computer-supported cooperative work · cscw “cscw is an umbrella term allowing people from a...
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stanford hci group / cs376
http://cs376.stanford.eduJeffrey Heer · 14 April 2009
Computer-Supported Cooperative Work
Administrivia
Research project abstract drafts, due this Friday, April 17 @ 7am
ContentResearch QuestionHypothesisMethodologyStudy Recruitment Plan
1 paragraph ~1 sentence for each point
CSCW
“How collaborative activities and their coordination can be supported by means of computer systems”
- Grudin ‘88
“The study and theory of how people work together, and how the computer and related technologies affect group behavior”
- Greenberg ‘91
CSCW
“CSCW is an umbrella term allowing people from a variety of disciplines to come together and discuss issues without any common ground as to the concept of CSCW, other than the very loose idea that it was somehow about the use of computers to support activities of people working together”
- Bannon ‘88
Key Concerns
(a) the distinctive qualities of co-operative work processes, and how they are affected by technological mediation
(b) questions of design, i.e. how to mould computer technology to fit into and support work processes, often resulting in ‘groupware’ systems
GroupwareGroupware denotes the technology that people use to work together
“systems that support groups of people engaged in a common task (or goal) and that provide an interface to a shared environment.”
CSCW studies the use of groupware“CSCW is the study of the tools and techniques of groupware as well as their psychological, social, and organizational effects.”
Key Concerns
(a) the distinctive qualities of co-operative work processes, and how they are affected by technological mediation
(b) questions of design, i.e. how to mould computer technology to fit into and support work processes, often resulting in ‘groupware’ systems
Key Concerns
(a) the distinctive qualities of co-operative work processes, and how they are affected by technological mediation
(b) questions of design, i.e. how to mould computer technology to fit into and support work processes, often resulting in ‘groupware’ systems
Qualities of co-operative work?
What factors are important to consider when designing collaborative interfaces?
space
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asynchronousco-located
synchronousco-located
asynchronousremote
synchronousremote
projectors
ambient displays
virtual workspaces
webemail
IMtable-top interaction
whiteboards
usenet
telephoneteleconference
snail-mailpost-it notes
tagging
flickr
blogs
youtube
graffiti
google earth
distributed visualization
collocated distributeda
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collocated distributeda
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space
time
asynchronous / remoteDigital Media SharingGroupware CalendarsVotingMS Word CollaborationInstant messaging
asynchronous / co-locatedProject wallsMeeting room schedulesPost-It notesPublic displays
synchronous / co-locatedLarge displays / whiteboardsTabletop interactionSpectator interfaces
synchronous / remoteNetworked gamingVideo conferencingInstant messaging
Common GroundCommon Ground: the shared understanding enabling conversation and collaborative action[Clark & Brennan ’91]
Principle of Least Collaborative Effort: participants will exert just enough effort to successfully communicate.[Clark & Wilkes-Gibbs ’86]
Reference and Deixis
Various forms of reference (Clark 2003, Brennan 2005)
General (“north by north west”)
Definite (“meet at Hoover Tower”)
Detailed (“get the blue ball”)
Deixis (“that one” while pointing)
Often combined together (gesture + speech)How to effectively capture and communicate
references in computer-mediated communication?
Awareness
An understanding of the activities of others, which provides a context for your own activity. [Dourish & Belotti ‘92]
Ensure work is relevant to the group’s activity View the activities of others (e.g., live or via history)Coordination via shared artifactsInfo explicitly generated or passively collected?
Workflow
Documents carry meta-data that describes their flow through the organization:Document X should be completed by Jill by 4/15Doc X should then be reviewed by Amit by 4/22Doc X should then be approved by Ziwei by 4/29Doc X should finally be received by Don by 5/4
The document “knows” its route. With the aid of the system, it will send reminders to its users, and then forward automatically at the time limit.
Identity and Reputation
Respondents on a therapy discussion forum:[email protected]@hotmail.com
Others things being equal, who are you more likely to trust? In what contexts?
Presentation of Self [Goffman ‘59]
Expressions given (e.g., spoken words) vs. given off (e.g., wavering of voice)
Conventional signalsLow-cost signals that are easy to fakee.g., wearing a Gold’s Gym t-shirt
Assessment signalsMore reliable signals that are hard to fakee.g., having large muscles
Knowledge repositories
AnswerGarden (Ackerman): database of commonly-asked questions that grows automatically.
User poses question as a text query:System responds with matches from the database.If user isn’t satisfied, system attempts to route
query to an expert on the topic.Expert receives query, answers it, adds answer to
the database.
Extending email
There is a lot of research on “email++”Automatic organizationTask managementOther functions: contacts, reminders
Multimedia email: Can includesound, video, images.
Only occasionally usefulMay be important for developing economies.
Extensible Groupware: Lotus Notes
Notes is a product that combines standard office software (email, calendar, contacts etc.) with a scriptable database backend.
Easy to create new apps: PERT charts, novel workflow, custom shared authoring…
“most successful groupware system to date”
Synchronous Groupware
Desktop Conferencing (MS Netmeeting)
Electronic Meeting Rooms (Access Grid)
Media Spaces (Xerox PARC)
Instant Messaging
Video
Eye contact problems:Offset from camera to screen“Mona Lisa” effect
Gesture has similar problems: trying pointing at something across a video link.
Distance WorkSharing experiences is very important for mutual understanding in team work (attribution theory).
So context-baseddisplays (portholes)work well.
Video shows roomsand hallways, not just people or seats.
Sound
Good for one-on-one communication
Bad for meetings. Spatial localization is normally lost. Add to network delays and meeting regulation is very hard.
Turn-taking, back-channelingIn a face-to-face meeting, people do a lot of self-management.
Preparing to speak: lean forward, clear throat, shuffle paper.
Unfortunately, these are subtle gestures which don’t pass well through today’s technology.
Network delays make things much worse.
Social Issues
Can these technologies supplant human-human interaction?
can you send a “handshake” or a “hug”how does intimacy survive?
Are too many social cues lost? facial expressions and body language for enthusiasm, disinterest, angerwill new cues develop? e.g., :)
Is face-to-face the ideal?
Kiesler and Sproull findings:Participants talk more freely in email (than F2F).Participation is more equal in email.More proposals for action via email. Reduced effects of status/physical appearance.
ButLonger decision times in email.More extreme remarks and flaming in email.
Field of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) studies such “media effects”