CSCW Facilitating group work

Spring 2000CS CSCW zComputer Supported Cooperative Work yStudy of how people work together as a group and how technology affects this ySupport the social processes of work, often among geographically separated people

Spring 2000CS Examples zScientists collaborating on a technical issue zAuthors editing a document together zProgrammers debugging a system concurrently zWorkers collaborating over a shared video conferencing application

Spring 2000CS Research Focus zOften divided into two main areas ySystems - Groupware xDesigning software to facilitate collaboration ySocial component xStudy of human and group dynamics in such situations

Spring 2000CS Taxonomy Time Place Same Different

Spring 2000CS Taxonomy Time Place Synchronous Co-located Asynchronous Remote Face-to-facePost-it note Phone callLetter E-meeting room Argument. tool Video window,wall

Spring 2000CS Styles of Systems z1. Computer-mediated communication aids z2. Meeting and decision support systems z3. Shared applications and tools

Spring 2000CS Computer-mediated Communication Aids zExamples y , Chats, MUDs, virtual worlds, desktop videoconferencing yExample: CUSee-Me

Spring 2000CS Meeting and Decision Support Systems zExamples yCorporate decision-support conference room xProvides ways of rationalizing decisions, voting, presenting cases, etc. xConcurrency control is important yShared computer classroom/cluster xGroup discussion/design aid tools

Spring 2000CS Shared Applications and Tools zExamples yShared editors, design tools, etc. xWant to avoid “locking” and allow multiple people to concurrently work on document xRequires some form of contention resolution xHow do you show what others are doing?

Spring 2000CS Example zTeamrooms - Univ. of Calgary yVideo, CHI ‘97

Spring 2000CS Social Issues zPeople bring in different perspectives and views to a collaboration environment zGoal of CSCW systems is often to establish some common ground and to facilitate understanding and interaction

Spring 2000CS Turn Taking zThere are many subtle social conventions about turn taking in an interaction yPersonal space, closeness yEye contact yGestures yBody language yConversation cues

Spring 2000CS Geography, Position zIn group dynamics, the physical layout of individuals matters a lot y“Power positions”

Spring 2000CS Evaluation zEvaluating the usability and utility of CSCW tools is quite challenging yNeed more participants yLogistically difficult yApples - oranges zOften use field studies and ethnographic evaluations to assist