Collaboration Workflow Simplified: Reduction of Device Overhead for Integrated Design Collaboration

Design collaboration relies on cognitive tools such as analog media and digital peripheral devices, and shows the characteristics of distributed cognition. It is a social and complex activity involving multiple agents communicating and using external cognitive tools to encode, decode, and share information in the process of collaborative task completion. The systems supporting this activity should meet the “principle of least collaboration effort” [4] that proposes that agents in collaboration minimize their effort in presentation and acceptance of information. Yet, current collaboration systems are dispersed mixed media that is often overloaded with representations and functionality, thus preventing seam- less information sharing. Designers are required to spend extra effort collecting information using peripheral devices and in system management when sharing information. The goal of this study is to understand these overheads in infor- mation collection and sharing using peripheral devices, and to provide designers with a supportive platform to enhance collaboration using both analog and digital media. In this paper, we first review available peripheral devices such as smart pens, digital cameras, and voice recorders, as well as existing collaboration sup- porting software systems for their benefits and deficiencies in collaboration. We then present “DiNa”, a collaboration platform that is envisioned to improve pro- ductivity and reduce redundant work by integrating peripheral devices into the collaboration workflow. We demonstrate a possible workflow using this system through several scenarios where designers collaborate in performing a series of design tasks. We hope to bring attention to the importance least collaborative effort in designing systems to support real-world collaboration