Assignment #8 - Austin Lin (akl29)

In my Software Engineering course we use Google Docs to write lengthy progress reports in a collocated group of seven. One student’s laptop was used to project onto a wall, while there were subgroups of two students sharing one laptop. In a sense there were two shared displays, the laptop screens which were shared among subgroups and the projected laptop which was shared amongst the entire group. The quasi-shared nature of Google Docs added another dimension to the system. Google Docs is a good collaborative technology because it supports “interpersonal interaction” and “simultaneous user actions.” It is easy to have a large number of users edit one document simultaneously given that they can coordinate tasks and avoid editing the same areas.

The shared display was used to make document wide edits or bring up sections for group discussion. In Cao, et al. it is stated that “the communication was mainly verbal, but also included body language [] and gestures” This was true when discussing items over the large screen; however a few times, another subgroup just went ahead and made the required updates in the Google Doc instead of waiting for the projected laptop subgroup to make edits. Thus the idea of a private vs. public space was blurred and in some cases it was seemed as if other users who made edits on the shared display were violating the private space of the laptop that was being projected. In the sense of Cao, et al. sometimes when using the larger shared display the subgroup were spectators “whose communication with players included directions and suggestions, commenting on the players’ performance”; however anyone could join into editing and become a player with no invitation.

One of the requirements for a collocated collaborative technology according to Scott, et al. is “support transitions between personal and group work”. Subgroups frequently experienced disruptions that occur when changing attention from a subgroup’s designated task and the group discussion of an item. This could be improved by including a sidebar with a docket/to-do of discussion items. Due to the subgroups with private displays there was little awareness as to who was editing which part of the document. Oftentimes we would receive errors from the document due to too many people editing the same area. This could be improved by maybe having a colored background that shows recent edits to track users that gradually fade over time.