User Requirements from a Group Perspective: The Case of Distance Learning Mediated by Computer Conferencing

Abstract

In general, computer supported cooperative work (CSCW) has a strong cognitive dimension, and computer conferencing as an instance is no exception. Cognitive task analyses of such systems, and of their users’ requirements, are obviously needed. However, the social nature of this class of work and these systems is also apparent from the pooling and sharing of information and knowledge that is inherent in the processes and products involved. Accordingly, a social perspective is a prerequisite for a comprehensive account of users’ requirements. Indeed, it may need to have precedence if the view which we propose in this chapter is valid. On the basis of an examination of users’ recent experiences with a computer conferencing system (CCS), we suggest that the users’ communication difficulties may be traced to a mismatch between the communication strategies they adopted and those supported by the original CCS environment. The specific problems reported by users are consistent with the notion that they applied an inappropriate logic of group activity. This logic was based on — indeed socially constructed from — familiar face-to-face interactions between people. It was inappropriate to the new operational circumstances for group work, and a new situated logic was required. To the extent that such difficulties are intrinsic in any collaborative work system supported by new technology, and because any collective of users will construct (socially) their own actual situated logic anew, the implications for the capture and definition of user requirements are that this activity should include an integral social component. Moreover this may in practice need to apply throughout the early days of implementation and evaluation, as users negotiate their social reality relative to the system.