Lecture 9: Computer Supported Cooperative Work & Groupware

1. Lecture 9: Computer Supported Cooperative Work &Groupware Dr. Xiangyu WANG Acknowledgement: Figen Gul for partial notes

2. Agenda Today • 2:00-3:00 Lecture • 3:00-3:45 Group 1-5 work on “Workstation design” in Secondlife with Taiwan Student for ONLY 30 minutes • 3:45-4:30 Group 6-10 work on “Workstation design” in Secondlife with Taiwan Student for ONLY 30 minutes • Note: each student should give AUD $5.7 to Irene NOW for the use of Secondlife

3. What is CSCW? • ‘In its most general form, CSCW examines the possibilitiesand effects of technological support for humans involved in collaborative groupcommunication and work processes’. (Bowers, J. and S. Benford 1991) • Greif defines CSCW as‘computer-assisted coordinated activity such as communication and problem solvingcarried out by a group of collaborating individuals’ (Greif 1988).

4. What is CSCW? • What is CSCW • The field was coined in the 1980th by researchers from computer science, information science and social science. • Interdisciplinary field – where researchers are from various fields contribute with “different perspectives and methodologies for acquiring knowledge of group work and for suggesting how the group’s work could be supported”. • E.g., computer scientists, social scientists, psychologist, cognitive scientists, etc. • Two sides of CSCW: • Group work and social phenomena. • The technology and computer hardware and software

5. CSCW • CSCW should be conceived as an endeavor to understand the nature and characteristics of cooperative work with the objective of designing adequate computer-based technologies. • CSCW is a research area addressing questions like the following: • What are the specific characteristics of cooperative work as opposed to work performed by individuals in seclusion? • How can computer-based technology be applied to enhance cooperative work relations? • How should designers approach the complex and delicate problems of designing systems that will shape social relationships? • And so forth. • The focus is to understand, so as to better support, cooperative work.

6. Groupware • Definition (Ellis et al. 1991) • Groupware are computer-based systems that support groups of people engaged in a common task (or goal) and that provide an interface to a shared environment.

7. Groupware • Groupware can support different activities • Direct interpersonal communication • Ideas generation and decision making • Sharing computer objects

8. CSCW v.s. Groupware • CSCW v.s. Groupware • Groupware is the product (program) resulting from the research done in the CSCW field. • CSCW as a research field will persist, because it addresses larger questions about the design and refinement of groupware.

9. CSCW v.s. Groupware • CSCW: • Focus on • workplace activities, • organizational impact of technology, • co-evolution of the technology and the groups using it, • Interdisciplinary: Social scientists and technologists. • Groupware: • Focus on • computer systems, • the design of the computer systems, • Mainly a technical discipline: technologists

10. Groupware classificationClassification by support functions – 3C model

11. Design of Groupware • Important design aspects • Sociological • Effect of the computer support on position and evaluation of team members. • Psychological • Effect of the computer support on individual behavior

12. Classifying Groupware • Time/Space matrix • When and where the participants are working • People-Artifact Framework • The function it performs for cooperative work

13. More taxonomy Baecker, Grudin, Buxton, & Greenberg, 1995, p.742

14. Group Decision Rooms • Support decision making process • dedicated computer-based conference facility • real time large group support (5-50) • embeds a structured meeting process • Typical function • explore unstructured problems • brainstorm ideas • generate ideas • voting… The COLAB meeting room, Xerox PARC http://www2.parc.com/istl/members/stefik/colab.htm

15. Shared Table / Wall Displays • device characteristics • social affordances of tables/wall InteracTable and Dynawall, From the GMD Darmstadt web site on I-Land

16. Roomware • computer-augmented room elements • integrated desk/wall displays for collaboration • Inter-operation between devices From the GMD Darmstadt web site on I-Land

17. More taxonomy Baecker, Grudin, Buxton, & Greenberg, 1995, p.742

18. Video / Audio conferencing • Desktop conferencing • bandwidth/latency issues From Saul Greenberg

19. Instant messengers • Casual interaction • awareness to light-weight conversations

20. Chat rooms/MUDS/Virtual worlds • Space for meeting and interacting with people

21. More taxonomy Baecker, Grudin, Buxton, & Greenberg, 1995, p.742

22. Community Bulletin Boards • Post information from various sources to public place from Multimedia Fliers, Churchill, Nelson, Denoue, Communites and Technoligies 2003

23. More taxonomy Baecker, Grudin, Buxton, & Greenberg, 1995, p.742

24. Common calendar • Email • common calendar • meeting scheduling • resource use http://www.americusglobal.com/images/groupcalender.gif

25. Wikis • Using wikis

26. More taxonomy Baecker, Grudin, Buxton, & Greenberg, 1995, p.742

27. Meeting Rooms • Meeting rooms • Support face to face groups Veterinary Report Vol 26, 1 Winter 2002 http://www.cvm.uiuc.edu/vetreport/winter2002/technology.html

28. understanding P P direct participants communication control andfeedback A artefacts of work People-Artifact Framework • Cooperative work involves: • Participants (P) who are working • Artefacts (A) upon which they work • Dix, Finlay, Abowd & Beale Human Computer Interaction, 2nd Ed. Prentice Hall. 1998

29. meeting and decision support systems • common understanding understanding P P direct • computer-mediated communication • direct communication between participants participants communication control andfeedback A artefacts of work • shared applications and artefacts • control and feedback with shared work objects What interactions does a tool support?

30. People-Artifact Framework • Meeting and Decision • Communication • Share artefacts

31. Meeting and decision support systems • Participants must establish a common understanding about the task they perform and generate ideas.

32. Computer-mediated communication Using blog for communication

33. meeting and decision support systems • common understanding understanding P P direct • computer-mediated communication • direct communication between participants participants communication control andfeedback A artefacts of work • shared applications and artefacts • control and feedback with shared work objects Computer-mediated Communication and shared/artefacts

34. Computer-mediated Communication and shared/artefacts • Synchronous remote • communication • Video-based systems

35. Computer-mediated Communication and shared/artefacts • Shared drawing surfaces • synchronous remote design meetings

36. Shared applications and artefacts • The focus of sharing is the participants’ work domain itself • Include the computers people are using • Applications on those computers • The documents they are working with

37. Shared Screens/Windows • Share unaltered single user applications Richardson, T., Stafford-Fraser, Q., Wood, K. and Hopper, A. Virtual Network Computing. IEEE Internet Computing. Vol. 2, No. 1. p33-39. January/February, 1998.

38. Shared applications and artefacts Shared applications • Second Life • Design World • Sharing a design object