Untitled Document

Dr R. S. Slack, Dr C. Mancini, Dr S. Buckingham Shum

This is a report on the end user requirements workshop held at Manchester Computing, Manchester University on April 15, 2005, and repeated over the Access Grid on May 6, 2005, for partners abroad. The workshop was held in fulfilment of workpackage 4, activity 53, of the project plan and this report is project output 13, defined in workpackage 4, activity 54.

2. Aims of Report

This document aims to:

Figure One: Meeting Attendees

End User Partner requirements/site visits were also discussed

The main workshop was held on April 15, 2005. The meeting was chaired by the Project Manager Michael Daw (Manchester Computing) who introduced the general aims of the project, the timetable and the participants. There followed demonstrations of the project technologies (see above) and participants were given the opportunity to ask questions at this stage. These demonstrations were followed by ‘break-out' sessions in which each end user partner was able to discuss the technologies in detail with developers and to consider the ways in which they might be applied in their work sites. Finally a plenary was held where issues arising from the preceding sessions were discussed.

Figure Two: Break-out Sessions from the Main Workshop

Figure Two: Screenshots from the Workshop Repeat over the Access Grid

1. “How do you currently use the Access Grid?” corresponding to the database's section CURRENT USE

2. “How would you use compendium?” corresponding to the database's section POSSIBLE USES

3. “What features of Memetic do you find more helpful?” corresponding to the database's section FAVOURITE FEATURES

4. “What features would you like to add to Memetic?” corresponding to the database's section REQUIRED FEATURES

Data from these site meetings will be reported in the Memetic deliverable for workpackage 4, activity 56 and will inform the writing of the deliverable workpackage 4, activity 59.

a. Provided an outline of the meeting held at Manchester Computing (and MSI)

b. Set out the requirements for each technology and each end user group

c. Set out the core requirements in a manner that we hope will be of use to the developers of Memetic technologies

d. Given an outline of the program of work following the meetings

Participants gave valuable information regarding the Memetic technologies and how they might be used in particular (and often diverse) work contexts. Further, the importance of considering Memetic technologies as a suite of tools as opposed to stand-alone technologies was demonstrated, especially in the links between Arena, Compendium and Meeting Replay. This orientation is consistent with the vision of the Access Grid as a means of affording collaboration without significant adjustments in work practice due to technology. We believe that Memetic technologies will contribute significantly to this vision and wish to thank end user partners for their time and insights.


	Report of User Requirements Workshops Project Output 13 May 9, 2005 Dr R. S. Slack, Dr C. Mancini, Dr S. Buckingham Shum


	1. Introduction This is a report on the end user requirements workshop held at Manchester Computing, Manchester University on April 15, 2005, and repeated over the Access Grid on May 6, 2005, for partners abroad. The workshop was held in fulfilment of workpackage 4, activity 53, of the project plan and this report is project output 13, defined in workpackage 4, activity 54.

	2. Aims of Report This document aims to:

	1. Provide a comprehensive account of the end user requirements meeting;
	2. Provide a comprehensive account of the issues raised by participants during the meeting;
	3. Suggest some possible overarching issues;
	4. Suggest possible future work and follow-up actions;
	5. Draw interim conclusions from the workshop.

	3. Audience for Report End User Requirements Group; Developers; Management Group.

	4. Supporting Materials The main supporting material is to be found in the Compendium database in which all the notes taken at the workshop were mapped and analysed. The analysis highlights the main issues discussed during the workshop and isolates a number of requirements put forward by the Memetic end user partners for the Memetic technologies. The easiest way of accessing this material is through the Compendium database views. However, a database outline is also available on the Memetic Wiki page, from which the zip file of the database itself can be downloaded (note that this is accessible by the Memetic project team only).

