Design Team Members: Fahd Butt
Supervisor: Prof K. Ponnambalam
Background
There is a wide array of information available and needed by users on the Internet. Portable web applications called widgets were developed to make information and services from different sources available in a convenient place for the user.
The types of widgets available are as numerous as there are types of information available on the Internet. This can range from live-data feeds (blogs, news, weather, traffic), information databases (Wikipedia, dictionaries, guitar chords), entertainment (games, music, chat) to search services (Google, Flickr, YouTube).
iGoogle, a start-page based on customizable widgets, was the fastest growing product for Google in 2006. There is still possibility for innovation by examining the limitations and flaws in the current widget distribution and usage model.
With the increasing development and usage of widgets as an information tool available on highly trafficked social networks and start-pages, the widget-space is becoming highly saturated. The issues of the current widget distribution and usage model are:
Limited
Screen
Space
There
is
limited
screen
real-estate
(a
term
used
to
describe
the
availability
of
space
on
a
webpage)
on
the
user's
personal
website,
blog
or
personalized
start-up
page.
Hence,
only
a
limited
number
of
widgets
would
be
installed
by
users,
limiting
the
market
potential.
Attention
Saturation
The
more
widgets
a
user
places
on
their
page,
the
more
attention
is
required.
Widgets
that
may
not
require
constant
attention
simply
add
clutter
to
the
page,
but
the
user
keeps
it
there
because
they
want
easy
access
to
it
when
they
have
to
use
it.
Removing
it
translates
into
spending
a
certain
amount
of
effort
in
finding
the
widget
again.
Widget
Relevancy
and
Usage
There
is
an
increasing
amount
of
widgets
being
developed
for
new
services,
thus
making
it
difficult
to
find
useful
and
relevant
widgets.
Current
widget
directories
only
record
how
many
widgets
have
been
added
by
users,
but
would
not
be
able
to
offer
statistics
on
the
actual
usage.
Usage
is
an
important
metric
in
realizing
the
popularity
of
a
service.
The widget is a relatively new technology that is gaining popularity. There is opportunity for entering the market with a unique implementation of the widget distribution scheme as well as developing an innovative interaction paradigm.
Project description
The objective of Echopad is to design a novel method of interaction that enables widgets to be treated as dynamically accessible web applications, rather than static objects on the page, thus removing the limitations of existing implementations. This addresses the screen-space limitations, limited visual attention of a user and lack of proper web-metrics for developers and advertisers. To achieve this, Echopad is being designed as a platform that can be extended to any widget developer or user. This platform will be designed in 3 phases: Smart Surface, Widget Engine and Widget Integration.
Design methodology
Echopad will be built as an ecosystem for widgets, such that they can be accessed as lightweight portable applications and not simply static elements on a page. Development will be based on open-source technologies: PHP, MySQL, Apache Server and the Yahoo! User Interface (YUI) Library. A Model-View-Controller architecture will be used.
The view will be the Smart Surface which is the visual platform with which the user will be able to dynamically access any widget. It is the workspace on which the user will be able to open any number of widgets by simple keywords.
The controller is the Widget Engine which aims to efficiently determine the relevant widget for the user based on global popularity and individual usage metrics. Significant effort is required in creating a seamless interaction using Ajax technologies on the GUI front. Explorations into search techniques will be required for designing the Widget Engine. Once both components are relatively stable, they will be combined.
The last component of the MVC, the model, will be the Widget Integration. It will be a database of widgets, with their corresponding execution code and any pertinent metadata.
This
will
form
the
ecosystem
that
is
Echopad:
where
users
can
utilize
widgets
effectively
and
productively.
Please
contact
me
at
fahd828@gmail.com
for
any
inquiries.