1. Christopher Lueg “Interactive Aspects of the “Problem Solving” Process in Online Communities” HCSNet/HxI, Sydney, 13/09/07 Interactive Aspects of the “Problem Solving” Process in Online Communities Christopher Lueg School of Computing University of Tasmania & ARC Research Network in Enterprise Information Infrastructure (EII)

2. Christopher Lueg “Interactive Aspects of the “Problem Solving” Process in Online Communities” HCSNet/HxI, Sydney, 13/09/07 Background (I) Online communities Independent of geographic boundaries New “tribes” (Usenet/NetNews, Web forums but also social networking sites such as MySpace, FaceBook) Different types including communities of practice, communities of interest (e.g., Carutenuto et al. 1999)

3. Christopher Lueg “Interactive Aspects of the “Problem Solving” Process in Online Communities” HCSNet/HxI, Sydney, 13/09/07 Background (II) Focus: Online tourism communities People voluntarily helping other people make the most out of their trip $$$$$ Growing influence on Australia’s multi billion dollar tourism industry: --What places are worth going to? --How much time to spend at ? --Worth spending $$$ on harbour bridge climb?

4. Christopher Lueg “Interactive Aspects of the “Problem Solving” Process in Online Communities” HCSNet/HxI, Sydney, 13/09/07 Collaboration Issues (I) Online tourism communities Predominently communities of interest “Intense collaboration” not an issue also little technology support available: standard internet access at home, internet cafes while travelling, limited mobile internet access etc. (“everyday technology”)... but other distinct challenges!

5. Christopher Lueg “Interactive Aspects of the “Problem Solving” Process in Online Communities” HCSNet/HxI, Sydney, 13/09/07 Collaboration Issues (II) Preliminary research suggests “problem solving” metaphor often inadequate: it’s about supporting information sharing & interaction! How to encourage participation? (well-researched topic in the social sciences) How to enable & support interaction within given technological constraints?

6. Christopher Lueg “Interactive Aspects of the “Problem Solving” Process in Online Communities” HCSNet/HxI, Sydney, 13/09/07 Interaction Challenges Given the constraints of everyday technology eg How to identify / represent shared understanding? (eg emerging schedules) How to represent alternatives? How to utilize different types of media? (textual, graphic, movies, G**gle Earth, etc.)...

7. Christopher Lueg “Interactive Aspects of the “Problem Solving” Process in Online Communities” HCSNet/HxI, Sydney, 13/09/07 Relevance Beyond Tourism “supporting directed voluntary interaction” Examples: 1.Classic: Open Source software dev. 2.Research collaborations 3.Community development 4.... Related areas: distributed decision making, distributed cognition, situation awareness, etc.

8. Christopher Lueg “Interactive Aspects of the “Problem Solving” Process in Online Communities” HCSNet/HxI, Sydney, 13/09/07 ARC Research Network in Enterprise Information Infrastructure 1.Activities framed in terms of Research Programs and Taskforces 2.Currently co-ordinating (with Jennie Carroll, Univ. of Sydney) Taskforce in “Mobile Information Access” 3.Just proposed (with Amanda Spink, QUT) “Information Use” Research Program 4. Join us!!! :-)

9. Christopher Lueg “Interactive Aspects of the “Problem Solving” Process in Online Communities” HCSNet/HxI, Sydney, 13/09/07 Thanks for listening! Christopher Lueg christopher.lueg@utas.edu.au