Moneypenny: lessons from the messy desk

Interacting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267

Moneypenny: lessons from the messy desk

Adrian Williamson* Department of Computing and Information Systems, University of Paisley, Paisley Campus, High Street, Paisley,

PA1 2BE, UK

Abstract

In the context of personal information systems in the work place, a study of the owners of messy desks identifies weaknesses in user’s semantic memory skills as the likely cause of this disorganisation. This results in working patterns where material is stored in a disorganised fashion, and the subsequent retrieval of items is therefore extremely difficult. Related problems with forming plans are also identified. The universal browser is proposed as a solution to the problem of retrieval for desktop computer technology. This universal browser should allow the rapid examination of item contents within the computer storage system, and consequently the need for user file names is questioned. For planning, a general conceptual technique is proposed and one implementation considered. The Systems investigation into desk usage and the requirements elicitation for a personal information system is described and the Moneypenny prototype used to elicit and evaluate worker needs is presented. It is proposed that in producing interfaces to workplace computer technology that a range of memory skills should be supported, and suitable categories are suggested. The Online Journal is introduced as a solution to the requirements identified in the study, offering benefits for organised and disorganised workers alike. 0 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Keywords: Messy desk; Personal organisers; Piles; Heaps; Human-computer interaction; Informa- tion retrieval; Browser; Planning; Mind maps; Online Journal

One notable study [36] identified two features of the workplace which are often omitted from office system technology: firstly, that people use their work space to provide reminders,

and secondly, that the cognitive difficulty in coding and classifying information affects

workspace organisation and performance. It is observed that current computer-based office systems still do little to address either of these problems, or their likely consequences: messy

desks. Workers are sill left to attach sticky notes to their computer and scatter notepads with impenetrable file and path names around their work space. This lack of progress has prompted the current Moneypenny project which had focused on the needs of messy desk owners, and possible technological solutions to improve their effectiveness at work.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 141 8483752; e-mail: [email protected]

0953-5438/98/$19.00 0 1998 - Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved PII SO953-5438(97)00008-S

242 A. Williamsod7nteracting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267

1. Background

The starting point for Moneypenny was to gather requirements for technology support

within the personal work space, backed up by contextual information to interpret these requirements. The initial need was identified by observation. Subjects known to the

author were apparently working ineffectively because of difficulties of storing material

on, and retrieving material from their desk. Their desks clearly have a messy and disorganised

appearance, and would appear to be difficult to use. This state is more widely recognised [36], and indeed has been categorised as a ‘failing system’ [30]. The Moneypenny pro-

ject’s initial aim therefore was to evaluate possible solutions to this problem, including the provision of computer technology.

The fields of information storage and retrieval are now extensive, and so only the most

relevant aspects related to the individual workspace will be identified here. The benefits of a personal information system have been recognised for some time and requirements

discussed, notably in Refs. [30] and [61], whilst a personal study is presented in Ref.

[15]. Lansdale presents the dichotomy between user effort at storage time and the subsequent difficulties (or ease) of retrieval. This is a characteristic of both manual and

computer-based systems, and so the argument that this is a recognisable psychological

phenomenon is convincing. The storage-retrieval dichotomy was investigated further using the Memoirs prototype [31], [32] and [33], which aimed to assess the suitability

of using event memory to aid the retrieval of previously stored data. This prototype used a

timebase and a range of attributes to index events, allowing retrieval based upon time or attributes such as ‘red’, ‘dolphin’, etc. These attributes are not restricted to text, but cover

other facets of the item such as colour, a meeting, etc. The Memoirs system relied on the user having handled the information and therefore having some recollection of it to aid the

retrieval process. Indeed this extended to the manipulation of data in the store, all operations being manually initiated to enhance the memorability of the event. Although partly

successful, further problems arise when an increasing number of similar events cause

difficulties with retrieval, as described in Ref. [34]. The proposed solution to this is a hybrid approach which also uses some semantic storage and retrieval mechanisms to help

with the separation of increasingly routinised storage tasks. The use of video for facilitating associative memory usage as might be routinely

employed in a personal Information System has been investigated [14], building on

work of the PEPYS project [40]. In this experiment video recordings were made of peoples’ activities with the aim of prompting remembering. This showed that video may be helpful

in recall, with the most important cues being people and objects. One problem with this particular investigation was the use of video in isolation, such that the complete context (such as auditory information) was not captured. There were also difficulties in identifying periods of inactivity (like thinking) within the environment. Recent work in wearable

computing has started to address many of these issues as in Refs. [ 11, [38] and [521. More recently Frohlich has studied mobile workers in some detail, providing a series of

requirements [ 171 to cover the new issues arising from mobile communication and working practices. Further aspects of personal office communication have been considered in Ref. [24], particularly disparities in understanding between managers and their secretaries or Personal Assistants, which may impact on information systems of the future.

A. Williamsordnteracting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267 243

The rapidly emerging consequence of these studies is the introduction of a more general principle of memory prosthesis in [29]. Where a specific work purpose can be identified then history and replay systems provide data which can be indexed and reused [7,2 11, but where a multimedia store is used then the indexing of pictures, graphs, sketches, etc., creates considerable difficulties. Techniques for extracting text both directly from the object and from surrounding context can provide consistent and powerful methods for retrieval [13] when these problems are faced. The memory prosthesis has potential for wide application, and its relevance will be re-examined in the presentation of the Moneypenny results.

The previous studies relevant to the Moneypenny project focus on particular aspects of the work place and, apart from the concept of a memory prosthesis, provide potential solutions to particular aspects of personal organisation, or for particular subjects. In contrast we aim to take a holistic view and apply interpretive techniques in eliciting requirements, which may prompt future investigations into the detailed understanding of particular activities in the work place.

2. Introduction

The Moneypenny project is an inquiry into the features of particular individual’s workspace at their workplace. The philosophy of the inquiry is founded in soft studies and soft computing. It aims to identify human activities, and then assess the suitability and appro- priateness of introducing computer-based support for some of these activities into the work space. The underlying principles of the workspace are of information storage and retrieval, or more accurately data storage and retrieval if information is considered as data in context. The term information is used here to imply the context, although it should be noted that much of this context resides in the mind of the workers and is difficult to replicate with technology. Technology offers at best an objective store of data: this is still open to wide interpretation. As a result a more holistic view is favoured here as against the detailed examination of particular issues in isolation. In this paper we describe the initial investigation which focuses on owners of messy desks, with the aim of producing a generic set of requirements and recommendations for systems which could improve worker effectiveness in the future.

