Conventions and Commitments in Distributed CSCW Groups

Abstract

Conventions are necessary to establish in any recurrent cooperative arrangement. In electronic work, they are important so as to regulate the use of shared objects. Based on empirical results from a long-term study of a group cooperating in electronic work, I present examples showing that the group failed to develop normative convention behavior. These difficulties in forming conventions can be attributed to a long list of factors: the lack of clear precedents, different perspectives among group members, a flexible cooperation media, limited communication, the design process, and discontinuous cooperation. Further, I argue that commitments to the conventions were difficult, due to the conventions not reaching an acceptance threshold, uneven payoffs, and weak social influences. The empirical results call for a specific set of awareness information requirements to promote active learning about the group activity in order to support the articulation of conventions. The requirements focus on the role of feedback as a powerful mechanism for shaping and learning about group behavior.