Phase 3

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Second Discussion

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March 6 Presentation

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Presentation

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Discussion on Groupware Walkthrough

1. The paper evaluated a groupware system for home care teams. Give examples of such teams where you can use this evaluation.












2. The paper talks about sending private messages and giving notifications when a chat message contain's a person's name. What other features can you think of?

Worst User Interface

The worst user interface I have ever used would be the hand dryer one finds in all mens rest rooms. I am talking about the ones that automatically senses hand movement and gets switched ON. 

Whats wrong with it?

1. I think it doesn’t do its job. No matter how long you put your hands under it, hot air just doesn’t dry your hands in a few seconds.
2. It never properly senses if your hand is there. It randomly gets switched ON if someone walks past it more often than when someone actually wants it to get working. 
3. It takes in a lot of power and is just too loud. You can hear a hand dryer sound all the way across the hall. 

Why did it turn out the way it did?

Simple. The designers just didn’t think much about its use. It seems rather a silly idea. They have just put something right there    and hoped it would work. But sadly, it serve its purpose.

How could it have been made better?

Have a blade like air flow. Make the user put his hands in and out of a space where blades of air flows parallel to the ground at high speed. This need not be hot air. Just air at fast speed. This makes it better because,

1. High speed air takes away the water drops on one’s hands better.
2. Much less power as the air needn’t be heated.
3. Lesser noise as it is blades of air rather than a big burst of air.

Best User Interface

The best user interface I have used would be the MacBook Pro’s trackpad in particular. I think it is absolutely out of this world. I have first used it 5 years back and I just cant use any other trackpad on any laptop. It is just so perfect.

Why is it good?

1. It is big. Almost covers 40% of the base of the laptop. Trackpad has to be that big and important component because most of the time one uses it.
2. The multitouch capabilities is just so useful. Two finger, three finger, four finger functionalities aren’t just there for the sake of it. They actually make life so much easier.
3. There is no buttons bulging out. Its not clunky. It is just one smooth piece of aluminum. It is just beautiful.
4. It senses your hand writing with high precision. This helps a lot when the user wants to get hand writing input. 

What could make it even better?

1. Have a finger print scanner or Touch ID as the new iPhones do. 
2. Able to sense leap motion. As the user moves hands over it, it should be able to sense all the hand movements.