Fragmented Exchange: Disarticulation and the Need for Regionalized Communication Spaces

This paper relates the discussion of articulation work (and of disarticulation) to issues of the creation and control of collective communication spaces. Four different types of settings are examined - occupationally segregated terrains, emergency situations, scarce-resource settings and performance-intensive settings. What is articulated in such settings is seen as depending on the properties of the communication spaces actors build, their zoning and contextuality; while instances of disarticulation within this space can be interpreted as a consequence of both regionalisation and/or a deterioration or even breakdown of envisioning and interrelating. CSCW design needs to take account of the regionalised character of "real world" communications by offering tools for creating a corresponding multiplicity of communication spaces.