Tools and Channels of Communication

This paper proposes a methodology to evaluate the effects of computer-mediated communication on collaboratively solving design problems. When setting up a virtual design community, choices must be made between a variety of tools, choices dictated by budget, bandwidth, ability and availability. How do you choose between the tools, which is useful and how will each affect the outcome of the design exchanges you plan? A commonly used method is to analyze the work done and to identify tools which support this type of work. In general, research on the effects of computer-mediation on collaborative work has concentrated mainly on social-psychological factors such as deindividuation and attitude polarization, and used qualitative methods. In contrast, we propose to examine the process of collaboration itself, focusing on separating those component processes which primarily involve individual work from those that involve genuine interaction. Extending the cognitive metaphor of the brain as a computer, we view collaboration in terms of a network process, and examine issues of control, coordination, and delegation to separate sub-processors. Through this methodology we attempt to separate the individual problem-solving component from the larger process of collaboration