Designing an online service for a math community

In the Virtual Math Teams project an online service for groups of people to discuss and collaboratively solve mathematical problems is being developed. The paper takes a qualitative approach to looking at the design-based research process of developing the platform for a synchronous math problem solving environment. We sketch the transition from early experiments with commercially available tools to a series of studies conducted with a research tool finally to the design of a platform which provides the technical basis to a scalable public service. For this design we had to take into account requirements from students, tutors, the service provider as well as researchers from various disciplines. We discuss some design decisions which lead to a platform which addresses the diverse requirements of the various stakeholders. The paper underscores the value of a design-based research process and a self-reflexive process as we develop insights about online math problem solving