We tested UD Co-Spaces, a multi-display touch table system designed to engage the public in charrette-style urban design exercises, against a traditional paper-based workspace. University students from various disciplines served as surrogates for the public in collaboratively designing a walkable neighbourhood centre within an existing suburban neighbourhood.

Pre- and post-surveys, group debriefing interviews, and video-taping provided detailed data about group processes, interactions and experiences. Findings indicate that both workspaces were easy to use, engaging, and enabled collaboration, high-level discourse, and both self- and peer-learning. The digital system provided deeper information with better visualizations, and enabled a different collaborative process.