1,327 research outputs found

    A Change Support Model for Distributed Collaborative Work

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    Distributed collaborative software development tends to make artifacts and decisions inconsistent and uncertain. We try to solve this problem by providing an information repository to reflect the state of works precisely, by managing the states of artifacts/products made through collaborative work, and the states of decisions made through communications. In this paper, we propose models and a tool to construct the artifact-related part of the information repository, and explain the way to use the repository to resolve inconsistencies caused by concurrent changes of artifacts. We first show the model and the tool to generate the dependency relationships among UML model elements as content of the information repository. Next, we present the model and the method to generate change support workflows from the information repository. These workflows give us the way to efficiently modify the change-related artifacts for each change request. Finally, we define inconsistency patterns that enable us to be aware of the possibility of inconsistency occurrences. By combining this mechanism with version control systems, we can make changes safely. Our models and tool are useful in the maintenance phase to perform changes safely and efficiently.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, 4 table

    Historical awareness support and its evaluation in collaborative software engineering

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    The types of awareness relevant to collaborative soft- ware engineering are identified and an additional type, "historical awareness" is proposed. This new type of awareness is the knowledge of how software artefacts re- sulting from collaboration have evolved in the course of their development. The types of awareness that different software engineer- ing environment architectures can support are discussed. A way to add awareness support to our existing OSCAR sys- tem, a component of the GENESIS software engineering platform, is proposed. Finally ways of instrumenting and evaluating the awareness support offered by the modified system are outlined

    Designing a novel virtual collaborative environment to support collaboration in design review meetings

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    Project review meetings are part of the project management process and are organised to assess progress and resolve any design conflicts to avoid delays in construction. One of the key challenges during a project review meeting is to bring the stakeholders together and use this time effectively to address design issues as quickly as possible. At present, current technology solutions based on BIM or CAD are information-centric and do not allow project teams to collectively explore the design from a range of perspectives and brainstorm ideas when design conflicts are encountered. This paper presents a system architecture that can be used to support multi-functional team collaboration more effectively during such design review meetings. The proposed architecture illustrates how information-centric BIM or CAD systems can be made human- and team-centric to enhance team communication and problem solving. An implementation of the proposed system architecture has been tested for its utility, likability and usefulness during design review meetings. The evaluation results suggest that the collaboration platform has the potential to enhance collaboration among multi-functional teams

    Virtual workplaces : when metaphors breakdown

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    Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-81).Our model of work is shaped by the places we choose to work and the tools we choose to work with. As we introduce new technologies and build new environments our model is changing. Today's virtual workplaces are grounded in models of work that have been reformed from our experiences using current technology in physical workspace. However we are discovering opportunities and possibilities for work in collaborative, virtual environments that question physical models. Emerging patterns of distributed collaboration in persistent virtual environments are changing the way we work in time and space, recasting our notion of workplace. Virtual workplaces are interpreted and experienced through metaphors that describe a space of potential for work occurrences. Through the lens of metaphors, this research focuses on breakdowns between collaborative work and the environment in which work occurs. If what we understand and predict is based on what we already know, then by examining the breakdowns between design and use of collaborative environments we can illuminate the space of possibilities for collaborative work.by Thomas W.I. Gallemore.M.S

    Change-centric improvement of team collaboration

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    In software development, teamwork is essential to the successful delivery of a final product. The software industry has historically built software utilizing development teams that share the workplace. Process models, tools, and methodologies have been enhanced to support the development of software in a collocated setting. However, since the dawn of the 21st century, this scenario has begun to change: an increasing number of software companies are adopting global software development to cut costs and speed up the development process. Global software development introduces several challenges for the creation of quality software, from the adaptation of current methods, tools, techniques, etc., to new challenges imposed by the distributed setting, including physical and cultural distance between teams, communication problems, and coordination breakdowns. A particular challenge for distributed teams is the maintenance of a level of collaboration naturally present in collocated teams. Collaboration in this situation naturally d r ops due to low awareness of the activity of the team. Awareness is intrinsic to a collocated team, being obtained through human interaction such as informal conversation or meetings. For a distributed team, however, geographical distance and a subsequent lack of human interaction negatively impact this awareness. This dissertation focuses on the improvement of collaboration, especially within geographically dispersed teams. Our thesis is that by modeling the evolution of a software system in terms of fine-grained changes, we can produce a detailed history that may be leveraged to help developers collaborate. To validate this claim, we first c r eate a model to accurately represent the evolution of a system as sequences of fine- grained changes. We proceed to build a tool infrastructure able to capture and store fine-grained changes for both immediate and later use. Upon this foundation, we devise and evaluate a number of applications for our work with two distinct goals: 1. To assist developers with real-time information about the activity of the team. These applications aim to improve developers’ awareness of team member activity that can impact their work. We propose visualizations to notify developers of ongoing change activity, as well as a new technique for detecting and informing developers about potential emerging conflicts. 2. To help developers satisfy their needs for information related to the evolution of the software system. These applications aim to exploit the detailed change history generated by our approach in order to help developers find answers to questions arising during their work. To this end, we present two new measurements of code expertise, and a novel approach to replaying past changes according to user-defined criteria. We evaluate the approach and applications by adopting appropriate empirical methods for each case. A total of two case studies – one controlled experiment, and one qualitative user study – are reported. The results provide evidence that applications leveraging a fine-grained change history of a software system can effectively help developers collaborate in a distributed setting

    Using Design Science Research to Develop a Conceptual Solution for Improving Knowledge Sharing in a Virtual Workspace

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    Enhancements in technology have resulted in significant changes to day-to-day operations of organizations in the present day. One especially noteworthy change is the alteration in the nature of teams from being co-located, with face-to-face interaction, to virtual, with the involvement of information and communication technologies (ICT) to facilitate communication. This change in team character has had a downstream impact on a key element of an organization’s competitive edge, namely knowledge. Overall, there is consensus that knowledge is a crucial facet of the competitive edge of an organization. Consequently, knowledge management, knowledge sharing, and organizational learning are essential components of an organization’s sustained existence and effectiveness in the competitive marketplace and considerable academic and industry attention has been paid to this matter. However, the present day scenario of global organizations and dispersed teams, within and across geographies, transforms the matter of knowledge sharing and organizational learning into one of great complexity. Thus, the present study was interested in understanding the modalities of knowledge sharing and consequently organizational learning in the context of a virtual workspace, that is, teams operating from physically distinct locations and communicating using ICT tools. Overall, the objective of this study was to propose a conceptual model using the Design Science Research (DSR) approach to enhance organizational learning and knowledge sharing in the context of the virtual workspaces of the present day work environment. Further, the conceptual model is extended to propose the use of a Learnin
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