Comparison of Coordination Communication and Expertise Communication in Software Development: Motives, Characteristics, and Needs

Abstract

The research question we pursue is how to go beyond existing communication media to nurture communication in software development. Nurturing communication in software development is not about increasing the amount of communication but about increasing the quality of the communication experience in the context of software development. Existing studies have shown that different motives and needs are inherent when developers communicate with one another. Identifying coordination communication (c-comm for short) and expertise communication (e-comm) as two distinct types of communication, we characterize the difference between the two and discuss important factors to take into account in designing mechanisms to support each type of communication.