{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ScholarlyArticle", "@id": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#paper", "aboutThisFile": { "whatThisIs": "A research brief: a structured summary of one paper, prepared for seanrintel.com from the paper's full text.", "howItWasMade": "This brief was prepared with AI assistance and published by Sean Rintel. It is not the authors' published text.", "whatIsVerbatim": "Only 'quote' fields, figure captions and 'abstract' are the authors' own words. Research questions follow the paper's wording where it states them. Takeaway, summaries, answers, definitions and method are the site's plain-language paraphrase.", "howItIsChecked": "Before publication every quote is matched against the paper and every number in the brief is found in it. 'verified' is the date of the last check.", "howToUse": [ "For a quick answer, use 'takeaway' and 'questions'. For evidence, use 'findings' (each has a verbatim quote, its location in the paper and a 'url' anchored to that finding on the paper's page).", "Locations such as '§5.2, p. 9' refer to the version at 'pageNumbersReferTo'.", "For anything not covered here, read the paper itself: 'fullTextSources' lists free versions first.", "If 'researchOverview' is present, the paper is part of one of Sean Rintel's research overviews: it gives the overview's thesis, the claims this paper is evidence for and its role in each, and the other papers in the overview.", "To find other papers by Sean Rintel, use the catalogue at https://seanrintel.com/publications/index.json." ], "authorship": "Sean Rintel's role on each paper: lead author when he is first author, sole author when he is the only author, and otherwise senior author. Senior author here means the senior researcher on the team, whatever his position in the author list.", "howToCite": "Cite the paper, not this file: use 'citation' or the ready-made 'bibtex' (DOI where given) and name every author. Attribute paraphrase to the paper's findings, and use quotation marks only for 'quote' text." }, "name": "Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings", "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anastasia Kuzminykh" }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://seanrintel.com/#sean-rintel", "name": "Sean Rintel", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/", "sameAs": [ "https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0840-0546", "https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xc25GRgAAAAJ", "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q102369654", "https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/people/serintel/", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrintel" ] } ], "datePublished": "2020-04", "doi": "10.1145/3313831.3376546", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html", "citation": "Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546", "bibtex": "@inproceedings{kuzminykh2020classification,\nauthor = {Kuzminykh, Anastasia and Rintel, Sean},\ntitle = {Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings},\norganization = {ACM},\nbooktitle = {CHI 2020},\nyear = {2020},\nmonth = {April},\nurl = {https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546},\ndoi = {10.1145/3313831.3376546},\n}", "abstract": "Participants in video meetings have long struggled with asymmetrical attention levels, especially when participants are distributed unevenly. While technological advances offer exciting opportunities to augment remote users’ attention, the phenomenological complexity of attention means that to design attention-fostering features we must first  understand what aspects of it are functionally meaningful to support. In this paper, we present a functional classification of observable attention for video meetings. The classification was informed by two studies on sense-making and selectiveness of attention in work meetings. It includes categories of attention accessible for technological support, their functions in a meeting process, and meeting-related activities that correspond to these functions. This classification serves as a multi-level representation of attention and informs the design of features aiming to support remote participants’ attention in video meetings.", "fullTextSources": [ { "kind": "freeAccess", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546", "label": "DOI (Free Access)" }, { "kind": "freeAccess", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.pdf", "label": "Author's Copy" } ], "fullTextAvailable": true, "takeaway": "Supporting attention in video meetings means supporting what attention is for. A functional classification separates attention as direction (where people look), as action (looking to see, to be seen or to follow the work) and as state (engagement). Features should start with attention as action, because it feeds