3. Methodological focus

The initial aim of the Moneypenny project was Requirements Elicitation (RE) in the context of the personal work space. There are a wide range of RE techniques available but most are directed at producing fact- and rule-lists for expert systems. As such, the majority of these techniques have a strong thread of objectivity with the aim of producing concrete instantiations of knowledge. The problems with recording context, and the implications of context, mean that this approach is not directly applicable to requirements elicitation for personal information systems. Fortunately new tools and methods have emerged from the field of soft studies with the most significant methodology to emerge in recent years being

244 A. Williamson/Interacting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267

the Soft Systems Methodology (SSM), reported in Ref. [9]. This is a tool for managing change which has had substantial success [8] but as such is not strongly focused on RE, although components of the method are directly applicable. More general discussion tools have also emerged which operate in the framework of Client-Led Design, notably the Appreciative Inquiry Method (AIM). Although AIM was originally a knowledge elicitation (KE) technique designed to support expert system shells [54,56], it has now had some success in tackling the analysis of complex work places [51]. In simple usage the technique allows structured and unstructured interviews based upon Systems Maps, with the aim of producing conceptual models [53] to prompt further discussion and reflection. The advantage of Systems Maps used by one investigator is that they may be overlaid, and common requirement areas identified. These techniques also offer advantages over Task Analysis [ 11.231 at this stage of the investigation. In task analysis, structure and detail are imposed which may distort the requirements gathering process, and the technique is more readily suited to later stages in the project cycle.

The RE approach taken for this phase of the Moneypenny project was therefore a series of structured and unstructured interviews aided by System Maps and Conceptual Models.

3.1. Ethnography

Some consideration was given to the use of ethnography during the RE stage of the project, and although it was not formally employed, some interviews were undertaken with staff sharing a workspace with the primary clients. In this instance little extra insight was gained, although a considerable degree of corroboration of the client’s views occurred.

3.2. Prototyping

Whilst soft techniques help to release the potential users from the ties of the technology, as in ‘Wizard of Oz’ studies, it is still an aim of the Moneypenny project to produce recommendations in the context of available or near future technologies. For this reason it was decided to incorporate a prototyping phase in the project where the requirements would be instantiated in a software prototype, and an evaluation made. The prototype itself focused on the interface issues, and a number of background functions were either simulated or ignored at this stage. The primary reason for this is expediency with regard to effort: reworking these components in the light of user feedback will be onerous, particularly if a large number of iterations are needed in the protoype’s development.

Following the first cycle of evaluation, a second version of the prototype was produced and this is the version reported here.

3.3. Evaluation

The aim of the evaluation was to assess the intuitiveness of the interface principles, and their relationship with the requirements rather than to assess individual

A. WilliamsodInteracting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267 245

interaction components. The method of evaluation chosen therefore aimed to observe users exploring the prototype. The evaluation was undertaken in four stages: Briefing, Exploration, Set-Task Analysis and Reporting. During the Briefing stage a ‘structural’ or ‘device’ model of the system [28] was given to the users. This gives the user a set of strong metaphors for learning the system [6]. A written brief was provided to the user as the initial mental model. The interaction was observed during the latter two stages using a video camera which was set up to record the screen, and the users were asked to think aloud so that the video also captured some of the user’s thoughts, comments and frustrations. The video was then analysed and the results collated.

Following this assessment the requirements were reviewed with the subjects and final conclusions drawn.

4. Worker classification

In order to contextualise the investigation, worker taxonomies were considered. If we can apply a taxonomy then comparisons across industry and business will be more readily made, and areas identified where the results are not valid. One such established classification is that put forward by Drucker [12] that workers may be associated with one of three activity categories: (1) procedural work; (2) communication work; (3) knowledge work.

The arrival of computer-based office automation has had varying levels of impact on these three categories of work, with procedural work benefiting the most. Word processing, computerised filing and electronic communication have empowered the clerical worker to carry out many more tasks in a given time than was previously possible. These tasks are character&d by their volume and repetitive nature, such that reduced levels of initiative are required for their successful completion. Knowledge work on the other hand is typified by its innovative nature, with many activities occurring only once. The advances in procedural support have not proved helpful to this form of work [26], and indeed knowledge workers often benefit from the flexibility of a lower functionality system [27]. It may also be observed that the infrequent nature of actions in knowledge work may suggest that event-based storage and retrieval systems [31] might be more helpful.

We will therefore relate the results of the Moneypenny investigation to this classification, with the aim of identifying the outcomes most relevant to the different forms of work. It should be said that there is an issue in whether the worker or the work is categorised. In this case we will consider the classification as applied to work, and consequently workers may undertake a number of these roles whilst carrying out their duties.

5. Inquiry into the practices of messy desk owner

The initial inquiry into messy desk owners studied six subjects using structured and unstructured interviews to gather data and transform this into information to be used in the requirements description. A System Map was used by the investigator to articulate

246 A. Williamsodlnteracting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267

the areas of concern, and establish the context and relevance of issues raised. Subsequently the Systems Maps were overlaid and common concerns identified [57]. A conceptual model [9] was used to help clarify the activities and aid the investigator’s understanding of the problem domain. The subjects involved in the study were:

Subject A: This senior lecturer is responsible for the organisation of many courses and was chosen as a

candidate because the subject is seen to have a ‘tidy’ desk. Also many people rely upon this

person’s organisational skills.

Subject B: A student chosen to see if there is a contrast between a working office and a home-based

office. The home-based office is used to collate information at the end of a day spent

gathering data from a remote source, lectures, seminars, tutorials, etc.

Subject C: A lecturer renowned for his messy desk. This is a lecturer for whom the messy structure is a

recognised problem.

Subject D: A primary school teacher renowned for her messy room. This teacher has few problems

with messy layout, as she still knows where things are.

Subject E: A commercial graphic artist renowned for her messy house! Another person whose

apparent problems seem unfounded, she uses the house as a personal organiser.

Subject F: A researcher with a messy desk, who is unable to find anything on it.

