ICT-enhanced Collaboration: Promise and Potential Wayne Lutters NSF, CISE/IIS/HCC UMBC, College of Engineering & IT

The Information Age Explosive growth of information technology in response to core business problems. How to… coordinate large, diverse workforce distributed across the planet? handle the complexity of regional, national, global expansion? manage vast quantities of information? organize, store and retrieve that information efficiently? orchestrate increased network communication? survive in the face of ever rising communication expectations?

1911

The Information Age typesetting filing cabinets telephone photography hole punch 3-ring binders index cards typewriter telegraph paper clip ball point pen fountain pen card catalogue facsimile machine books stencil pencil transparency staple radio binder clip adhesive tape tabbed folder routing sheet mail chalk board cork board

Fundamentals of Collaboration.

Communication (state) Information exchange (transformation) Coordinated activity (explicit) Awareness (implicit)

Ellis, C.A., Gibbs, S.J, Rein, G.L. (1991) "Groupware: Some Issues and Experiences", Communications of the ACM, Volume 34, Issue 1 (January 1991), Same Time Different Time Same PlaceDifferent Place Face-to-Face Interaction Synchronous Distributed Interaction Asynchronous Distributed Interaction Asynchronous Interaction

Petroski, Henry. (1996). Invention by Design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

So, what’s really different now in 2007?.

Same Time Different Time Same PlaceDifferent Place GDSS rooms Collaborative editors Smart rooms Desktop conferencing Media spaces Instant messaging Awareness tools Org. memory systems Cooperative hypertext (wiki) Calendaring / scheduling Message boards Workflow systems

Physical and Digital Design for Fluid Collaboration (Edwards, et al., Georgia Tech), 2007

Designing and Evaluating Ambient-Tangible Displays for Collaboration (Dourish, UC-Irvine), 2007 Pyramid Nimios, in their inactive and active states.

CSCW Sociology Psychology Computer Science Industrial Engineering Human Perception Social Psychology Cognitive Anthropology Cognitive Psychology Software Engineering Human Factors Artificial Intelligence Graphic Design Ergonomics Information Science Computer Supported Cooperative Work

Grudin, Jonathan. (1994) "Groupware and social dynamics: eight challenges for developers", Communications of the ACM, Volume 37, Issue 1 (January 1994),

Socio-Technical Systems Understanding that collaborative systems emerge from –social systems (individual, group, organization, culture) –technical systems (application, architecture, infrastructure) –dynamic interplay between them, situated in a particular context Context of interaction is critical. Socio-technical design circle.

Sample CSCW Research Themes Communication through artifacts Coordination / concurrency control Exception handling WYSIWIS Shared context / common ground Awareness Group dynamics Roles and norm formation Privacy Official processes, conventions, and routine work-arounds Immersion, “place-ness”

Sample CSCW Design Insights Disparity in work and benefit Critical mass Disruption of social processes (culture/norms) Exception handling (work arounds) Unobtrusive accessibility (seamless integration) Difficulty of evaluation Failure of intuition in design Adoption process (need to manage) Grudin, Jonathan. (1994) "Groupware and social dynamics: eight challenges for developers", Communications of the ACM, Volume 37, Issue 1 (January 1994), Corporate Calendaring System

Sample CSCW Design Insights Social activity is fluid, nuanced, and highly contextual. –Provide as much freedom in the system as technically possible, rely instead on fostering social control mechanisms. Ackerman, M.S. The Intellectual Challenge of CSCW: The Gap Between Social Requirements and Technical Feasibility. Human-Computer Interaction, 2000, 15(2&3), Members of organizations have differing/multiple goals. –Acknowledge conflict in coordination. Exceptions are routine in all work. –Do not force rigid, rationalized models on work practice.

Sample CSCW Design Insights Negotiating and renegotiating norms of use. –Design in backchannel communication functions. Ackerman, M.S. The Intellectual Challenge of CSCW: The Gap Between Social Requirements and Technical Feasibility. Human-Computer Interaction, 2000, 15(2&3), Co-evolution, users adapt to system and adapt system to needs. –Provide flexibility for future appropriate and modification. Balance conflicting needs for awareness and privacy. –Do not assume universal defaults, leave user configurable. Value in making intermediary work visible to others. –Make consequences visible to users, informed trade-off. Organizational incentives are critical. –System must align with motivations for users.

Collaborative Virtual Environments Communications Research Nottingham (UK):

So, what about…?