engagement.", "researchOverview": { "name": "Better Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/better-meetings.html", "json": "https://seanrintel.com/overviews/better-meetings.json", "markdown": "https://seanrintel.com/overviews/better-meetings.md", "thesis": "A meeting's purpose should shape everything about it, yet many meetings run without one stated. Good help with meeting goals moves people from wherever they start, with depth that fits the meeting.", "claimsThisPaperFeeds": [ { "claim": "A meeting's purpose is everyone's job, but asking what it is can feel risky, especially for junior staff", "role": "supporting evidence", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/better-meetings.html#m4" } ], "otherPapers": [ { "study": "Interviews: how people hold meeting goals", "title": "Mental Models of Meeting Goals: Supporting Intentionality in Meeting Technologies", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/mental-models-of-meeting-goals-supporting-intentionality-in-meeting-technologies.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/mental-models-of-meeting-goals-supporting-intentionality-in-meeting-technologies.json" }, { "study": "Probe study: AI-drafted meeting plans", "title": "The CoExplorer Technology Probe: A Generative AI-Powered Adaptive Interface to Support Intentionality in Planning and Running Video Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/the-coexplorer-technology-probe-a-generative-ai-powered-adaptive-interface-to-support-intentionality-in-planning-and-running-video-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/the-coexplorer-technology-probe-a-generative-ai-powered-adaptive-interface-to-support-intentionality-in-planning-and-running-video-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Coaching study: an AI coach before real meetings", "title": "What Does Success Look Like? Catalyzing Meeting Intentionality with AI-Assisted Prospective Reflection", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/what-does-success-look-like-catalyzing-meeting-intentionality-with-ai-assisted-prospective-reflection.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/what-does-success-look-like-catalyzing-meeting-intentionality-with-ai-assisted-prospective-reflection.json" }, { "study": "Probe study: goal check-ins during meetings", "title": "Are We On Track? AI-Assisted Active and Passive Goal Reflection During Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/are-we-on-track-ai-assisted-active-and-passive-goal-reflection-during-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/are-we-on-track-ai-assisted-active-and-passive-goal-reflection-during-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Recordings and design: looking back and ahead in meetings", "title": "Designing Interfaces that Support Temporal Work Across Meetings with Generative AI", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/designing-interfaces-that-support-temporal-work-across-meetings-with-generative-ai.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/designing-interfaces-that-support-temporal-work-across-meetings-with-generative-ai.json" }, { "study": "Field experiment: nudging attention to meeting goals", "title": "Nudging Attention to Workplace Meeting Goals: A Large-Scale, Preregistered Field Experiment", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/nudging-attention-to-workplace-meeting-goals-a-large-scale-preregistered-field-experiment.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/nudging-attention-to-workplace-meeting-goals-a-large-scale-preregistered-field-experiment.json" }, { "study": "Position paper: goals in human-AI work", "title": "Goals as First-Class Abstractions in Human-AI Collaboration", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/goals-as-first-class-abstractions-in-human-ai-collaboration.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/goals-as-first-class-abstractions-in-human-ai-collaboration.json" }, { "study": "System design: AI-mediated shared workspaces", "title": "Stund: Activity-Enriched Collaborative Workspaces Mediated by Artificial Intelligence", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/stund-activity-enriched-collaborative-workspaces-mediated-by-artificial-intelligence.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/stund-activity-enriched-collaborative-workspaces-mediated-by-artificial-intelligence.json" }, { "study": "Conversation analysis: designing for the meeting", "title": "(Re)Configuring Hybrid Meetings: Moving from User-Centered Design to Meeting-Centered Design", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/reconfiguring-hybrid-meetings-moving-from-user-centered-design-to-meeting-centered-design.