Assignment 8: Michael Triche

For one of my group projects in Info 230 we have to create a website for a client. For this project we have been meeting in the HCI lab and using a collaboration site called wideaperature.com/collaboration. We used the white board at the lab to draw things out and we used wideapreature.com/collaboration to transfer documents between one another. We also used it so one individual could update a document while we all conversed on certain topics and read changes that needed to be made.
In this case we used two sets shared displays which are single displays by using the collaboration website and the white board to do work that was necessary. By using the white board more than one person was able to add to and make changes of the content on the white board. An issue was the items on the white board could not be saved thus after being written on the white board someone had to copy the items. Another issue was the limited amount of space on the white board. Using the white board lead to much overhead with having to write then copy down and copy down information before we erase to make more room for more data.
By being collocated we had an easier time collaborating than some of the groups illustrated in the readings. We were forced to use the white board when we were not able to quickly and efficiently write out items using the collaboration system at the same time. The white board allowed us to display our thoughts and have each person erase or add as was needed. Since we were in the same physical space, coordination issues were not as tough as not being in the same space. Privacy issues also occurred with the use of the white board since everything on the board was public. Whatever was explained or noted on the board as stated on page 8 of Flashlight Jigsaw whatever is shared the group members have to be prepared to share with whoever walks into the lab.
Other collaboration experiences that were well supported included not having a single view of one page through the system but being able to have a single display within the technology. When there was a need to read documents we each could read them through the system. We could also exchange documents through the system while being able to let each other know through speech which document was being uploaded when. Other experiences that worked well as noted in “Flashlight Jigsaw”, people are allowed to “initiate, join or leave at any time”. The system encourages cohesiveness by posting names of who did what in the system. Coordination issues of public and private information was not a problem within our group since whatever needed to be private was on your computer, then what needed to be made private was put online.
I would improve the experience by inputing a system in which each person could edit a piece of a document at one time where the changes would be real time using the tool much like google docs and how we used the whiteboard. I would intertwine those to pieces together. In order to minimize cost in our case it is the opposite of what Stacey Scott states on page two where she mentions “improved technology is needed to support interaction with digital media during collaboration”, this is improved interaction with physical displays.