	5. Attendees Memetic
	Michael Daw (Manchester University) Workshop Chair
	Simon Buckingham Shum (Open University)
	Rob Procter (Universities of Manchester and Edinburgh)
	Clara Mancini (Open University)
	Andrew Rowley (Manchester University)
	Danius Michaelides (University of Southampton)
	Ben Juby (University of Southampton) Roger Slack (University of Edinburgh)

	Memetic End User Partners
	Mike Daley (WeSC, University of Wales, Cardiff) – main workshop on 15 th April
	Ludivine A. Fuschini (PARiP, University of Bristol) – main workshop on 15 th April
	Tobias Schiebeck (NCeSS, Manchester University) – main workshop on 15 th April
	Chris Walsh (AiMeS Centre, University of Liverpool) – main workshop on 15 th April
	Stephenie McLean and colleagues (Minority Serving Institutions Network, Universty of Texas Austin) – repeat on 6 th May


	Figure One: Meeting Attendees

	6. Memetic Technologies Demonstrated End User Partner requirements/site visits were also discussed
	Compendium
	Access Grid / Arena /Screen Streamer
	Meeting Replay

	7. Format of Meeting The aim of the meeting was to provide an opportunity for end user partners to see the Memetic technologies, to consider how they might be used in particular contexts within their own organisations and to make requests for additional functionality to afford particular types of work practice and collaboration. The main workshop was held on April 15, 2005. The meeting was chaired by the Project Manager Michael Daw (Manchester Computing) who introduced the general aims of the project, the timetable and the participants. There followed demonstrations of the project technologies (see above) and participants were given the opportunity to ask questions at this stage. These demonstrations were followed by ‘break-out' sessions in which each end user partner was able to discuss the technologies in detail with developers and to consider the ways in which they might be applied in their work sites. Finally a plenary was held where issues arising from the preceding sessions were discussed.


	Figure Two: Break-out Sessions from the Main Workshop

	The workshop was repeated over the Access Grid on May 6, 2005, for the Minority Serving Institutions Network, based in Texas. This second meeting had the same format as the previous one.


	Figure Two: Screenshots from the Workshop Repeat over the Access Grid

	8. Emergent Themes The information provided by the end user partners responded to four main questions, according to which it was structured in four main sections:

	1. “How do you currently use the Access Grid?” corresponding to the database's section CURRENT USE
	2. “How would you use compendium?” corresponding to the database's section POSSIBLE USES
	3. “What features of Memetic do you find more helpful?” corresponding to the database's section FAVOURITE FEATURES
	4. “What features would you like to add to Memetic?” corresponding to the database's section REQUIRED FEATURES

	In each of these sections, the information is organised both by partner and by technology.

	9. Core requirements The final requirements are organised by technology in the section REQUIRED FEATURES. The maps listing them are highlighted and respectively contain requirements for the Memetic set, for Arena+ScreenStreamer, for Compendium and for Meeting Replay, plus requests to the Memetic project.

	10. Future Work Work site meetings will be held with each end user partner in order to:

	a. Observe current work practice
	b. Obtain an understanding of the needs of end user partners in situ
	c. Realise the potential of Memetic technologies in each work site as fully as possible
d. Inform future development and collaboration activities
e. Provide information on meetings held in ‘traditional' ways and those held via Access Grid

Data from these site meetings will be reported in the Memetic deliverable for workpackage 4, activity 56 and will inform the writing of the deliverable workpackage 4, activity 59.

11. Conclusions In the above we have:

a. Provided an outline of the meeting held at Manchester Computing (and MSI)
b. Set out the requirements for each technology and each end user group
c. Set out the core requirements in a manner that we hope will be of use to the developers of Memetic technologies
d. Given an outline of the program of work following the meetings

	Participants gave valuable information regarding the Memetic technologies and how they might be used in particular (and often diverse) work contexts. Further, the importance of considering Memetic technologies as a suite of tools as opposed to stand-alone technologies was demonstrated, especially in the links between Arena, Compendium and Meeting Replay. This orientation is consistent with the vision of the Access Grid as a means of affording collaboration without significant adjustments in work practice due to technology. We believe that Memetic technologies will contribute significantly to this vision and wish to thank end user partners for their time and insights.

2. Aims of Report

4. Supporting Materials

5. Attendees

6. Memetic Technologies Demonstrated

7. Format of Meeting

8. Emergent Themes

10. Future Work

11. Conclusions