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/reconfiguring-hybrid-meetings-moving-from-user-centered-design-to-meeting-centered-design.json" }, { "study": "Interviews: low engagement as a choice", "title": "Low Engagement As a Deliberate Practice of Remote Participants in Video Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/low-engagement-as-a-deliberate-practice-of-remote-participants-in-video-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/low-engagement-as-a-deliberate-practice-of-remote-participants-in-video-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Research synthesis: collaboration and meetings", "title": "Collaboration and Meetings – Chapter 1 of the 2021 New Future of Work report", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/collaboration-and-meetings.html" }, { "study": "Telemetry and diaries: multitasking in remote meetings", "title": "Large Scale Analysis of Multitasking Behavior During Remote Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/large-scale-analysis-of-multitasking-behavior-during-remote-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/large-scale-analysis-of-multitasking-behavior-during-remote-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Survey and dashboard study: feedback on inclusive meetings", "title": "MeetingCoach: An Intelligent Dashboard for Supporting Effective and Inclusive Meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meetingcoach-an-intelligent-dashboard-for-supporting-effective-inclusive-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meetingcoach-an-intelligent-dashboard-for-supporting-effective-inclusive-meetings.json" }, { "study": "Survey and diaries: chat alongside video meetings", "title": "The Promise and Peril of Parallel Chat in Video Meetings for Work", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/the-promise-and-peril-of-parallel-chat-in-video-meetings-for-work.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/the-promise-and-peril-of-parallel-chat-in-video-meetings-for-work.json" }, { "study": "Diary study: video meetings in the pandemic", "title": "Meeting (the) Pandemic: Videoconferencing Fatigue and Evolving Tensions of Sociality in Enterprise Video Meetings During COVID-19", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/meeting-the-pandemic-videoconferencing-fatigue-and-evolving-tensions-of-sociality-in-enterprise-video-meetings-during-covid-19.json" }, { "study": "Survey and telemetry: chat and voice in meetings", "title": "Virtual voices: Exploring individual differences in chat and verbal participation in virtual meetings", "page": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/virtual-voices-exploring-individual-differences-in-chat-and-verbal-participation-in-virtual-meetings.html", "researchBrief": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/virtual-voices-exploring-individual-differences-in-chat-and-verbal-participation-in-virtual-meetings.json" } ] }, "whyItMatters": { "stateOfTheArt": { "summary": "Research and systems have tackled attention in video meetings from many angles, from gaze and eye contact to engagement and immersive environments, but without a shared account of what supporting attention means.", "quote": "In sum, research on attention is very fractured [36]. Thus, there is a need for systematic understanding of what it actually means to support remote user's attention.", "location": "Introduction, p. 1" }, "contribution": { "summary": "An empirically grounded, three-level classification of observable attention in meetings. It covers types of attention, their functions, and the meeting activities that correspond to each function.", "quote": "The intent of our model is provide a language that allows designers to be more deliberate when deciding and articulating what type of attention they wish to foster through their tools.", "location": "§INTRODUCTION, p. 2" }, "whoCares": { "summary": "Designers and developers of video meeting features.", "quote": "instead of developing video meeting features intended to foster attention 'in general', the classification allows developers to identify and design targeted features to deal with specific attentionrelated problems", "location": "§Leveraging the Attention Classification in Design, p. 10" } }, "researchQuestions": [ "Which aspects of visual attention contribute to participants' engagement in meetings, and how are these aspects affected by remote participation?", "How do people prioritise and make sense of purely visually observable cues of attention in work meetings?", "What are the fundamental types of attention in meetings that are accessible for technological support, and how might they be recognised during meetings?" ], "concepts": [ { "term": "Attention as Direction", "definition": "Where someone is looking or facing, observed without any recognised purpose (e.g. Alice is looking at Bob).", "quote": "purely observable attention that constitutes a process, but not a recognized purpose", "location": "§INTRODUCTION, p. 2" }, { "term": "Attention as Action", "definition": "Attention with a direction, a target and a recognisable purpose (e.g. Alice is addressing Bob).", "quote": "which