Toward a model of distributed engineering collaboration

The objective of this research is to examine the variables that influence distributed collaboration groups engaged in engineering tasks. The literature has attempted to explain the design process from the individual perspective; however, it is limited in defining the key attributes of collaborative design groups. In addition, most of the work to date in the co-operative work environment has focused on developing exploratory systems and then testing these systems within some determined environment. Three comprehensive areas that the literature has treated as independent entities were investigated across face-to-face, video, and audio communication mediums. These include task characteristics (complexity, intellectual process phase), collaborative technology (communication medium, collaborative props), and group/individual development (task cohesion, cognitive resources, vocabulary schema). Results indicate that there were no differences between face-to-face and video groups in the development of vocabulary schema. Audio groups were found to be significantly different that the face-to-face control groups. Audio group conversational prop usage was found to significantly decrease over time across the design sessions and within the visualization phase. As well, the level of richness used by the audio groups was significantly lower than the face-to-face and video groups. The hypothesized relationship between task cohesion and vocabulary schema was not supported. The primary implication of these results is that engineering groups participating in design and manufacturing projects should communicate either in a face-to-face or video forum to ensure the design process is not altered from what is standard practice. The results of this study have implications for: (1) distributed engineering design; (2) matching the communication medium to the task for engineering tasks; and (3) collaborative tool design