Traces and activity: a case study of a joint writing process mediated by a digital environment

The interdisciplinary research presented in this article is part of the study of collective human activities supported by technical devices. We begin by stating the objectives of the study and the type of activity observed, i.e., joint mediated writing. Then we describe our procedure by (i) justifying our methodological choices, which are grounded in a psycho-ergonomic approach of ethnographical inspiration, (ii) detailing the setup of the study, and (iii) describing the modes used to present the observables. Next we present our analysis of a session, while revealing some intermediate results related to the properties of computer traces of interaction and their use in the course of the session. We end with a discussion of the results and limitations of the study followed by the conclusion, which opens up some pathways for designing "tracing systems" capable of supporting joint mediated activities.