reflects attention processes with a recognized specific purpose", "location": "§INTRODUCTION, p. 2" }, { "term": "Attention as State", "definition": "The third and most contextually complex type (e.g. Alice is attentive):", "quote": "the overall sense of engagement, which reflects only purpose, but no particular process", "location": "§INTRODUCTION, p. 2" }, { "term": "Functions of Attention as Action", "definition": "The three purposes attention actions serve in meetings.", "quote": "Gathering Information ('look to see'), Communicative Signaling ('look to be seen'), and Following Dynamic Processes ('look to be a part of a process')", "location": "§INTRODUCTION, p. 2" } ], "method": { "design": "Two complementary qualitative studies: semi-structured interviews, then a quasi-experimental narration study to triangulate and extend the interview themes.", "setting": "Work meetings in co-located, remote and hybrid configurations. In the second study, participants narrated muted video clips of real work meetings (4 to 6 people, co-located or hybrid) to an experimenter.", "sample": "Study I: twelve participants (age 21-50, 5f, 7m), all full-time employees with extensive experience of co-located, remote and hybrid meetings. Study II: a new set of fifteen participants (21-36 years, 8f, 7m) who each narrated six short videos.", "duration": "Interviews lasted approximately 40 minutes each.", "analysis": "Study I: open and axial coding of interview transcripts. Study II: semantic analysis of 'attention identifiers' in 225 responses of observable visual attention from 90 descriptions of 6 videos, plus debrief interviews." }, "findings": [ { "headline": "Video does not restore attention.", "summary": "Twelve employees experienced in co-located, remote and hybrid meetings felt that joining remotely, even with video, limits three things attention does in a meeting. These are gathering social information, following the work, and signalling to others (for example, addressing a specific person).", "quote": "If somebody addresses me, in person they turn, face me. In a remote meeting they would have to turn to the camera, or say my name.", "location": "§Communicative Signaling, p. 5", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-scommunicative-signaling-p-5", "cite": "Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546 (§Communicative Signaling, p. 5)" }, { "headline": "Hard to read the room.", "summary": "Joining remotely, interviewees found it hard to see how others were reacting to them, to judge when it was their turn to speak, and to work out who mattered in the room.", "quote": "When remote, it's an additional challenge - you don't see cues that will let you say 'I'm gonna speak now'.", "location": "§Gathering Social Information, pp. 4–5", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-sgathering-social-information-pp-4-5", "cite": "Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546 (§Gathering Social Information, pp. 4–5)" }, { "headline": "Hard to follow the work.", "summary": "Remote interviewees also struggled to follow work on whiteboards and slides, and could not take part when a meeting in the room split into side conversations.", "quote": "If a big meeting splits into several conversations, I just switch it off all together, because I can't join one of those conversations.", "location": "§Following Dynamic Processes, p. 5", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-sfollowing-dynamic-processes-p-5", "cite": "Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546 (§Following Dynamic Processes, p. 5)" }, { "headline": "Seeing where versus seeing why.", "summary": "When fifteen people narrated silent videos of real meetings, they sometimes just reported where someone was looking and sometimes interpreted what the look was for, such as listening or addressing someone. This separates the direction of attention from purposeful attention and from general engagement.", "quote": "It was both the captured motion and then the meaning of the motion that I was interpreting.", "location": "§Indicative Attention Identifiers, p. 6", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-sindicative-attention-identifiers-p-6", "cite": "Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546 (§Indicative Attention Identifiers, p. 6)" }, { "headline": "Visible action reads as engagement.", "summary": "In debrief interviews, narrators suggested that being able to act visibly, by speaking, looking at others or contributing, feeds a person's sense of engagement, and that people who visibly do nothing get overlooked.", "quote": "If someone doesn't say anything, doesn't do anything, you can just forget them.", "location": "§Inter-dependency of Functional Types of Attention, p. 7", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-sinter-dependency-of-functional-types-of-attention-p-7", "cite": "Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546 (§Inter-dependency of Functional Types of Attention, p. 7)" }, { "headline": "Gaze alone is not enough.", "summary": "Gaze direction is the easiest kind of attention to detect automatically. But interviewees said that on video it does not tell them what someone is attending to, so the authors do not treat it as a functional type of attention on its own.", "quote": "because camera is over here and they are looking at the screen, so I can't tell whether they are actually looking at me or at something completely different.", "location": "§Level 1: Contextual Complexity Spectrum, p. 8", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-slevel-1-contextual-complexity-spectrum-p-8", "cite": "Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546 (§Level 1: Contextual Complexity Spectrum, p. 8)" } ], "questions": [ { "question": "What does it mean to pay attention in a meeting?", "answer": "It involves three things that are easily confused. Attention as direction is where you are looking. Attention as action is looking with a purpose (checking reactions, addressing someone or following the whiteboard). Attention as state is a general sense of being mentally present. Each calls for different support.", "source": "Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546", "basedOn": [ { "location": "§Indicative Attention Identifiers, p. 6", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-sindicative-attention-identifiers-p-6" }, { "location": "§Inter-dependency of Functional Types of Attention, p. 7", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-sinter-dependency-of-functional-types-of-attention-p-7" } ] }, { "question": "Is tracking where people look enough to support attention in video calls?", "answer": "Not on its own. Gaze direction is the simplest kind of attention to support technically. But without context it does not show what someone is attending to or why, because a person facing the screen may be reading an email.", "source": "Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546", "basedOn": [ { "location": "§Indicative Attention Identifiers, p. 6", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-sindicative-attention-identifiers-p-6" }, { "location": "§Level 1: Contextual Complexity Spectrum, p. 8", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-slevel-1-contextual-complexity-spectrum-p-8" } ] }, { "question": "Why do quiet remote participants get overlooked?", "answer": "Possibly because engagement is judged by what people visibly do. People who visibly do nothing tend to be ignored. Remote participants also feel they have fewer ways to signal attention, such as addressing someone or reacting.", "source": "Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546", "basedOn": [ { "location": "§Communicative Signaling, p. 5", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-scommunicative-signaling-p-5" }, { "location": "§Inter-dependency of Functional Types of Attention, p. 7", "url": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.html#at-sinter-dependency-of-functional-types-of-attention-p-7" } ] } ], "cites": [], "quantitative": [], "implications": [ { "summary": "Attention as Action is the most promising starting point for feature development.", "quote": "We suggest that Attention as Action yields the most promising initial direction for feature development.", "location": "§INTRODUCTION, p. 2" }, { "summary": "Each function implies different features. Gathering calls for augmented information streams, signalling for notifying others of one's actions, and following processes for split views and selective contribution.", "quote": "Supporting the Communicative Signaling function of Attention as Action necessarily requires some form of notification about one's actions delivered to other meeting participants", "location": "§Leveraging the Attention Classification in Design, p. 10" }, { "summary": "No single fix suits everyone. Designs should balance personalised attention processes with group attention needs.", "quote": "Designing a one-size-fits-all solution to 'fixing' attention asymmetries in video meetings is challenging because of the astonishing range of idiosyncratic conditions and personal needs.", "location": "§CONCLUSION, p. 10" } ], "limitations": [ { "summary": "Because the narration videos were silent, the theme of following one of several conversations could not be observed in the second study.", "quote": "The theme of navigating within multiple conversations did not appear in the quasi-experimental narrations, probably due to silent nature of the video stimuli.", "location": "§Following Dynamic Processes, p. 7" } ], "figures": [ { "src": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/figures/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings/fig-1.webp", "caption": "Figure 1. Classification of functional attention", "alt": "Three-level diagram: Direction, Action and State along a spectrum