Mark Handel

Bio: Mark Handel is an academic researcher from University of Michigan. The author has contributed to research in topics: Social network & Variety (cybernetics). The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 13 publications receiving 788 citations.

Introducing instant messaging and chat in the workplace

Abstract: We report on our experiences of introducing an instant messaging and group chat application into geographically distributed workgroups. We describe a number of issues we encountered, including privacy concerns, individual versus group training, and focusing on teams or individuals. The perception of the tool's utility was a complex issue, depending both on users' views of the importance of informal communication, and their perceptions of the nature of cross-site communication issues. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of critical mass, which is related to the features each user actually uses. More generally, we encountered a dilemma that imposes serious challenges for user-centered design of groupware systems

What is chat doing in the workplace

Abstract: We report an empirical study of a synchronous messaging application with group-oriented functionality designed to support teams in the workplace. In particular, the tool supports group chat windows that allow members of a group to communicate with text that persists for about a day. We describe the experience of 6 globally-distributed work groups who used the tool over a period of 17 months. An analysis of use shows that the group functionality was used primarily for bursts of synchronous conversations and occasional asynchronous exchanges. The content was primarily focused on work tasks, and negotiating availability, with a smattering of non-work topics and humor. Nearly all groups were remarkably similar in the content of their group chat, although the research group chatted far more frequently than the others. We conclude with suggestions for future research, and a discussion of the place of team-oriented synchronous messaging tools in the workplace.

Identity, identification and identifiability: the language of self-presentation on a location-based mobile dating app

Abstract: Location-aware mobile applications have become extremely common, with a recent wave of mobile dating applications that provide relatively sparse profiles to connect nearby individuals who may not know each other for immediate social or sexual encounters. These applications have become particularly popular among men who have sex with men (MSM) and raise a range of questions about self-presentation, visibility to others, and impression formation, as traditional geographic boundaries and social circles are crossed. In this paper we address two key questions around how people manage potentially stigmatized identities in using these apps and what types of information they use to self-present in the absence of a detailed profile or rich social cues. To do so, we draw on profile data observed in twelve locations on Grindr, a location-aware social application for MSM. Results suggest clear use of language to manage stigma associated with casual sex, and that users draw regularly on location information and other descriptive language to present concisely to others nearby.

TeamPortal: Providing Team Awareness On the Web

Abstract: Working on a team that is geographically split is more than personally annoying; it has been shown both to cause delay and introduce errors due to communications difficulty and to lower inter-team levels of trust and hence cooperation. Tools to combat this problem are becoming more necessary with the evolving globalization of business. In this paper we demonstrate TeamPortal, a technology for building team awareness that is minimally intrusive, facilitates communication and leverages the growing public familiarity with instant messaging and web portals. TeamPortal is a web-based set of Java applets that monitor presence information deduced by the network, present the results to team members and allow them rapidly to initiate communication using a variety of media at the earliest convenient moment. We discuss TeamPortal’s design considerations and implementation and highlight issues that are surfacing with respect to future research with this tool.

Disclosure, ambiguity and risk reduction in real-time dating sites

Abstract: While social network capabilities are proliferating on many online services, research has focused on just a few popular social network sites. In this note, we consider a different kind of social network site, explicitly designed to support particular types of risky sexual activity among men who have sex with men (MSM). We consider the role of ambiguity built into the interface in how users manage self-disclosure and its association with articulating more friends-only or sexual connections on the site. Despite the site's explicit orientation toward risky sexual practices, we find indications that users mitigate potential public health issues through the practice of sero-sorting. We discuss how design considerations that may allow for easier entrance into a community can cause problems for long-term users, or generate potential public health issues.

스크린 위의 삶 = Life on the screen : identity in the age of the internet

Abstract: From the Publisher: A Question of Identity Life on the Screen is a fascinating and wide-ranging investigation of the impact of computers and networking on society, peoples' perceptions of themselves, and the individual's relationship to machines. Sherry Turkle, a Professor of the Sociology of Science at MIT and a licensed psychologist, uses Internet MUDs (multi-user domains, or in older gaming parlance multi-user dungeons) as a launching pad for explorations of software design, user interfaces, simulation, artificial intelligence, artificial life, agents, "bots," virtual reality, and "the on-line way of life." Turkle's discussion of postmodernism is particularly enlightening. She shows how postmodern concepts in art, architecture, and ethics are related to concrete topics much closer to home, for example AI research (Minsky's "Society of Mind") and even MUDs (exemplified by students with X-window terminals who are doing homework in one window and simultaneously playing out several different roles in the same MUD in other windows). Those of you who have (like me) been turned off by the shallow, pretentious, meaningless paintings and sculptures that litter our museums of modern art may have a different perspective after hearing what Turkle has to say. This is a psychoanalytical book, not a technical one. However, software developers and engineers will find it highly accessible because of the depth of the author's technical understanding and credibility. Unlike most other authors in this genre, Turkle does not constantly jar the technically-literate reader with blatant errors or bogus assertions about how things work. Although I personally don't have time or patience for MUDs,view most of AI as snake-oil, and abhor postmodern architecture, I thought the time spent reading this book was an extremely good investment.

Why we blog

Abstract: Bloggers are driven to document their lives, provide commentary and opinions, express deeply felt emotions, articulate ideas through writing, and form and maintain community forums.

An empirical study of speed and communication in globally distributed software development

Abstract: Global software development is rapidly becoming the norm for technology companies. Previous qualitative research suggests that distributed development may increase development cycle time for individual work items (modification requests). We use both data from the source code change management system and survey data to model the extent of delay in a distributed software development organization and explore several possible mechanisms for this delay. One key finding is that distributed work items appear to take about two and one-half times as long to complete as similar items where all the work is colocated. The data strongly suggest a mechanism for the delay, i.e., that distributed work items involve more people than comparable same-site work items, and the number of people involved is strongly related to the calendar time to complete a work item. We replicate the analysis of change data in a different organization with a different product and different sites and confirm our main findings. We also report survey results showing differences between same-site and distributed social networks, testing several hypotheses about characteristics of distributed social networks that may be related to delay. We discuss implications of our findings for practices and collaboration technology that have the potential for dramatically speeding distributed software development.

Global Software Engineering: The Future of Socio-technical Coordination

Abstract: Globally-distributed projects are rapidly becoming the norm for large software systems, even as it becomes clear that global distribution of a project seriously impairs critical coordination mechanisms. In this paper, I describe a desired future for global development and the problems that stand in the way of achieving that vision. I review research and lay out research challenges in four critical areas: software architecture, eliciting and communicating requirements, environments and tools, and orchestrating global development. I conclude by noting the need for a systematic understanding of what drives the need to coordinate and effective mechanisms for bringing it about.