co-Laevo - Supporting Cooperating Teams by Working 'within' Shared Activity Time Lines

TR-2016-193, Authors: Steven Jeuris, Paolo Tell, Jakob E. Bardram

co-Laevo - Supporting Cooperating Teams by Working ‘within’ Shared Activity Time Lines

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the interaction design and implementation of co-Laevo: an activity-centric desktop computing system supporting task coordination within cooperating teams. Coordination is supported by having all team members orchestrate their dependent tasks on a shared activity time line. Each task (or activity) is associated with a personal dedicated workspace within which related resources, like files and windows, are embedded. As users access activity workspaces, the past, current, and planned state of the activity can be updated to reflect ongoing work. In contrast to stand-alone scheduling tools, like a team calendar, the actual work is not disconnected from the plan. In essence, users work 'within' a shared schedule, suspending and resuming activity workspaces in order to access the contained resources required for their work. Users are thereby constantly confronted with their own and collaborators' activities as part of task switching during everyday work. We introduce this concept, and several entailing design implications, as cooperative activity life cycle management. We anticipate the design of such a system to decrease information overload and increases awareness among team members.

Technical report TR-2016-193 in IT University Technical Report Series, June 2016.

Available as PDF.