As with many studies of this type the subject numbers are low and the choices display a certain bias: in this case the contexts are largely work in education. Previous studies also display a skew: Malone’s studies are based in an industrial company as are Frohlich’s, whilst Suchman [55] considers a single item of transaction in an accounting office. The office studies in Ref. [24] also feature low numbers and a restricted communication regime. Nevertheless this style of investigation produces important evidence and ideas, and also provides a realistic scale of work. We further suggest that by relating the study to the worker taxonomy previously presented, that. wider conclusions may be drawn.

5.1. Relating subjects to work class$cation

The subjects are involved with a variety of work. Whilst there is repetitive procedural activity, most subjects spend a considerable amount of time and effort carrying out one-off events which require considerable innovative mental effort. The initial premise therefore is that these subjects are predominantly knowledge workers, although they still have significant communication and procedural work. All of the subjects manage a large volume of information, in physical and electronic forms, and so present a complex domain.

5.2. Results of requirements discussions

The first result of these discussions was that messy desks were confirmed as a problem, but a further classification emerged for the symptoms of desk usage: (1) desk is clear; (2)

A. Williamson/Interacting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267 247

desk is covered in organised collections of work (tidy piles); (3) desk is covered with

disorganised piles of stuff (messy, piles turn to heaps).

It was quickly apparent that some desks which appeared messy were in fact being used as a rapid retrieval system, removing the overhead of storing and retrieving documents in

alternative locations (such as filing cabinets). These desks were covered but with tidy, well organised piles. Documents would be periodically stored or discarded when they were no

longer in use, and new documents brought in to support the current task. The truly messy

desk however consists of piles which have degenerated into heaps of disorganised documents, and there are no planned patterns of matching desk contents to work. Piles, files and

heaps are clearly identified by all the subjects in the Moneypenny study. In the discussions

the’following reasons were identified as the predominant causes of piles and heaps: (1) the mechanical difficulty of creating labelled file folders and so forth, especially if multiple

levels of classification are desired; (2) the cognitive difficulty of creating appropriate

categories and deciding how to classify information in a way that will be easily retrievable; (3) the desire to be reminded of tasks to be done; (4) use of material for planning future

activity; (5) the desire to have frequently used information easily accessible.

In connection with the first point, files (or folders) were also found on desk tops, but may be contained within a pile or a heap, whilst their internal organisation often reflects the

state of the work space: messy desk, some disorganised folder contents.

Much evidence was found to substantiate the second point. This was summed up by subject C, who said:

If I start with a list of categories that sound logical, as soon as the system starts working the system breaks down because nothing will fit into the categories. I then

have two choices make more boxes or the system stops working.

Judging by the look of the desk in office C the system had broken down, leading to the

generation of many messy heaps. The third point was evident for all subjects. ‘Things to do’ lists were used, but even then

all subjects felt the need for visual reminders of things to do. This manifests itself in the

creation of ‘reminder piles’ or sometimes ‘reminder notes’ on pin boards, computer screens covered in stickit notes (sometimes colour coded!) or the use of pigeon holes

for filtering important subject matter down to a manageable size. The fourth point was an observation that piles and some organised reminders were

supporting a planning function, in that a variety of contents in view were all contributing to the establishment of future plans. This is an extension to the reminder activity, but is subtly different in that a number of pieces of data are interpreted to form the planning

information. Considering the fifth point, all subjects found that some information needs to be near to

hand. For subject C this resulted in even more piles. Subjects A and B had different ways of handling this. Both these subjects filed information which needed to be at hand in organised yet near folders, shelves, racks or envelopes. So this desire for information to be near to hand need not result in a messy desk. It will result in heaps if the subject concerned already has trouble with the categorisation of information.

These observations substantiate the continuing validity of previous work, such as that

248 A. Williamsordlnteracting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267

of Malone [36], although the planning function of reminders has not been noted before in this context.

5.3. Problems of messy desks

Further observations from the Moneypenny study deal expressly with the messy desk owners, and the way documents or other items reside in the work space. The degeneration of piles into heaps eventually leads to loss of information, forgetting and inefficient working practices, and as the heaps build up it becomes harder and harder for information to be found. Finding information in a pile should use a spatial referencing system, but unfortunately people forget where they put things and things get moved within the piles when the subject is searching for other pieces of information. Finally papers placed on piles to serve as a visual reminder get covered up, leading to forgetting. To summarise: (1) There is not always a reason for information to be put on any given pile. For subjects C and F there is a substantially random placement system in use. People do not always remember the document position or context; (2) Searching through a pile trying to find an item disrupts the structure of the pile; (3) Reminders on the top of piles become hidden quite rapidly; (4) Important things can go unattended if no external pressure is forthcoming. An important item is just as likely to be missed as one that is less important; (5) Components of information to make plans are missed and poor plans result; (6) Some people can tolerate mess, others feel compelled to tidy it.

Consequently any systems which aim to offer improved working effectiveness for such individuals will need to address one or more of these problems.

5.4. Piles and$Ees

Piles tend to take on organisation by virtue of the nature of the dynamics of file creation. This usually tends towards a chronological order, but this is not a systematic or cognitive process. Piles themselves have a spatial nature. People remember what is in them by remembering where they put the item. Piles do not necessarily have any particular order on a work surface.

5.5. Desks for reminding

The function of reminding is an important part of desk organisation. Many examples of visual reminders were found. All of the subjects had a visual method which served as a reminder that something needed to be done. There was evidence that all subjects would place items on a ‘pile’ about their desk or office, where this pile was in their field of vision. It would therefore remind them that this pile needed to be processed.

Other visual methods were also used by the subjects as reminders. Subject B discussed at length the merits of a ‘wipe board’, subject A also kept his ‘things to do’ list in a prominent place where it could be accessed easily. Subjects D and E also had ‘things to do’ lists, which were a separate part of their personal organisation. Subject C mentioned the problem of using the top of a pile for a visual reminder where additions to the pile obscured the top and the reminder failed.

A. Williamson/interacting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267 249

5.6. Reminders help planning

Collections of reminders formed early plans for future activity, such as lesson plans or travel plans. Problems occur on messy desks where components of the plan are lost, or split up by the reorganisation of the piles caused by searches. Subjects often worried about the completeness of their plans.

5.7. Desk helping categorisation

Subject C discussed the problem of categorisation and suggested it as the main reason for’having a messy desk. The subject also suggested that there were two issues which contributed towards the generation of a messy desk. One was the recognised difficulty with categorising things and the second was the ability to tolerate the mess.

