Before that he was a faculty member of the Computing Department at Lancaster University, UK. His research interests include computer supported cooperative work, computer supported collaborative learning, user interface design and evaluation, museum informatics, and the application of ethnographic methods to computer systems design and evaluation. All these involve the use of interdisciplinary techniques in order to better understand the needs of end users and their difficulties with existing computer applications as part of the process of designing more effective systems. Current projects include an investigation into data quality in museum databases and collaborative techniques for improving that quality, and the potential of advanced technologies for providing more individualised tours of museums, drawing on the practice of docents.