Working with “constant interruption”: CSCW and the small office

ABSTRACT

Ethnographic studies of CSCW have often seemed to involve the investigation of relatively large-scale and highly specific systems, consequently ignoring the small office within which many people spend much of their working lives and which is a major site for the introduction and implementation of IT. This paper is concerned with a “quick and dirty” ethnographic study of a small office that was considering the introduction of greater levels of IT. Generic features of office work are outlined: the process of work in a small office and its recurrent features, notably the massive volume of paperwork; the importance of local knowledge in the accomplishment of work; and the phenomenon of “constant interruption.” This paper suggests that despite the obvious contrasts with work settings analysed in other ethnographic studies, similar features of cooperative work can be observed in the small office. It further suggests that the issues of cooperation and the sociality of work cannot be ignored even in small-scale system design.

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INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)

Additional Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
          Subjects: Systems development

General Terms:
Management, Theory

Keywords:
cooperative systems, information sharing, observational studies of work, systems development