Subject E organised piles very carefully, with evidence of a clear personal coding and classifying system in operation. This allowed her to retrieve material quickly and reliably. Subject D simply appeared to be able to remember where she had put things.

5.8. Working practice with IT

Since earlier investigations computer technology has arrived on the desktop and is used by all the subjects studied. This in itself presents a certain bias to the view of future technologies as a desktop machine with a keyboard, which of course is not the case. Nevertheless some discussions were undertaken to assess the subject’s current use of IT, and in particular their use for storing and retrieving information under their control. This continued the interpretive inquiry, and objective tests were not used.

A number of topics were discussed but the most significant observation made was that the organisation on the computer reflected the subject’s physical working practices. Those subjects whose desks are empty or covered with tidy piles have substantial structure to their file storage on their computers, whilst the messy desk owners had directories (folders) containing many disconnected documents or other items. Indeed in one extreme a subject had all stored items (he believed) in one directory ‘Then, I know where they am’. This resulted in many hundreds of files in the directory, and the same problems of retrieval as is presented by a desk heaped with items. In fact we conclude that the situation is considerably worse with present technology as browsing is not yet well supported in office software.

6. Moneypenny requirements

As noted above, the Systems Maps drawn up during the inquiry phase were overlaid and general requirements identified. Transcripts and notes were then studied and a requirements list drawn up. This is not sufficient for a design as principles are also needed with regard to style and interaction. As the prototype is to be a discussion vehicle rather than a state of the art implementation, the desk top metaphor was retained and a forms- based interface style adopted. This allowed simple proprietary programming tools to be used in the construction of the prototype, and gave portability for evaluation.

250 A. Williamsodlnteracting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267

The initial investigation suggested the crucial functionality that the Moneypenny organiser should display: (1) the ability to allow the user to classify incoming items into piles and files, and manipulate them; (2) the ability to provide classification help for users with classifying problems; (3) powerful search facilities based upon a range of search criteria and methods; (4) support for ‘to do’ lists; (5) support for planning.

One of the biggest problems that people experience when using offices, desks and filing systems is that of categorisation. During the interview with subject C it was discovered that the main reason behind the lack of organisation in the subject’s office was an inability to categorise items for filing, instead the papers are piled onto a desk with no semantic organisation.

One of the aims of Moneypenny is to allow the user to file items on piles with minimum cognitive ordering and still be able to find them afterwards without the time-consuming searching or the risk of loosing the item altogether. Ideally then, the system should be largely automatic and require little processing or thought on the part of the user. In the future perhaps an office will contain a capture box in the corner, the user will simply be required to throw a document at the capture box where the document would be processed and arrive on the user’s computer system.

6.1. The perceptual cycle and the schema

The static entities in human memory models are linked by a procedure called the perceptual cycle. This supports the construction of a schema which is a collection of memories; it holds data about all aspects of the environment collected so far. It also holds associations about previous encounters. This information directs exploration to sample further information from the environment and the information coming from senses is stored in the schema. The schema is constantly updated by the new information. As an example, the perceptual cycle would be used to direct a person away from hot surfaces in a kitchen: it was a hot ring last time so explore carefully!

Forgetting is just as important as remembering in the context of the perceptual cycle. It is important that the schema is constantly reviewed. When new information becomes available, old out of date information must be ‘forgotten’ or the schema will no longer direct exploration accurately.

Moneypenny aims to tackle the problem of classification by allowing the user and the system to build such a schema. The schema is simply a set of rules which define the processing for the given item. Some work has been conducted into automatic filing systems [16, 42, 491, and so if many memos come from administration and can often be filed for future reference without even the need to peruse them, a rule could be set up to have them placed on an administration pile.

The schema can be used to great effect if the information is arriving from Electronic mail (Email). Email files have a header containing many useful easily identifiable headings: subjects, from, to, copies to, etc. These can be used in combination with the schema to automatically file Email or bring important Email to the attention of the user.

A problem arises though when data does not come from well-organised sources and has no easily definable heading structure. The schema will have to be highly complex to

A. Williamson/interacting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267 251

enable it to cope with the great variety of data which might need to be processed. Information from other sources might not even be in text format. How do you analyse a video recording, graphics picture or sound if the item has no text heading describing it? Although retrieval techniques have been designed to solve some of these problems, as in Ref. [13], major difficulties still persist. A further problem will arise if the schema has to be in a technical language form as this would reduce its effectiveness for naive users.

6.2. Diary indexing

One way of helping the user to locate documents on the virtual desk is to provide a diary which keeps track of the dates when items were filed. When an item is filed, deleted or moved an entry is made in an electronic diary. Then the user can find the item by simply remembering the date. If even this is forgotten it might be possible to rewind and fast forward using the diary to reconstruct the state of the piles on a virtual desk as in Ref. [31]. This method makes use of the chronology of filing found on conventional messy desks and rapid browsing, on this occasion with respect to time, a feature which re-occurs in the requirements discussions.

6.3. Planning

The task of planning was discussed during the interviews, and proposed for inclusion within the requirements for the system. The planning process works very smoothly if tasks, durations and resources are identified but the initial or conceptual planning is a much more demanding problem, with issues of what to include and how to evaluate them. This would appear to be a difficult activity for a computer to assist with, particularly if there is not past activity to act as a guide.

A more innovative approach was therefore undertaken and evaluated, using Mind Maps [5] to prime a work task breakdown [4] in order to prepare a ‘to do’ list as in [59]. This approach has been tested on individual and group projects with some success. The Mind Map allows the recording of a cascade of (relevant and irrelevant) ideas, using associative memory skills, so that a comprehensive consideration of the tasks to be tackled can be made. A linear plan can then be produced by reviewing the map and extracting the relevant information. The only additional guidance given is that wherever possible dates or times should be included, which can then provide a ready primer for planning assistance. Following earlier pen and paper exercises a mechanised version has been included in the Moneypenny prototype.

The output from this process is a series of ‘to do’ reminders, retaining the consistency of the desk top and the principle of reminders. These can be automatically placed in the ‘to do’ pile and posted to the ‘Intray’ for event prompting.

