Spaces, Places, Landscapes and Views: experiential design of shared information spaces
J A Waterworth
Department of Informatics
Umee University
S-901 87 UMEE, Sweden.
e-mail: jwworth@informatik.umu.se
Abstract
This position paper focuses on the World Wide Web (Web) as a provider of shared information landscapes. It reviews our work on designing 3D spaces for information navigation and social interaction, and suggests an approach to such design based on an experiential theory of meaning. This approach is contrasted with the traditional view of HCI design as a means of conveying system functionality from the head of the designer to that of the user. This is promising, if we assume that we do not know in advance what the functions of interactions in shared information spaces might be. As with life in general, such interactions mean what they are experienced to be.