MACE: Deliverable D7.6 - Report on user interface design and community experiments

Abstract

This deliverable presents the progress of the user interface design and community building experiments within the MACE project. In Chapter 2 we generally present the interface of the MACE portal, which is a platform to discover and enrich architectural resources and, at the same time, to support the community formed around architectural topics. Besides the advanced search, the portal provides various visual tools for metadata based search and browsing, tailored to architectural needs (see Chapter 3). Different metadata widgets are used to visualize and access multiple dimensions of each resource, as presented in Chapter 4. These widgets not only establish meaningful cross–connections between resources, but also invite to add and edit metadata effortlessly. In order to generate a critical mass of metadata and ensure sustainability of projects’ outcomes, supporting community and fostering end user contributions are critical. In Chapter 5, we present the components deploied in this direction as well as an analytical framework for incentive mechanisms. Within the dissemination strategy, the MACE project has got a unique chance to raise its public awareness at La Biennale of architecture in Venice, 2008. In this context we designed an interactive installation, demonstrating, in an exhibition setting, the benefits of resource interconnection via metadata (see Chapter 6). Chapter 7 presents our preliminary conclusions and an overview of planned future activities.