6.4. Moneypenny requirements list

As the project approached the prototype design phase the following list was drawn up

252 A. Williamson/interacting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267

and is followed by a more detailed discussion of the requirements:

A data acquisition system: This will be largely dependent on the level of current technology available. It should

A database system:

A diary system:

A Schema system:

be noted that an ordinary desk is a multimedia system. Therefore a messy desk

database should provide as many of the facilities of a desk as possible.

To store the data items.

To record the date when an itim was entered into the system. The diary system should

also record when the last access was made.

This will store information about the classification of data, automatic or otherwise. It

should also serve to record any associations made between items, automatic or

otherwise. It will be concerned with the following:

Redundancy of data: When data should be deleted automatically, when the user

should be warned that data is out of date.

Where data should be sorted if an automatic classification has been set up.

How the data is to be indexed.

When to get the user to process data.

A reminder system:

A planning aid:

Searching systems:

Aided recall:

User freedom:

Groups of data sets, definitions of and when to put things into them.

To serve the same purpose that a visual reminder pile serves on a desk, including

other systems such as a calendar of appointments.

Some help in planning activities so as not to forget things to include.

Using the diary to fast forward, rewind or go to a given date. Search by keyword,

sentence, type of entry, group, etc. As many different systems as possible.

Throughout the design, methods which aid memory recall should be incorporated.

The design of the system should allow the user as much freedom as possible.

The requirements list is not detailed enough on its own to progress the design of the prototype. The outlines for the significant components are now given along with some indications of how they might relate to each other.

7. Prototype design

An object-orientated’design was used for the prototype. Although there is a close match

between the identified functionality and the software components in the system, the design of the Moneypenny objects was further guided by the more detailed requirements.

7.1. File store manager

The file store manager will be responsible for relating the design concept of data items to the actual storage of data on the machine. It will do this by using an arbitrary filename (a unique number) on the hard storage system. Detailed requirements suggest that filenames should be optional as there are other ways of associating information with the file for the purposes of retrieval. This therefore constitutes a mapping from the file system hardware

to the relevant part of the interface. There are some commercial products which are emerging to support this functionality

within the field of electronic document management. These products follow the design conceived by the Moneypenny project. It is suggested that by.following the similar design philosophy with Moneypenny this future aspect of functionality may be achieved rapidly through the use of a customised document management package.

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7.2. The data manager

The data manager provides the user with methods of access to the data held in the filing system. A sub-component of the data management object will provide this interface. As suggested by the desk top metaphor the user will be able to set up virtual piles which are used to store items, and may be named or unnamed. There will also be a default pile where items are put if the user does not want to categorise them immediately. The user should be able to view these piles graphically so that they can sort through them manually, looking for things as if they were on a desk.

There will be a ‘things to do’ list available for the user. This will work in combination with the diary to remind the user. Entries in the system can be tagged to remind the user via the diary and can also be linked to an item or pile of items which contains relevant information. For consistency the ‘to do’ list will be implemented as a pile of items.

A special pile known as an ‘Intray’ will be used to sort items which have recently entered the system. The intray will have facilities for reading mail, viewing scanned documents and reading any other item which has entered the system by the data capture. Once read from the intray the item can either be placed on a pile or deleted.

Part of this system will also have to keep track of the ageing process of items on piles. There may be various kinds of action related to delete by dates which will enable the system to automatically remove things which have expired. This potentially creates incon- sistencies between the real desk top and the system as items disappear, and consequently is one of the areas of further study. The system would probably have to warn the user before deleting items, although CD-ROM archiving may mean that no data has actually to be destroyed.

7.3. System design

It is clear that the Moneypenny system has a strong object-oriented approach, and will be prepared to run in an object-based environment. The scalability and refinement ability of object-based systems also argued conclusively for such an approach. An object-orientated technique was therefore applied, although compromises had to be made in that implementation language is only object-based, not object-orientated.

8. Creation of the Moneypenny prototype

It was then necessary to progress the functions, requirements and principles into a design so that the prototype could be built. The prototype forms a significant part of the requirements/design cycle and it is not just seen as an implementation but as part of an evolving process. The ‘Cardboard Sojlware’ method [50] which enables prototyping to form part of the evolution of software was used. Within this the design model itself was constructed using an Object-Oriented Design method [3].

Despite this flexible approach, difficulties were found in expressing some of the ideas and requirements in the design. The ideas involving multimedia and some of the complex


relations between these types of objects gave the most trouble with existing methodolo- gies, as articulated in [2].

The prototype implementation aims to provide an interface and non-functional system.

During the research and interviews it was discovered that there are large gaps between the current level of technology and people’s requirements. Users require multimedia systems,

some of which is realised and some of which is under development. In addition to text graphics

there have been many developments in voice recognition, video is arriving [2] and Braille systems have been experimented with [25,41, 391. An ideal model should be able to manip-

ulate these and other forms of media in a more comprehensive way than a desk can.

A brief outline of the Moneypenny prototype is now given to provide background to the

observations and conclusions.

9. The Moneypenny prototype

Fig. 1 shows the Moneypenny interface, which follows a general window layout. This

prototype was produced in Visual Basic 4.0 running under Windows 95. There are brief pull-down menus and a button bar derived from the requirements list. The screen in Fig. 1

shows an untitled pile with its contents list and the currently selected item. At the right of the button bar is the intray mailbox icon, with its flag raised, confirming there are new

Fig. 1. The Moneypenny interface.


Fig. 2. The Intray pile.

items in the intray. The button bar is largely self explanatory:

‘To Diary’ changes to a time orientated selection as shown in Fig. 2. ‘Search’ allows searching (non functional) and is shown in Fig. 3.

‘Link files’ allows hyperlink associations to be built.

‘Rename’ allows renaming and categorising. ‘Plan’ invokes the plan form shown in Fig. 4.

‘My Rules’ is the rule-based schema which allows automatic item processing (non-

functional). ‘To Do’ will invoke the to do pile.

‘Intray’ moves to the intray pile for new item processing.

The functionality of these buttons is generally restricted to displaying some form

designs. The pile has one specialist button, the paper clip (MyIndex) for associating items in a similar fashion to Web browser book marks.

Fig. 2 shows the intray pile, where a new item has arrived as indicated by the raised flag on the mailbox; the mailbox is actually animated so that the flag moves. The intray will process images, sound, text and other media objects. The header button bar is common, and a new form has been generated to handle the intray. The untitled pile of Fig. 1 has been minimised. The items in the pile are listed in the pile, window, with manipulation buttons.

