Coordination issues in tools for CSCW

Neither group-based work nor its associated technologies are exactly new. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), however, makes it necessary to reconsider many aspects of the design of technologies for group work. In particular, it raises questions about the support for the maintenance of common ground within the group (McCarthy et al. 1991), and the coordination of their activities - who can do what, where and when. We refer to these two aspects of group work collectively as “collaboration awareness”.