our product is an interactive system that places the activities of work in context, representing relevant relationships between people, projects, and documents. the transitions between tasks becomes more seamless, and the ability to communicate and operate in a unified environment negates many existing interruptions to the flow of work while highlighting opportunities for optimizing effort.

the key interactions we will focus on are:

COMMUNICATION IN CONTEXT
opening communication channels that are “medium agnostic”. rather than choosing email or phone or chat, the sender opens a channel and the receiver is able to specify an appropriate means to communicate based on their status. both parties needn’t use the same interface to the channel: one can be typing while the other is talking, but the system accommodates by translating the content.

a dashboard of related people, projects, and documents. within the communication interface, the relationships between the people in the conversation and with documents and projects are represented. users have quick access to recent communication histories. mid conversation, other people can be easily accessed to join or to receive notes or snippets of the dialogue. the concept of an “inbox” transforms, and all messages (text, voice, or video) are accessed through representations of people and projects. messages that contain requests are easily distinguished from announcements, and the system presents opportunities to consolidate the effort to respond by grouping requests from the same person or about the same topic.

SCHEDULING IN CONTEXT
visualizing the contingencies that might impact the sequencing of work in a day, week, or month. the system helps to reveal opportunities to reduce the amount of “mode switching” and delays by highlighting when a future task might best be moved to your next task based on context (i.e. the tool that you are currently using, or the availability of collaborators).

NEXT STEPS
it seems that our most interesting opportunity for telling a good story is in the communication piece. the scheduling and the execution features could be suggestively shown in our final scenario without focusing on their functionality. but for now, we can focus on a wireframe for the “master view” and the communication interface. i also think that our vision of the future (fluid teams, globally working groups) demonstrates the need for a focus on communication and on visualizing a framework for all of the projects and people who are a part of your current “working network”.

our next creative challenge is in imagining a way of representing this network and a way of interacting with the system that is engaging and hopefully novel. our goal is to move “away from the display” and conceptualize a “natural” user interface integrated into the work environment.

Our discussions have lead us to create a projection of the future in which our design ideas will live. At the core of this future is the increased understanding and explicit communication within the following areas.

Seeing yourself

Greater understanding of the following information is key to making informed decisions about your life. Just as stepping on the scale each morning helps you determine your eating habits and exercise levels it follows that by having the following information each of us will be able to make more informed and effective choices.

Strengths and weaknesses

• Areas of expertise
• Skills/abilities
• Education
• Work experience

Short term goals/need

• Daily schedule
• Task lists

Long term goals/needs

• Family planning
• Investments

Work/life balance

• Work load, payment vs life wants/needs

Multitasking & Flow

• When are you at your best
• How can you get started after stopping
• How can tasks be organized in a way that contributes to work flow
• Efficiency vs enjoyment
• How do your efficiency/enjoyment needs impact the company/your world/environment

Relationships

Work & Personal
Your relationship needs and health of your relationships (status of these relationships)
Benefits and hindrances of your relationships (lack there of)
Connections to personal experts

Social and Environmental Impacts (positive and negative)

Production: impact of your job
Consumption: impact of your purchases and usage

Seeing the knowledge

Same type of information model as for an individual but extended for other entities large and small.

Types of entities to model

Teams, social/political groups, countries…
Companies and their products
Subject areas, and subject matter experts
Trends
Hobbies, tasks, types of work

Byproducts of this type of knowledge

Self describing projects and tools that are available for reuse and iteration
Companies put increased value in having the hows & whys for projects
Capturing expertise in realtime
Better handoffs/coordination between shifts/teams both locally and globally
Ownership of ideas becomes more transparent and increased accountability for actions taken
Better understanding of how to improve future generations/iterations with education/whatever

Seeing the future

This is really where a person can see the reflection of themselves vs the knowledge available. Think of it as the intersection of the two above sections. Where as the bathroom scale provides you information on the present this section deals with more prediction focused information. It is also relevant for combining n number of models (not just for people to evaluate themselves, but also a general business tool).

Personal predictions

Help a person reach their goals by examining their present context vs stated goals
Recognizing and providing potential solutions for people to reach goals/manage life
Feedback on relationships