There are a selection of piles to drag the new item on to, or it may be deleted.


Item Namns:

‘.bmp

Ksyvmrdt:

Harry Keq

11 PilmToBsSerdtd

Fig. 3. The Moneypenny search screen.

Fig. 3 shows the search screen. The search screen is designed to allow searching for text

or image, with or without following any hyperlinks defined within the system. The search text or picture can be entered or cut and pasted. The search window then has tow areas, the

user sets up the search by dragging the piles to be searched into the left window, and piles not to be searched into the right window. Further buttons allow the result of the search to

be used. Fig. 4 shows the planning screen which is invoked from the common button bar. The

form consists of a planning area on the left, and a source of data list on the right. Items can

be dragged from the list onto the planning area, or entered directly. The list is prepared from Mind Map key words. This is not an ideal implementation in the prototype, as the preferred option would be to drag keywords directly from the Mind Map itself, but the limitations of the Mind Map software prevents this at present. In addition it is not possible to highlight used keywords to provide a checking function, although the usefulness of this was identified. In spite of this restriction the underlying operation is a good match with the preferred task model, the auxiliary representation simply introduces some inconvenience. A similar adjustment has to be made with regard to the computer stored Mind Map; as the software used is typed entry only, the preparation of a paper map which is then translated into the proprietary package is necessary.


Fig. 4. The plan facility.

10. Evaluating the Moneypenny prototype

The aim of the evaluation was to assess the intuitiveness of the initial interface, and

prompt discussion to refine the requirements. A new group of subjects was used to eval-

uate the prototype, therefore, as the principles were by now very familiar to the six subjects in the requirements study. It was also possible that more issues would be raised

by the new subjects, contributing to the refinement of requirements. The method of evaluation chosen aimed to explore the software by observation of users. The users

were put in a learning situation with no previous experience of the software under evaluation and the system had been set up with no on-line help or instruction facilities. This made

it harder for the user to learn the system but brought interface difficulties to the fore. A simulation was also run to emulate work arriving in the intray, but users were not warned of this prior to using the software so that any reactions to the appearance of files in the intray could be observed.

IO. I, Evaluation method

As indicated above the evaluation was undertaken in four stages: Briefing, Exploration, Set-Task Analysis and Reporting, and the latter two stages were recorded on video.

258 A. Williamson/Interacting with Computers 9 (1998) N-267

Four users, two male, two female were picked who already had a working knowledge of

the computer environment. This previous knowledge was necessary to assess ‘he model system and not the benefits or failings of the windows environment. Users were chosen

with a variation of experience from those who had knowledge of a small group of windows

applications through to users with experience of windows programming. A brief was prepared to support the observed user exploration, worded as follows:

10.2. The brief

“The Moneypenny Messy Desk model aims to provide a system which could be

used in place of a conventional office. It is only a model system and much of it is not

fully functional. If this is the case, you will be provided with a description of the undeveloped function. The concept is to design a system which provides many of the

functions currently done manually in a conventional office. Particular attention is paid

to methods which people use in day-to-day organisation. One such concept is the way that people use piles to place information on. The Moneypenny system provides for

this in the form of piles of items. Items are the individual units of information arriving on the desk.

The items arrive on a special pile which is designed to represent an intray. The user can

attend to this and move items from here over to other named piles. A good desk should provide automatic systems for tidying and sorting information. One

of the aspects covered in the research is to enable the system to delete old files. All files on the system have ‘delete by’ dates. When the system detects that a file needs deleting it

warns the user. This has been simulated. The methods provided should be easy to understand as they aim to relate to operations

and tasks which are routine in an office. When using the system I would like you to

imagine that you are using a desk. The system should enable you to comprehend what is required of you to complete tasks similar to those you might undertake in an ordinary

office.”

After the subject had read the brief, discussion of the concept of the system was encour- aged. The user was then asked to explore the system for 10 min. A simulation was also set

up to mimic work arriving in the intray which the user was not warned of. During the exploration the user was asked to ‘Think Aloud' and remark on points of interest and things about the system which irritated them. This was all done with no on-line help and minimal

interference. Advice was only given when the user was having trouble with a function that is not fully implemented. This section was recorded using a video camera. From this

information was gleaned about how easy it was to pick up knowledge of the system intuitively.

10.3. Set tasks for evaluation

This stage involved giving the user a set of tasks to complete. Once again the user was asked to ‘Think Aloud' and make comments on the system and this was recorded. It did not matter which order the user completed the tasks in, although they were given in a logical

A. Williamson/Interacting with Computers 9 (I 998) 241-267 259

order. The task list was as follows:

General Tasks Display a pile.

Display the intray.

Display the to do pile

Quit the messy desk database. (It is suggested that this is done last.)

Pile Tasks

Change the item being viewed on the current pile.

Choose ‘big.bmp’ and view the full picture in the

scrollable viewer.

Listen to ‘drums.wav’. (This is computerised sound file.)

View the clip window.

Mark ‘robin.bmp’ for reference using the clip button.

Delete an item.

Rename a pile.

Make a new pile.

Interaction with the windows operating system Copy ‘robin.bmp’ into MS Windows clipboard program.

The search window View the search window.

Paste an image from the clipboard to the bitmap recog-

nition window.

In the search window move a pile icon representing piles

searched over to piles not searched.

Activate a search from the search window.

Using the Plan/To Do Plan an overnight trip to London

View the ‘to do’ pile

Using the intray Recognise that an item has arrived in the intray.

Display the intray and move an item onto a pile.

There was no time limit on this section of the work. The user decided when the tasks were completed.

10.4. Reporting and analysing the video

The tape was then viewed extensively in three stages. During the first viewing, detailed specific problems associated with the user’s reactions to the system were looked for. Some areas of the system which were not confirming or reinforcing the users mental model were found. Cases were found where the system provided metaphors for learning which were not strong enough and were misinterpreted by users.

In a second viewing of the viewing of the video, problems with ‘Psychological Closure’ were concentrated upon. In the context of the evaluation indications of closure

260 A. Williamsordnteracting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267

were important to show that the user felt as though a task had been successfully completed.

Finally the video was viewed looking for overall concepts of the model. During this viewing less specific things related to the general principles of operation of the model were found. Focus moved away from details to see the system in a more global context.

