During the last year we have been designing and studying a computer based tool intended to strengthen social group awareness within a research laboratory. While awareness has been a subject of previous research it is still unclear how it should be conceptualized and how it can be provided for a CSCW system. In order to investigate this, and hence to attempt to create a system that would gain acceptance in the user community, we have been using a mixture of user-centered and participatory design methods. This paper presents the design process, the resulting system as well as users' comments on it. Based on all this, issues related to awareness are discussed and ideas for further studies are suggested. Keywords Computer supported cooperative work, awareness, user centered design, participatory design