Parameterized User-Centered Design for Interacting with Multimedia Repositories

In this paper, we analyze how multimedia production and management systems respond to their users´ needs and interests. In particular, we concentrate on the system´s role as mediator between users and multimedia repositories. In this context, we study the information flow at two media production companies and identify opportunities to augment human-multimedia interaction and increase the visibility of their large multimedia repositories. These opportunities, who articulate user needs and interests not covered by the existing suite of system interfaces, are exploited by integrating new interfaces. We introduce four design parameters for characterizing interface and interaction requirements. Their use facilitates the extraction of user-centred design requirements from use cases and ethnographic activities. They also improve the accuracy of use case analysis, and the subsequent design of related prototypes. In the process, four opportunities have been identified and consequently a similar number of interface designs have been produced. This work reports on the process we followed in the identification of these opportunities, their analysis, and the development of corresponding prototypes. It shows how parameterization can improve the capture and analysis of design requirements and facilitate the drafting of related solutions.