Supporting Cooperation through Customisation: The Tviews Approach

User interfaces for groupware systems rarely reflectthe different requirements for support of theirend-users. Here we present an approach to designingmulti-user interfaces for cooperative systems whichbuilds on previous work from the HCI community in thearea of end-user customisation. Using this approach wehave developed an approach and a system prototype basedon tailorable views, or Tviews, which allows end-usersengaged in group working to configure theircooperative system interfaces to support theirdifferent tasks, preferences and levels of expertise.Tviews are user interface components which can bedragged and dropped over representations ofapplication objects to customise presentation,interaction and event updating properties, and canthemselves be tailored using high-level, incrementalcustomisation techniques. We discuss the implicationsof this work for CSCW system development by referenceto studies of work carried out by the CSCW communitywhich point to a need for more flexible and tailorablesystem interfaces.

[1]  Richard Bentley,et al.  Basic support for cooperative work on the World Wide Web , 1997, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[2]  Kaj Grønbæk,et al.  Cooperative hypermedia systems: a Dexter-based architecture , 1994, CACM.

[3]  Steven H. Schwartz,et al.  Modes of representation and problem solving: Well evolved is half solved. , 1971 .

[4]  Ilze Zigurs,et al.  An Exploratory Study of Roles in Computer-Supported Groups , 1994, MIS Q..

[5]  Alan Dix,et al.  Pace and interaction , 1993 .

[6]  N. Kerr.  Motivation losses in small groups: a social dilemma analysis , 1983 .

[7]  JoAnne Yates,et al.  Electronic markets and electronic hierarchies , 1987, CACM.

[8]  Yngve Sundblad,et al.  An Analysis of Design and Collaboration in a Distributed Environment , 1991, ECSCW.

[9]  Jonathan Trevor,et al.  MetaWeb: Bringing synchronous groupware to the World Wide Web , 1997, ECSCW.

[10]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  An experimental investigation of the effects of group size in an electronic meeting environment , 1990, IEEE Trans. Syst. Man Cybern..

[11]  Daniel G. Bobrow,et al.  Beyond the chalkboard: computer support for collaboration and problem solving in meetings , 1988, CACM.

[12]  Gary M. Olson,et al.  Unblocking brainstorming through the use of a simple group editor , 1992, CSCW '92.

[13]  Gerardine DeSanctis,et al.  Using a GDSS to Facilitate Group Consensus: Some Intended and Unintended Consequences , 1988, MIS Q..

[14]  John Bowers,et al.  The work to make a network work: studying CSCW in action , 1994, CSCW '94.

[15]  Wendy E. Mackay,et al.  Triggers and barriers to customizing software , 1991, CHI.

[16]  John C. Tang.  Findings from Observational Studies of Collaborative Work , 1991, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[17]  E. Schein.  Organizational Culture and Leadership , 1991 .

[18]  Jonathan Grudin,et al.  Integration of interpersonal space and shared workspace: ClearBoard design and experiments , 1993, TOIS.

[19]  Poppy Lauretta McLeod,et al.  An Assessment of the Experimental Literature on Electronic Support of Group Work: Results of a Meta-Analysis , 1992, Hum. Comput. Interact..

[20]  Thomas W. Malone,et al.  Intelligent Information Sharing Systems , 1986 .

[21]  J. McGrath.  Time, Interaction, and Performance (TIP) , 1991 .

[22]  Susan T. Dumais,et al.  The spatial metaphor for user interfaces: experimental tests of reference by location versus name , 1986, TOIS.

[23]  RICHARD E. MAYER,et al.  Effects of meaningfulness and organization on problem solving and computability judgments , 1975, Memory & cognition.

[24]  Paul Dourish,et al.  Awareness and coordination in shared workspaces , 1992, CSCW '92.

[25]  Steve Whittaker,et al.  Co-ordinating activity: an analysis of interaction in computer-supported co-operative work , 1991, International Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.

[26]  Norbert A. Streitz,et al.  The Use of Hypermedia in Group Problem Solving: An Evaluation of the DOLPHIN Electronic Meeting Room Environment , 1995, ECSCW.

[27]  Ronald M. Baecker,et al.  How People Write Together , 1992 .

[28]  Jonathan Grudin,et al.  Why CSCW Applications Fail: Problems in the Design and Evaluation of Organization of Organizational Interfaces. , 1988 .

[29]  Ronald M. Baecker,et al.  Readings in Groupware and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work: Assisting Human-Human Collaboration , 1992 .

[30]  Clarence A. Ellis,et al.  The Nick Experiment Reinterpreted: Implications for Developers and Evaluators of Groupware , 1989 .

[31]  Norbert A. Streitz,et al.  SEPIA: a cooperative hypermedia authoring environment , 1992, ECHT '92.

[32]  John B. Black,et al.  The “soap opera” effect in story recall , 1979 .

[33]  H. E. Yuker.  Group atmosphere and memory. , 1955, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[34]  R. Ratcliff,et al.  Priming in episodic and semantic memory. , 1979 .

