Design for Individuals, Design for Groups: Tradeoffs between Power and Workspace Awareness

Users of synchronous groupware systems act both as individuals and as members of a group, and designers must try to support both roles. However, the requirements of individuals and groups often conflict, forcing designers to support one at the expense of the other. The tradeoff is particularly evident in the design of interaction techniques for shared workspaces. Individuals demand powerful and flexible means for interacting with the workspace and its artifacts, while groups require information about each other to maintain awareness. Although these conflicting requirements present real problems to designers, the tension can be reduced in some cases. We consider the tradeoff in three areas of groupware design: workspace navigation, artifact manipulation, and view representation. We show techniques such as multiple viewports, process feedthrough, action indicators, and view translations that support the needs of both individuals and groups. Keywords Groupware design and usability, works...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1998
• Where: CSCW
• Authors: Carl Gutwin, Saul Greenberg
• Keywords: CSCW 1998, Groupware Design, Social Sciences, Synchronous Groupware Systems, Workspace