Groupware Environments as Action Constitutive Resources: A Social Action Framework for Analyzing Groupware Technologies

Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) is a relatively new and dynamic field dealing with the development and use of groupware technologies in organizations. Several frameworks and models have been proposed for studying CSCW, each conveying a different perspective and theoretical basis. Although these frameworks have contributed much to our understanding of the field, they can be criticized for a lack of holistic understanding of the complex social activity that is constitutive of groupwork. This often leads to the failure of otherwise well designed CSCW applications. In this paper we take up this challenge and propose a social action framework for analyzing groupware technologies. The framework is based on Habermas's theory of social action and four action categories, and the idea that groupware applications serve as sets of rules and resources which mediate group interactions. We demonstrate the value of the framework by analyzing a wide range of existing groupware technologies for their appropriateness to specific groupwork situations in terms of their espoused or implicit assumptions of groupwork, and the action constitutive resources they provide. Our analysis points out that a host of current groupware applications can be fairly easily classified and examined by the way they are configured to support different types of social action. It also suggests that, when implementing groupware applications, developers should critically evaluate: (a) the need for supporting a rich variety of action types, (b) the possible role of computer support in the specific groupwork situations, and (c) the underlying assumptions of groupwork embedded in the groupware platform. Finally, we will discuss how the framework can inform future research and development in the field.     

TheEvolve project: Component-based tailorability for CSCW applications

Tailorability is generally regarded as a key property of groupware systems owing to the dynamics and differentiation of cooperative work. This article investigates the use of software components as a generic architectural concept for designing tailorable groupware applications. First, the issues raised by this approach are discussed in the context of an exploratory experiment during which component-based tailorability was applied to a real tailoring problem in thePoliTeam project. The experiment's results led us to concentrate on questions concerning the support of distributed CSCW applications. As a consequence, we have developed theEvolve platform, whose design concepts are described. Furthermore, a concrete example for the application of the approach to the design of a tailorable distributed coordination tool is given. We discuss related work, summarise the current state of the component-based tailorability approach and propose venues of further research.     

Supporting intergenerational groups in computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW)

The workforce is ageing as older workers re-enter the workforce or delay retirement. One consequence is that work groups are increasingly becoming intergenerational. Because group work relies on many collaborative tools (e.g. email, shared calendars), it is essential to understand the special requirements that intergenerational groups have for groupware. Can we design collaborative tools that leverage the differing abilities and contributions of older and younger workers in groups? We focus on how best to support intergenerational groups, offering an analytical framework that combines ideas from the theory of small groups and activity theory. We consider design implications for computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) and outline design principles for groupware that supports intergenerational groups. Finally, we discuss methodological issues that arise when studying intergenerational cooperative work.     

Sensemaking in Technology-Use Mediation: Adapting Groupware Technology in Organizations

Understanding how people in organizations appropriate and adapt groupware technologies to local contexts of use is a key issue for CSCW research, since it is critical to the success of these technologies. In this paper, we argue that the appropriation and adaptation of groupware and other types of advanced CSCW technologies is basically a problem of sensemaking. We analyze how a group of “technology-use mediators” (Orlikowski et al. Org. Sci. (1995) 6(4), 423) in a large, multinational company adapted a groupware technology (a “virtual workspace”) to the local organizational context (and vice versa) by modifying features of the technology, providing ongoing support for users, and promoting appropriate conventions of use. Our findings corroborate earlier research on technology-use mediation, which suggests that such mediators can exert considerable influence on how a particular technology will be established and used in an organization. However, we also find that the process of technology-use mediation is much more complex and indeterminate than prior research suggests. The reason being, we argue, that new, advanced CSCW technologies, such as “virtual workspaces” and other groupware applications, challenge the mediators’ and users’ sensemaking, because the technologies are equivocal and, therefore, open to many possible and plausible interpretations.     

Supporting Cooperation through Customisation: The Tviews Approach

User interfaces for groupware systems rarely reflectthe different requirements for support of theirend-users. Here we present an approach to designingmulti-user interfaces for cooperative systems whichbuilds on previous work from the HCI community in thearea of end-user customisation. Using this approach wehave developed an approach and a system prototype basedon tailorable views, or Tviews, which allows end-usersengaged in group working to configure theircooperative system interfaces to support theirdifferent tasks, preferences and levels of expertise.Tviews are user interface components which can bedragged and dropped over representations ofapplication objects to customise presentation,interaction and event updating properties, and canthemselves be tailored using high-level, incrementalcustomisation techniques. We discuss the implicationsof this work for CSCW system development by referenceto studies of work carried out by the CSCW communitywhich point to a need for more flexible and tailorablesystem interfaces.     

CSCW环境下对多数据库的操作

ＣＳＣＷ（Ｃｏｍｐｕｔｅｒ ＳＵｐｐｏｒｔｅｄ Ｃｏｏｐｅｒａｔｉｖｅ Ｗｏｒｋ）是计算机支持的多个用户进行协同工作的研究范畴。它面向的是应用用户,而大部分用户都或多或少地与数据库打交道。这些数据库的特点是,可能先于ＣＳＣＷ系统早就存在的,从而有其多态性、自治性及适应于ＣＳＣＷ环境的分布性。为此,本文就用户在该环境下面对多个数据库的操作进行分析,提出了用户对多数据库操作的语句句法及其实现策略。     

Tailoring groupware for different scopes of validity

Tailorability is generally regarded as a key requirement for groupware applications. In this paper, we focus on a specific class of tailoring activities: the definition of different system behaviour for specific scopes of validity. Since the state of the art in Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) does not yet offer any satisfactory solutions to support users in performing this class of tailoring activities, we develop an approach based on tailoring statements, which are similar to production rules. We show how inconsistencies resulting from contradictory statements can be handled either automatically or by involving the affected users. We present a prototype which implements our approach to tailorability in a commercial groupware system, using access control as an example for the proposed class of tailoring activities. Finally, we present the results of a usability test carried out which employs the thinking aloud method.     

