Designing Rooms for Virtual, Informal Communication: Reciprocal Awareness as a Central Criterion
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Authors
Author (Corporation)
Publication date
01/2017
Typ of student thesis
Course of study
Type
04B - Conference paper
Editors
Schlick, Christopher Marc
Duckwitz, Sönke
Flemisch, Frank
Frenz, Martin
Kuz, Sinem
Mertens, Alexander
Mütze-Niewöhner, Susanne
Editor (Corporation)
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Parent work
Advances in Ergonomic Design of Systems, Products and Processes : Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of GfA 2016
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DOI of the original publication
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Series
Series number
Volume
Issue / Number
Pages / Duration
191-208
Patent number
Publisher / Publishing institution
Springer
Place of publication / Event location
Berlin
Edition
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Abstract
The trend towards decentralized collaboration in companies leads to challenges for informal communication because spatial proximity is missing. This is a problem since informal communication is considered to be key for successful collaboration. Telepresence systems, which connect distant places, are potential solutions. However, little is known about which conditions are beneficial and which ones detrimental to informal communication. In this qualitative study, conditions which further informal communication, were examined in different virtual café settings. A method was developed which combined participatory design with a qualitative experiment. In the Usability Lab of the University of Arts and Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), 19 people (N 19) tried out various virtual café settings, analyzed requirements for optimization and subsequently tested them. At the same time, 20 group interviews were conducted and analyzed according to the principles of heuristic-detecting social research. Three subcategories which influence each other were identified as key results (awareness, privacy and control). These three subcategories need to be balanced when a virtual café (room and technology) is designed. Furthermore, encouraging (reciprocal) awareness could also be a possible solution.
Keywords
Digitization, Informal communication, Participatory design, Qualitative experiment, Reciprocal awareness, Decentralized communication, Decentralized cooperation, Virtual communication, Computer-mediated communication, Digitalisierung, Virtuelle Kommunikation, Informelle Kommunikation
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Language
English
Created during FHNW affiliation
Yes
Strategic action fields FHNW
Publication status
Published
Review
Peer review of the complete publication
Open access category
License
Citation
Flepp, C. (2017). Designing Rooms for Virtual, Informal Communication: Reciprocal Awareness as a Central Criterion. In C. M. Schlick, S. Duckwitz, F. Flemisch, M. Frenz, S. Kuz, A. Mertens, & S. Mütze-Niewöhner (Eds.), Advances in Ergonomic Design of Systems, Products and Processes : Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of GfA 2016 (pp. 191–208). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53305-5_14