Design and evaluation of an interactive tabletop application for university open house

Designing multiuser tabletop applications requires careful consideration. Conflicts and misunderstandings among users of tabletop applications have been observed in field studies. This paper discusses the design and evaluation of a multiuser tabletop application for university open house. The user study focused on the learnability, usability, and support for multiuser access. Findings from the study showed that participants were able to learn and use the application easily, found the interface layout appropriate for multiuser access, and felt comfortable using the application with other users. Design features that contribute to these results include the use of familiar widgets and touch gestures, consistency of information organization and presentation, replicated sets of menus, and limited space allocation for each user. Our analysis and discussion can assist developers in designing walk-up-and-use tabletop applications that are intuitive, easy to learn, and suitable for parallel use.