Reflexive CSCW: supporting long-term personal work

CSCW (computer-supported cooperative work) is an active research area with many promising applications and benefits. We argue that the plight of the individual user can also be viewed as a CSCW problem, for the individual frequently acts as multiple persona: performing many independent tasks, perhaps in several places. We propose reflexive CSCW to address such issues. Solutions in the reflexive case will of course be of benefit to users even if they are working in a conventional multi-user CSCW context; proposed solutions in CSCW can be re-presented for individual users.     

Intelligent support for activity management (ISAM): an architectureto support distributed supervisory control

Distributed supervisory control is the monitoring and control of complex, dynamic, highly automated systems by a team of human operators. As such, it is an example of a cooperative work environment. The goal of this paper is to analyze the nature of cooperative work in distributed supervisory control environments and describe implications for computer support. In particular, we argue that flexible support for activity management is a key requirement for computer support for distributed supervisory control, and we propose the intelligent support for activity management (ISAM) architecture as one infrastructure for doing so. The design and implementation of ISAM draws from previous work on intelligent operator's associate systems and computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) systems. A graphical user interface to ISAM and an evaluation study of this system in the context of team supervisory control are also described     

VERSION CONTROL OF DISTRIBUTED EDBMS FOR CSCW

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一种建立电子商务规则的协调模型

电子商务环境主要依托于Internet，涉及分布执行、多用户交互访问，中间件的使用等诸多问题，因此电子商务环境中的构件同CSCW、群件或工作流管理系统中的一样具有通信、合作、协调等特性，SIKA是作者开发的一种协调模型，介绍了其在建立电子商务规则中的应用，并且论述了这种方法的优点。     

协同编著系统中多媒体群件的研究

多媒体群件是使计算机支持的协同工作更接近于人类自然协同工作的重要手段，文章给出了协同编著系统中多媒体群件的概念，分析了协同编著文档的格式通用化及多媒体化的方法，设计了实时协同编著时语音讨论的系统结构，并对其工作原理及主要功能进行了讨论。     

Guidelines for applying research results

The software engineering literature is full of research reports that relate the conclusions of case studies, surveys, and formal experiments. But it is not always easy to tell which results apply to you. When results conflict, how do you know which study to believe? To understand how to sort through these studies, and decide if you should perform your own study, the author has put together the Non-Trivial Pursuits game board, that tells you when you have enough information to draw a valid conclusion about a relationship between factors. To begin, suppose your project team is interested in improving the quality of the code it produces. You want to determine what factors improve quality so that your team can use appropriate techniques or tools to generate better code. Your first attempt to find out what affects code quality is to examine population studies, in which characteristics of a large developer population are examined for associations among variables     

Electronic behaviour settings for CSCW

Being present in the same room not only enables people to exchange non-verbal communication but also the physical properties of the room offer opportunities for action and thus contribute to the ongoing social process. This paper discusses concepts from social and behavioural sciences to better understand the role of physical environments and artefacts with respect to cooperation among a group of people. Barker's behaviour setting theory is studied and applied to electronic settings. Requirements for electronic behaviour settings to enable situated cooperation in CSCW across spatial and temporal distances will be derived. Electronic behaviour settings should embody their own physical behaviour, and thus provide electronic places for cooperation. Adaptation to a particular group process can be achieved through a particular constitution of the setting and its adaptation in the course of practical use. This paper studies how this concept maps to existing groupware systems and outlines from practical experience whether this concept may help users adopt groupware in their work practice. This approach will contribute to the support of situated action in computer-supported cooperative work.     

A Measurement and Structural Model for Usability Evaluation of Shared Workspace Groupware

This study presents the development process of a set of questionnaire items to establish a measurement model for the usability of shared workspace groupware systems, which is suggested as a usability scale called SWUS, the Shared Workspace Usability Scale. Manifest variables and latent variables are based on the various dimensions of teamwork collated through the literature. A structural model was built on the measurement model. Models were evaluated through PLS-SEM methods. Data acquired on candidate questionnaire items from 398 international respondents who are users of five different online collaborative word processors was used for the model analysis. Of 37 candidate manifest variables, 22 were retained, which were measuring seven latent constructs: “3C Mechanisms,” “Grounding,” “Team Integration,” “Communication,” “Shared Access,” “Awareness,” and “Usability.” The data provided empirical evidence for the structural model based on these latent variables. The responses of the participants were not sensitive to differences between users in terms of gender and native language but showed sensitivity to age, experience with the evaluated software, and different shared workspace groupware evaluated in the study. Our structural model attempts to integrate several frameworks and models of usability for CSCW environments and provides empirical evidence for its reliability and validity based on subjective responses from users of shared workspace groupware.     

Team Automata for Security: – A Survey –

In [Kleijn, J., Team Automata for CSCW – A Survey –, Petri Net Technology for Communication-Based Systems—Advances in Petri Nets, LNCS 2472, Springer, 2003, 295–320], Kleijn presented a survey of the use of team automata for the specification and analysis of phenomena from the field of computer supported cooperative work, in particular notions related to groupware systems. In this paper we present a survey of the use of team automata for the specification and analysis of some issues from the field of security. In particular, we show how team automata can adequately be used to model and verify various access control policies, multicast/broadcast communication protocols, and general (cryptographic) communication protocols.