A Conversation on Automation and Agency

Industrial robotics and the hardware and software of automation have been at the center of the discourse on computational design and digital fabrication for more than a decade. Initially developed for the execution of repetitive tasks in the context of serialized production and manufacturing, robots and industrial machines have been repurposed, reprogrammed, and rethought for an array of new tasks, as well as new approaches to what they can do and what they can represent. However, the meaning, histories, and array of metaphors surrounding robots inform design and creative practice. This keynote conversation brought together five designers, scholars, artists, and practitioners whose work engages with robotics and automation, specifically focusing on their implications in design and creative practice, and their complex cultural and political histories

Team Identity and Collaborative Technology Use

This paper reports on a study of factors that affect team identity in a virtual organization. 204 members of 18 different teams were studied in a large multinational organization where the majority of collaboration is conducted across geographic distance. A survey was administered and three months of team observations were conducted. The results showed that members of smaller teams judge their teams to have higher participation, better rapport, higher commitment, better knowledge of team goals, and higher awareness of their teammates. We also found that higher levels of team interdependency were associated with higher familiarity among the members and a higher level of collaboration readiness. Collaborative technology adoption also differed: smaller teams tended to adopt technologies that more directly supported collaboration, whereas larger teams tended to adopt technologies with greater reliance on coordination functionality. There was no relation of task type to team size. Putting these results together, we propose that the process of sensemaking to construct identity in a virtual organization is influenced by team size. In larger teams there is less clarity in the team boundaries, goals, membership, and less general awareness of other members. Making Sense in a Virtual Organization

Social Presence with Video and Application Sharing

We present two experimental studies examining the effects of videoconferencing and application sharing on task performance. We studied performance on a cognitive reasoning task while subjects were observed via two-way video, one-way video and application sharing. Results demonstrate that performance is impaired when subjects are observed via media compared to when they are not observed. Surprisingly, we found no significant difference in awareness of the observer's presence between the application sharing and the two-way video conditions. This is surprising because application sharing lacks visual feedback of the observer. This finding contradicts social presence theory which claims that media which provides visual feedback of others produce the greatest sense of social presence. Our data also show that media use heightens the perception of task difficulty. We extend social presence theory and argue that these social effects need to be considered in the design and deployment of video and application sharing technologies for use in the workplace

Effects of Team Size on Participation, Awareness, and Technology Choice in

In this paper we investigate the effects that team size has on geographically distributed teams within a large, multi-national manufacturing organization. Survey responses from 109 members of distributed teams indicate that compared to members of larger teams, members of smaller teams participated more actively on their team, were more committed to their team, were more aware of the goals of the team, were better acquainted with other team members' personalities, work roles and communication styles, and reported higher levels of rapport. The data also show that larger teams are more conscientious in preparing meeting agendas compared to smaller teams. Consistent with their emphasis on coordination, larger teams adopted technology to support the coordination of asynchronous work, while smaller teams adopted collaboration technology. Implications for technology adoption are discussed