur as a new human-centred view on information seeking that is grounded in interdisciplinary research. We use the metaphor of the urban flaneur making sense of a city as an inspiring lens that brings together diverse perspectives. These perspectives shift information seeking towards a more optimistic outlook: the information flaneur represents curious, creative, and critical information seeking. The resulting information-seeking model conceptualizes the interrelated nature between information activities and experiences as a continuum between horizontal exploration and vertical immersion. Motivated by enabling technological trends and inspired by the information flaneur, we present explorability as a new guiding principle for design and raise research challenges regarding the representation of information abstractions and details.

Most programs today are written not by professional software developers, but by people with expertise in other domains working towards goals for which they need computational support. For example, a teacher might write a grading spreadsheet to save time grading, or an interaction designer might use an interface builder to test some user interface design ideas. Although these end-user programmers may not have the same goals as professional developers, they do face many of the same software engineering challenges, including understanding their requirements, as well as making decisions about design, reuse, integration, testing, and debugging. This article summarizes and classifies research on these activities, defining the area of End-User Software Engineering (EUSE) and related terminology. The article then discusses empirical research about end-user software engineering activities and the technologies designed to support them. The article also addresses several crosscutting issues in the design of EUSE tools, including the roles of risk, reward, and domain complexity, and self-efficacy

Many of the existing security components and frameworks for computational grid environments either suffer from significant usability issues for end-users and/or administrators, or their administration and deployment is extremely complex and resource-intensive. This has lead to a situation where using such environments securely is so difficult that end-users either refuse to use them or else deliberately use them in an insecure fashion. In this paper we describe work underway to provide more user-friendly security mechanisms for computational grid environments. 1

This case study examines a procurement project where the Swedish National Labor Market Administration (AMV) hired usability consultants in order to redesign their website for employment exchange. The user centered design process was part of a larger project to define how the website could be reorganized to better support new organizational goals. The project was managed by a procurement group that had already defined the organizational requirements for the website. They hired the usability consultants to learn about user requirements and to specify an information architecture and design. The usability company suggested a process with a user research phase and an iterative design phase. The primary deliverables would be personas and an evaluated prototype. The results demonstrate how the user centered design process can effectively be used by active procuring organizations as a bridge between abstract organizational requirements and concrete systems requirements. Tools such as personas and prototypes helped the procurers to understand and prioritize among requirements, as well as to communicate their work to the organization. These tools will be used in the continued work to specify and develop the system.