[35]  M. Horton,et al.  The impact of face-to-face collaborative technology on group writing , 1991, Proceedings of the Twenty-Fourth Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[36]  Lee Sproull,et al.  Connections: New Ways of Working in the Networked Organization , 1991 .

[37]  W. Bennis.  On Becoming a Leader , 1989 .

[38]  L. Reder.  The Role of Elaboration in the Comprehension and Retention of Prose: A Critical Review , 1980 .

[39]  Jean Dollimore,et al.  Experiences in building a configurable CSCW system , 1990 .

[40]  George P. Landow,et al.  Hypertext in literary education, criticism, and scholarship , 1989, Comput. Humanit..

[41]  Norbert A. Streitz,et al.  From electronic whiteboards to distributed meetings (video program)(abstract only): extending the scope of DOLPHIN , 1996, CSCW '96.

[42]  Robert E. Kraut,et al.  Collaborative document production using quilt , 1988, CSCW '88.

[43]  Thomas P. Moran,et al.  User-tailorable systems: pressing the issues with buttons , 1990, CHI '90.

[44]  Wendy E. Mackay,et al.  Patterns of sharing customizable software , 1990, CSCW '90.

[45]  Norbert A. Streitz,et al.  DOLPHIN: integrated meeting support across local and remote desktop environments and LiveBoards , 1994, CSCW '94.

[46]  Markus Sohlenkamp,et al.  Awareness and cooperative work: the POLITeam approach , 1997, Proceedings of the Thirtieth Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[47]  Jakob Nielsen,et al.  Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and Beyond , 1995 .

[48]  Susanne Bødker,et al.  From implementation to design: tailoring and the emergence of systematization in CSCW , 1994, CSCW '94.

[49]  John C. Tang,et al.  Liveboard: a large interactive display supporting group meetings, presentations, and remote collaboration , 1992, CHI.

[50]  Norbert A. Streitz,et al.  Hypermedia structures and the division of labor in meeting room collaboration , 1996, CSCW '96.

[51]  Paul Dourish,et al.  Developing a reflective model of collaborative systems , 1995, TCHI.

[52]  John R. Anderson.  The Architecture of Cognition , 1983 .

[53]  Clarence A. Ellis,et al.  Groupware: some issues and experiences , 1991, CACM.

[54]  W. Keith Edwards,et al.  Policies and roles in collaborative applications , 1996, CSCW '96.

[55]  Saul Greenberg,et al.  Real time groupware as a distributed system: concurrency control and its effect on the interface , 1994, CSCW '94.

[56]  Norbert A. Streitz.  Putting Objects to Work: Hypermedia as the Subject Matter and the Medium for Computer-Supported Cooperative Work , 1994, ECOOP.

[57]  Saul Greenberg.  Personalisable Groupware: Accommodating Individual Roles and Group Differences , 1991, ECSCW.

[58]  Daniel G. Bobrow,et al.  Design for Conversation: Lessons from Cognoter , 1991, Int. J. Man Mach. Stud..

[59]  Richard Bentley,et al.  Medium versus mechanism: Supporting collaboration through customisation , 1995, ECSCW.

[60]  Richard Bentley,et al.  The World Wide Web as Enabling Technology for CSCW: The Case of BSCW , 1997, Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW).

[61]  Jay F. Nunamaker,et al.  Electronic meeting systems , 1991, CACM.

[62]  K. Williams,et al.  Identifiability as a deterrant to social loafing: Two cheering experiments. , 1981 .

[63]  F. Craik,et al.  Levels of Pro-cessing: A Framework for Memory Research , 1975 .

[64]  Wolfgang Prinz,et al.  Supporting Cooperative Awareness with Local Event Mechanisms: The GroupDesk System , 1995, ECSCW.

[65]  Arthur Wingfield,et al.  The psychology of human memory , 1981 .

[66]  Thomas P. Moran,et al.  Tivoli: an electronic whiteboard for informal workgroup meetings , 1993, INTERCHI.

[67]  David Kaufer,et al.  Computer support for distributed collaborative writing: defining parameters of interaction , 1994, CSCW '94.

[68]  Marilyn Mantei.  Capturing the capture concepts: a case study in the design of computer-supported meeting environments , 1988, CSCW '88.

[69]  Mary Beth Rosson,et al.  Paradox of the active user , 1987 .

[70]  Judith S. Olson,et al.  Groupwork close up: a comparison of the group design process with and without a simple group editor , 1993, TOIS.

[71]  Victoria Bellotti,et al.  Informed Opportunism as Strategy: Supporting Coordination in Distributed Collaborative Writing , 1993, ECSCW.

[72]  Norbert A. Streitz,et al.  Does "roomware" matter? Investigating the role of personal and public information devices and their combination in meeting room collaboration , 1997, ECSCW.

[73]  K. Holyoak,et al.  Schema induction and analogical transfer , 1983, Cognitive Psychology.

[74]  Norbert A. Streitz,et al.  Coexistence and transformation of informal and formal structures: requirements for more flexible hypermedia systems , 1994, ECHT '94.

[75]  Kevin Crowston,et al.  How do experienced information lens users use rules? , 1989, CHI '89.