Scrapbook: Screenshot-Based Bookmarks for Effective Digital Resource Curation across Applications

TL;DR

Scrapbook introduces a screenshot-based bookmarking system that enhances resource retrieval across multiple applications by providing rich visual cues, improving productivity for knowledge workers.

Contribution

It presents a novel cross-application resource curation method using screenshots, addressing limitations of traditional bookmarks and histories.

Findings

Participants found Scrapbook helpful for resource curation.

Multimodal cues improved recall of computer activities.

System facilitated efficient reconstruction of work contexts.

Abstract

Modern knowledge workers typically need to use multiple resources, such as documents, web pages, and applications, at the same time. This complexity in their computing environments forces workers to restore various resources in the course of their work. However, conventional curation methods like bookmarks, recent document histories, and file systems place limitations on effective retrieval. Such features typically work only for resources of one type within one application, ignoring the interdependency between resources needed for a single task. In addition, text-based handles do not provide rich cues for users to recognize their associated resources. Hence, the need to locate and reopen relevant resources can significantly hinder knowledge workers' productivity. To address these issues, we designed and developed Scrapbook, a novel application for digital resource curation across applications that uses screenshot-based bookmarks. Scrapbook extracts and stores all the metadata (URL, file location, and application name) of windows visible in a captured screenshot to facilitate restoring them later. A week-long field study indicated that screenshot-based bookmarks helped participants curate digital resources. Additionally, participants reported that multimodal -- visual and textual -- data helped them recall past computer activities and reconstruct working contexts efficiently.