Computer-Supported Collaborative Production

Howarth, Jonathan and Yost, Beth and Rosson, Mary Beth and Isenhour, Philip and Carroll, John (2006) Computer-Supported Collaborative Production. Technical Report TR-06-03, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, Virginia Tech.

Abstract

This paper proposes the concept of collaborative production as a focus of concern within the general area of collaborative work. We position the concept with respect to McGrath's framework for small group dynamics and the more familiar collaboration processes of awareness, coordination, and communication (McGrath 1991). After reviewing research issues and computer-based support for these interacting aspects of collaboration, we turn to a discussion of implications for how to design improved support for collaborative production. We illustrate both the challenges of collaborative production and our design implications with a collaborative map-updating scenario drawn from the work domain of geographical information systems.