An analysis of courtroom evidence presentation technology requirements and current solutions

With the ever-increasing volumes of evidence being used in today's courts, evidence presentation is an area that may be best modernised in Australian courtrooms through the use of Information Technology to greatly increase efficiency and effectiveness. In this paper we have identified some of the key usability requirements for evidence presentation applications to run on tablet technology. This study analyses three current evidence presentation applications for the iPad for their individual usability qualities, and against the requirements established. The study identified deficiencies in the three applications tested, particularly in the area of document annotation. As a result we propose a number of design principles that will ideally improve the usability of evidence presentation applications for iPads and other tablet technologies. This study will be extended to include different tablet operating systems, and focus on the changes in the design principles that are dependent on available tablet work area size.