Seeing the project: mapping patterns of intra-team communication events

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the results of a qualitative study of the communication patterns of two student teams engaged in a design and documentation task. All communication events for each team are recorded and analyzed to produce displays that show how well-coordinated each team was throughout the project. The sorting and mapping methods presented suggest a new class of features for groupware applications, features designed to allow members of collaborative teams to monitor and adjust their communication patterns during the lifecycle of a project.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
      K.4.3 Organizational Impacts

General Terms:
Design, Documentation, Human Factors, Management

Keywords:
collaboration, diary study, document management, technical communication, workflow visualization