User-Centered Design of Distributed Meeting Environments: An Initial Study of Experienced and Naive Users

Abstract

In our study, a basic science approach was used to explore the constructs that defined the design of a distributed meeting space from the user's perspective. Although there is a body of literature in the group communication domain, the research in this multidisciplinary area has paid minimal attention to users' environmental preferences in the design of a meeting space. Fifty participants, half with experience and half without experience in distributed meetings, used foam-core components to create a design of their ideal distributed meeting space. Fourteen themes emerged from content analysis of responses to the post-task interview. These themes addressed the rationale participants used when creating their designs. There was a significant positive relationship between the experience level and the following design themes: visibility of displays, status, team collaboration, VTC (video teleonferencing) needs, and auditory clarity. There was also a significant positive correlation among the occurrences of several design themes.