11. Results from the prototype studies

A pilot study using the first prototype uncovered problems with consistency and some functional errors which were corrected before the reported investigation was carried out. It is readily noted that the prototype is crude in appearance, and many of the identified requirements are articulated in a direct way which does not seek to optimise user involve- ment. Whilst this would be poor practice for a final design, in the context of RE activity then the main purpose is discourse and discussion which is adequately served by such limitations, and some supporting evidence for the validity of this assumption is given later.

It is interesting to note that the style of the system overall allows a very fast learning curve. In the 10 min allocated the users managed of their own volition to explore most of the system’s features. It was rare that a user found something new when the set tasks were being undertaken.

11.1. Piles and heaps

The first observation was that the subjects had difficulty in grasping the concept of a pile as presented, in spite of the brief and a knowledge of the physical environment. One consideration might be that the forms representation was inadequate but similar problems were encountered in a more elaborate pile implementation as reported in Ref. [37]. In this study of pile icons and direct manipulation, problems of relating an icon to a physical document were encountered even when the icons were arranged to display a previously seen physical desk. The icons were designed to replicate colour, size and position but still subjects failed to link a physical object with its screen representation. This phenomenon is well recognised in problem solving studies, where subjects fail to progress without hints, particularly in analogical problem-solving experiments [ 181. The analogical task of link- ing physical activities with screen representations would seem to reflect these findings, and so a collection of hints should be available to supplement the brief. After some time with the prototype this problem was solved by familiarity.

One anticipated problem was that when the size of a pile is reduced, information is hidden which cannot be accessed without enlarging the pile window. In fact this proved less problematical than expected as searching by browsing became the preferred operation, requiring only a small amount of a pile form to be displayed.

11.2. Item names

Many computer environments still force organisation on their users in the interests of providing an easy to program (for the supplier) file management or database system, when

A. Williamsodlnteracting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267 261

in fact more autonomy can be helpful. One notable observation from the study was

that searching by browsing became the subject’s first preference in accessing pile

contents. A shown in Fig. 1 the pile form (also ‘to do’ and ‘intray’) has a list represen-

tation with up, down, top and bottom buttons. These features were used extensively by the subjects for finding and examining items. In the follow up discussions this was

confirmed as a major requirement for support technology. Similar observations were made in Ref. [37], where a viewing cone was tested. Here subjects wished to use the viewing cone throughout the system, although its operation was only supported by the pile

icons.

This removes the need for item names, things are found by viewing. Item names were supported by the Moneypenny prototype for completeness, and some well-organised

workers will still find these useful. The success of the pile view concept should not be underestimated for the messy desk owner however, particularly in the context of proprie-

tary personal computer software. The task sequence for viewing a sequence of tens of

word-processed documents in current computer environments is lengthy, whilst with step viewing through a pile the exercise is trivial. There is a performance issue in this context

which should not be ignored, but this task, typical of messy desk owners, needs effective

support. In particular the subjects with single directories containing all their files focused on this feature as one they should have as a priority, with the need for them to name files removed.

11.3. Searching

Most of the prototype is functional, but the search form is truly ‘cardboard software’ as a result of the complexity of operation. It was expected that problems would arise during the evaluation, and the focus was therefore on the search principles suggested rather than

the form’s implementation. Nevertheless the opportunity was taken to provide a search con-

sistent with the design concept, and containing a wide range (or implied range) of search

mechanisms.

When users were searching for an item and had not found it, they would resort to using the search window. This shows the search to be consistent with the system and the user’s

mental model. Unfortunately as mentioned above the search window has not been fully

implemented and so observer intervention was required to deal with the subject’s frustra-

tion that the search would not work.

A number of search approaches are suggested by the search form, shown in Fig. 3. There are searches on text, keywords, item names and pictures. In order to better direct

the search for those users able to do so, the facility to move piles from a search box to a non-search box and back was provided. The aim of this is to speed up the search time,

and remove spurious retrievals. This feature proved to be easy to use and consistent with the interaction model, the suggestion that this could be supported by interface components such as tick boxes being inconsistent with the existing pile presentation. Searching

using the diary header (shown in Fig. 2) was not simulated, but replicates a facet of Memoirs.

A variety of other search techniques drawn from the physical metaphor were discussed and a search toolbox conceived, and future work will aim to evaluate its relevance.


12. Cognitive considerations

The most significant symptom displayed by the messy desk owner is that the cognitive load of classification is found to be unacceptable, whilst the tolerance of mess, long retrieval times and losses prove more acceptable. There is a strong bias on workload

therefore away from the initial classification and filing, towards the retrieval process. This is the dichotomy presented earlier and discussed in Ref. [30]. In fact there are

good arguments for knowledge work being carried out in this way: as the activities are informing processes [26] the storage of the material artefacts in some system may not

actually be necessary or productive. In procedural work, by contrast, the storage of the material or its contents is likely to be a crucial component of the task, if not the task itself.

In short, the proposition is that the time taken for a few messy retrievals may turn out to be shorter than the continual onerous task of classifying and filing, or at best less distract-

ing. Future work will need to evaluate the relative importance of these issues.

The help that can be offered to this working practice falls into two categories: assistance with coding and classifying and help with subsequent retrieval. The first approach would

aim to use automatic or semi-automatic classifying techniques to store the materials as in

Refs. [ 16,42,49], whilst the second approach would need to assist in searches. In fact the latter will still be required even if automatic item filing is used because of difficulties in forming search criteria. This is argued as a result of our observations on the preference for

searching by browsing.

The difficulties the messy desk owner faces appear to be a result of the different strengths of memory ability in three recognised categories of human memory coding, as

summarised in Ref. [45]. (A) Episodic or Autobiographical: this is dated collection of

personal experience; (B) Semantic: this refers to general knowledge, not associated with time or context, such as links from meaning or context; (C) Associative: memories which

are connected to other memories. Most memories work this way. Often a technique of pairing information with a vivid associative element, i.e. an image, can help recall.

Classification of work materials is normally done by semantic links, such as customers,

suppliers, etc. Some episodic storage is used within files to provide activity traces, whilst associative links are left up to individual subjects. As storage is predominantly semantic in a conventional office, and this is the task that the messy desk owner has trouble with, it is

likely that a weakness of semantic memory causes the difficulty. This is not always a problem, of course; where innovative thought which challenges a current view is required,

such as knowledge work, the lack of such a framework can be extremely beneficial. The second approach is to help with retrieval. Most documented human memory pro-

blems are concerned with recalling stored information. It can be shown that people store most things in Long Term Memory (LTM) [19] but have difficulty in finding them. It is

believed that the problem lies in the way that memories are coded and stored; if memories are not coded properly then this is like a book without an index [19] and things cannot found. These difficulties can be equated with some categories of messy desk owners.

