抄録
In this paper, we report on a work state awareness system to help people at different locations manage interruptions by broadcasting to colleagues their availability for interruptions for specific projects. The prototype is designed as a tangible interface by using a metaphor of a Japanese rock garden where each rock icon represents each user's task. Our observation in a natural work environment found that users used our prototype easily to signal their availability. In addition, experimental results indicated that our prototype helped to reduce the number of coordination and inappropriate messages.