of contextual complexity, Action splits into Gathering, Signaling and Following functions, State into Engagement, and each function lists meeting activities.", "location": "Fig. 1, p. 1", "credit": "Figure 1 from Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546" }, { "src": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/figures/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings/fig-3.webp", "caption": "Figure 3. Results of the Narration Experiment Study (Study II)", "alt": "Diagram: descriptive attention identifiers narrate visual information as Attention as Direction, and indicative identifiers add an implied purpose and are interpreted as Attention as Action (gathering, signaling, following) or Attention as State.", "location": "Fig. 3, p. 6", "credit": "Figure 3 from Anastasia Kuzminykh and Sean Rintel. 2020. Classification of Functional Attention in Video Meetings. CHI 2020. https://doi.org/10.1145/3313831.3376546" } ], "pageNumbersReferTo": "https://seanrintel.com/publications/classification-of-functional-attention-in-video-meetings.pdf", "verified": "2026-10-25", "studyFigure": { "about": "The opening figure on this paper's page, made for the site with AI assistance from this verified brief. It is not the paper's own figure. Evidence entries index this file's quantitative, findings and limitations arrays.", "study": { "kind": "single", "summary": "Two qualitative studies of attention in work meetings. Twelve employees were interviewed, then fifteen other people narrated muted videos of real meetings.", "steps": [ { "label": "Twelve interviewees", "detail": "Full-time employees experienced in co-located, remote and hybrid meetings, each interviewed for about 40 minutes." }, { "label": "Interview coding", "detail": "Open and axial coding of the transcripts drew out what attention does in meetings." }, { "label": "Fifteen narrators", "detail": "A new set of fifteen people each narrated six short muted videos of real work meetings to an experimenter." }, { "label": "Narration analysis", "detail": "The words narrators used for attention were analysed across 225 responses from 90 descriptions, followed by debrief interviews." } ] }, "findings": { "legend": null, "stages": [ { "title": "What joining remotely limits", "sub": "interviews with twelve employees", "items": [ { "dir": "none", "text": "Interviewees described video as limiting three things attention does in meetings.", "detail": "Joining remotely limited gathering social information, following the work and signalling to others, such as addressing a specific person.", "evidence": [ "findings[0]" ] }, { "dir": "none", "text": "Interviewees described finding it hard to read the room when joining remotely.", "detail": "Remote interviewees struggled to see reactions to them, judge when to speak and work out who mattered in the room.", "evidence": [ "findings[1]" ] }, { "dir": "none", "text": "Remote interviewees described struggling to follow whiteboards, slides and side conversations.", "detail": "Remote interviewees could not take part when a meeting in the room split into several conversations.", "evidence": [ "findings[2]" ] } ] }, { "title": "How people read attention", "sub": "narrations by fifteen people, and interviews", "items": [ { "dir": "none", "text": "Narrators sometimes reported where someone looked, and sometimes what the look was for.", "detail": "This separates the direction of a look from purposeful attention, such as listening or addressing someone, and from general engagement.", "evidence": [ "findings[3]" ] }, { "dir": "none", "text": "Narrators suggested that acting visibly feeds a person's sense of engagement.", "detail": "In debrief interviews, narrators said people who visibly do nothing in a meeting get overlooked.", "evidence": [ "findings[4]" ] }, { "dir": "none", "text": "Interviewees said gaze direction on video does not show what someone attends to.", "detail": "Gaze is the easiest kind of attention to detect automatically. The paper does not treat it as a functional type of attention on its own.", "evidence": [ "findings[5]" ] } ] }, { "title": "The classification", "sub": "what the paper proposes", "items": [ { "dir": "none", "text": "The paper proposes attention as direction, as action and as state.", "detail": "Direction is where someone looks. Action is looking to see, to be seen or to follow the work. State is overall engagement.", "evidence": [ "takeaway" ] }, { "dir": "none", "text": "The paper argues meeting features should start with attention as action.", "detail": "The paper suggests attention as action feeds engagement, so supporting it is the most promising place to begin.", "evidence": [ "takeaway" ] } ] } ] }, "keyTerm": "attention as action", "takeaway": "Video meeting design can treat attention as action, starting from what attention is for. Features that help people see, be seen and follow the work may also support engagement." } }