Computer Supported Risø - R - 890 ( EN ) Coordination

This report addresses computer support of complex cooperative work involving many actors. These actors might be distributed in time and space while collaborating. It is discussed which aspects of the coordination of cooperative work it would be relevant to consider supported by means of computer-based systems. A conceptual framework for analyzing and modeling the basic mechanisms used when mutually interdependent actors coordinate their distibuted activities is proposed. The framework is based on an analytical distinction between work and its coordination, and an explicit separation between the field of work and the work arrangement performing the work. A frame of reference for the dimensions of coordination work along which the coordination is conducted is included in the framework. Findings from a field study addressing the coordination of software design work in a manufacturing company is analyzed by means of the conceptual framework, and a prototype of a computer based coordination mechanism is presented. Based on the experiences accumulated from these activities a series of lessons learned is discussed. The lessons are mainly concerned with analysis of coordination of cooperative work and how to design computer-based systems supporting coordination work. This is a Ph.D. dissertation handed in, defended in public and accepted at Department of Computer Science, Roskilde University. The work was conducted in the period from January 1993 through December 1995, and the dissertation was accepted in March 1996. The work was supervised by associate professor Finn Kensing.