Memory recall can be improved although not by practising remembering [20]. Recall can be improved by practising certain coding and mnemonic techniques of storing memories [62]. Many people have developed mnemonic techniques to aid memory recall. It is also believed that rare individuals who have so-called ‘photographic memories’ code their memories in a


mnemonic fashion automatically [35]. There is also evidence to suggest that images ate easier to remember and memory recal‘of verbal information can be improved by associating items of information with images [5, 431. Memory can be aided by prompting if people are given hints [19].

Whilst some user training in mind tools may provide benefits in retrieval, therefore, it seems that this is a function which could be aided by automatic or semi-automatic classification and coding supported by a retrieval toolbox as identified above.

13. Conclusions

The small number of subjects in the Moneypenny investigation precludes any broad generalisations, but in the project context conclusions are presented which give pointers to principles for future functionality and interaction in personal information systems.

The study suggested that workers could be classified into three categories differentiated by their workspace patterns: (1) desk is clear; (2) desk is covered in organised collections of work (tidy piles); (3) desk is covered with disorganised piles of stuff (messy, piles turn to heaps).

This classification was presented at two independent seminars for scrutiny by a range of specialists, and proved to be robust. No instances of hybrid behaviour were reported, although the reminder function arose in both discussions as an area of local organisation. On a more critical note, experience of the variability in the wider population would suggest that such hybrid behaviour probably exists, but our conclusion would be that this taxonomy might still be helpful in usability studies. An evaluation of a system with respect to these three styles of working should provide a more comprehensive measure of its effectiveness across the range of workers that might use it.

The next observation is that rapid browsing techniques are very productive for messy desk owners, and we conclude that these should become more widely available. The simple step through viewer used in the Moneypenny prototype provided keenly sought functionality, although many interaction styles for this sort of task are under consideration, with further examples in Ref. [48]. Extending such a viewer to allow access to any item on a computer system (or attached network) is supported in Ref. [37], and is likely to provide increased productivity, although further experiments would be needed to evaluate all its effects. This is a natural extension of the desktop metaphor, allowing a more transparent access to items sorted, in the way that proprietary systems are trying to achieve, for example in OpenDoc [44].

The collection of information from reminders to form plans was noted and a technique adopted using Mind Maps and Work Task Breakdown from Ref. [59], which proved effective in both individual and group planning. We would suggest that this could be more widely adopted, possibly as an early step in project planning packages.

A further observation is that messy desks appear to be caused by a weakness in the user’s semantic memory skills which stops the grouping of objects into ‘useful’ categories. However there is an interesting (if anecdotal) correlation between the owners of truly messy desks and an ability to think conceptually and laterally. It would appear that the inability to classify data is an advantage in this form of thinking, as it sets no boundaries or limitations. It has been noted above that work on the Memoirs system [31] showed that


event-based memory support could be an effective alternative, but that it would take a hybrid approach to deal with a wider range of retrieval problems. The associative memory

support offered in Ref. [14] also proved helpful and we would conclude that personal information systems need to support a range of memory activities, rather than just the

named files in hierarchies that are prevalent in current desk top technology. Personal information systems should support event (or autobiographic) [47], semantic and

associative memory driven storage and retrieval, whilst retaining the image-based

reinforcement and spatial cues offered by a graphical display environment. A further conclusion is that systems’ demand for item names should be reduced, and supplemented with contents-based retrieval methods. The intervention of any automated classification

system can then be transparent to the user, and remain so even when information is to be extracted.

In considering the wider relevance of these conclusions we refer back to the work

classification presented earlier. Procedural work is routine activities within the work place, and as such is likely to feature many similar items and actions. It is unlikely therefore that event-driven enhancements to personal information systems will offer sub-

stantial improvements for this work, or that incorporating associative memory support will have a noticeable impact. We would also conclude that semantic organisation in the form

of traditional filing and processing techniques will continue to be widely used in proce-

dural work to separate similar items, and provide helpful categorisation such as hierarchies. In knowledge work however, we see innovative thinking and experimentation [26]

which will almost certainly benefit from a wider range of memory support styles. We would therefore suggest that in future, emphasis should be given to personal information systems which support one-off activities without creating large overheads, such as

naming items or placing them at specific locations in hierarchies, for storing the relevant

information. The last conclusion drawn is to reinforce the usefulness of greater integration in a

computer desktop environment such as is presented by the Moneypenny prototype. For

example the ‘to do’ reminders are a pile and have equal presence on the desk top with data and programs, they are not hidden away within an additional application as often occurs

with proprietary software. Finally, in considering all the observations from the Moneypenny study so far, memory

services have featured prominently. This has led to a new philosophy, and that is the idea

of pen and smart paper characterised by the Online Journal (OJ).

13.1. The Online Journal

The requirement for a number of memory support styles suggests that a more general personal information tool is required, which acts as a memory prosthesis [29]. The principle of having some technology which records images [ 141, sounds and notes [%I appears the most versatile, forming a basic autobiographical history for future reference. This is not sufficient to improve working practice, as tools or agencies [22, 461 are required to extract useful information from the stored data. It is exciting to note that the history concept is extensible into co-operative working, and such organisational memory [lo] is realisable with the appropriate work place technologies.

A. WilliamsonDnteracting with Computers 9 (1998) 241-267 265

13.2. The future

We would therefore expect to see the personal information system of the future follow the style of a memory prosthesis, with workers networked to provide organisational memory, operating within companies which adopt new Information Technology strategies such as the Learning Organisation Information System (LOIS) in Ref. [60]. Much work in evaluating new ideas has to be done and although Moneypenny and related investigations have identified improvements for personal information systems, our study really indicates that we are currently faced with a transient technology in the work place, and a further revolution is about to come.

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Martin A. Harris for the programming of the first Moneypenny prototype, and Cedar Software for the text based Mind Map software. James Rowe’s ‘Suicidal Sheep’ cartoons appear courtesy of the artist.

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Moneypenny: lessons from the messy desk

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