Collaboration, Coordination and Computer Support: An Activity Theoretical Approach to the Design of Computer Supported Cooperative Work. Ph.D. Thesis

This thesis is written in partial satisfaction of the requirements for a Ph.D. in Computer Science performed within the Industrial Research Education Programme established between the University of Aarhus, Kommunedata and Aarhus University Hospital. The initial focus of the project was to investigate ways of supporting the extensive cooperation taking place within a hospital. The theoretical objective of this work is to apply activity theory as a theoretical foundation for CSCW research and to focus on the issue of design within CSCW

Organisational Prototyping: Adopting CSCW Applications in Organisations

The usefulness of applications which support cooperative work depends in its very nature on the way the cooperative work practice is organised. At the same time, the adoption of new technology is difficult and complex because of the amount of people involved and their distribution in time and space. This paper explores the possibilities of addressing this adoption process in a more simplified, yet systematic way without losing the focus on the interdependencies which characterise cooperative work. The notion of adoption is discussed as a dual process of adapting both the computer support to the work and adapting the work to the computer. A method called organisational prototyping is presented which aims at facilitating this adoption process. A case illustrates how organisa- tional prototyping was used in the adoption of a cooperative tool for managing projects within a large engineering company in Denmark

Plans as Situated Action: An Activity Theory Approach to Workflow Systems

Within the community of CSCW, the notion and nature of workflow systems as prescriptions of human work has been debated and criticised. Based on the work of Suchman (1987) the notion of situated action has often been viewed as opposed to planning work. Plans, however, do play an essential role in realising work. Based on experiences from designing a computer system that supports the collaboration within a hospital, this paper discusses how plans themselves are made out of situated action, and in return are realised in situ. Thus, work can be characterised as situated planning. This understanding is backed up by Activity Theory, which emphasises the connection between plans and the contextual conditions for realising these plans in actual work

Designing for the Dynamics of Cooperative Work Activities

CSCW seems to have a persistent problem of understanding the nature of “cooperative work”. This paper argues that this problem is a direct result of not looking at the dynamic aspects of work – i.e. that cooperative work is not one thing, but different things at different times and in different places. Based on Activity Theory the paper gives a conceptual frame for understanding the dynamics of collaborative work activities, and argues that the design of computer support should view cooperative breakdowns not as a problem but as an important resource in design. These arguments are based on empirical studies of healthcare work and the design of a computer support for planning and scheduling operations and other activities within a hospital

Activity-Centric Computing Systems

• Activity-Centric Computing (ACC) addresses deep-rooted information management problems in traditional application centric computing by providing a unifying computational model for human goal-oriented ‘activity,’ cutting across system boundaries. • We provide a historical review of the motivation for and development of ACC systems, and highlight the need for broadening up this research topic to also include low-level system research and development. • ACC concepts and technology relate to many facets of computing; they are relevant for researchers working on new computing models and operating systems, as well as for application designers seeking to incorporate these technologies in domain-specific applications

Organisational Prototyping: Adopting CSCW Applications in Organisations

The usefulness of applications which support cooperative work depends in its very nature on the way the cooperative work practice is organised. At the same time, the adoption of new technology is difficult and complex because of the amount of people involved and their distribution in time and space. This paper explores the possibilities of addressing this adoption process in a more simplified, yet systematic way without losing the focus on the interdependencies which characterise cooperative work. The notion of adoption is discussed as a dual process of adapting both the computer support to the work and adapting the work to the computer. A method called organisational prototyping is presented which aims at facilitating this adoption process. A case illustrates how organisational prototyping was used in the adoption of a cooperative tool for managing projects within a large engineering company in Denmark

Mutual Learning or Mutual Disappointment

Abstract not available