Showing papers by "Richard Harper published in 1995"

The relevance of “work-practice” for design

Abstract: Designers are increasingly being urged to take account of the situated and contingent organisation of the work that their systems are to support or automate. Within CSCW the concept of work-practice is a much used token for the organisation of work. This paper develops the debate about the position of work-practice in design by recognising that it is an ambiguous concept in sociology that is used to refer to different orders to work organisation. It is argued that as such it is as likely to mask the situated and contingent organisation of work as it is to make it visible. In order to fully realise the radicalisation of design portended by the deployment of the concept of work-practice and in order to make visible thein situ organisation of work it is argued that full and due weight has to be placed upon grounding the concept inanalytic explications of the interactional ordering of work. This stands in contrast to grounding work-practice in the formalisms of work emanating from theoretical debates about work in a capitalist economic/social structure; documentations of work; the narratives of workers, managers, and purchasers; dialogues with users, and mere observations of work. Two studies are invoked to substantiate this argument, one involving a sales ordering and invoicing system, the other a crime reporting system.

Collaborative tools and the practicalities of professional work at the international monetary fund

Abstract: We show how an ethnographic examination of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. has implications for the design of tools to support collaborative work. First, it reports how information that requires a high degree of professional judgement in its production is unsuited for most current groupware tools. This is contrasted with the shareability of information which can ‘stand-alone’. Second, it reports how effective re-use of documents will necessarily involve paper, or ‘paper-like’ equivalents. Both issues emphasise the need to take into account social processes in the sharing of certain kinds of information.

Why people do and don't wear active badges: a case study

Abstract: This paper reports findings from an analysis of attitudes toward and use of active badges and associated applications in a large corporate research laboratory The evidence will show that there were two distinct sets of views about active badges, leading one group within the institution to be strongly opposed to their introduction and use, and another very supportive Analysis of these views will show that they were the manifestation of two different morally cohered communities The demonstrable existence of these communities was in part achieved through and displayed by the avowal of these distinct sets of attitudes and views Further, analysis of the particular communities will suggest that some of these views and attitudes had the character of being sacred or semi-sacred; in this sense they were beliefs On the basis of these materials, the paper will conclude with discussion of how beliefs can form the bedrock of any and all communities, and how it is necessary to respect those beliefs if one wishes to introduce technologies to support group activities Failure to do so can lead to the rejection of systems on grounds well removed from the purported purpose of those systems

Paper-supported Collaborative Work

Abstract: Using ethnographic studies, we show how paper is integral to collaborative work in three very different organisational settings. Reasons for the use of paper as opposed to electronic alternatives are analysed in terms of the local aspects of interaction it supports, and also the ways in which use of paper has evolved hand-in-hand with organisational work practice. The implications of these findings for the design of collaborative tools are discussed

Document processing and data distribution system for an air traffic control environment

Abstract: An information processing system for an air traffic control environment using portable media to represent information about air flights, which portable media represent information by printing, hand drawn signs and projected signs, The information processing system includes memory, a processor, and a first and a second workstation The memory stores a database of data items relating to air flights, a number of the data items being represented on a respective portion of a portable medium corresponding to one of the air flights Each of the workstations includes means for removably mounting the portable media in an array, a camera and a projector focused on the array Coupled to the memory, the processor responds to a user marking by hand a sign on a first portable medium at the first workstation by causing the projector associated with the second workstation to project just the sign onto a second portable medium at the second workstation In further response, the processor also updates the database in the memory

A document processing and data distribution system

Abstract: An information processing system, comprising: a database with stored data items (204-214; Fig.2)relating to activities, such as aircraft flights, a number of said data items (204-214; Fig.2) being represented on a respective portion (17; 202, Fig. 2)of a paper strip (4) corresponding to one of flights, a processor (9), coupled (10) to the database, for updating one or more of said data items (204-214; Fig.2) in response to a user operation. The system further includes a plurality of workstations, each workstation comprising a rack (2) for removably mounting the strips (4) in an array, a camera (6) and a projector (8) focussed on the array, each camera (6) and projector (8) being coupled to the processor (9). The user operations include marking a sign or mark (16) on a strip (4), the processor (9) being programmed for recognising the sign, and optionally causing the display of a sign or mark (18) on the corresponding strip of a user at another workstation.