Showing papers by "Richard Harper published in 1993"
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TL;DR: Findings of research into the nature of collaboration in a design company are reported, arguing that the achievement of ultimate ends in this organisation is through a division of labour involving discrete working practices.
Abstract: This paper reports findings of research into the nature of collaboration in a design company. Observations of the shared work of two groups, architects and building services engineers, are discussed and the role of meetings considered. It will be argued that the achievement of ultimate ends in this organisation is through a division of labour involving discrete working practices. Consequently, technology that brings people together is inappropriate and could unsettle working harmony. This finding is not offered as a discovery but as a reminder: CSCW is in part about sensitivity to social and organisational issues in system design and evaluation. However, in the pursuit innovative technology, those sensitivities can often be lost.
28 citations
01 Jan 1993
TL;DR: In this paper, the symbolic meaning of active badges, the normative constraints underpinning attitudes to active badges and the relationship between normative constraints, meaning, use, and the moral order of a workplace are discussed.
Abstract: This paper reports findings of an analysis into active badges as sociological phenomena. It examines the symbolic meaning given to active badges, the normative constraints underpinning attitudes to active badges; and the relationship between normative constraints, meaning, use, and the moral order of a workplace. It will be suggested that active badges can usefully be viewed as totems. The materials discussed derive from ethnographically informed interviews of 44 members of a corporate research institution. Similarities between this setting and other workplaces will be remarked. The role of sociological reasoning in design will conclude the paper.
11 citations