People in organizations exchange information with each -- they communicate
for different purposes:  social, learning, managing tasks, accomplishing work.

We now have a new factor to consider:  the introduction of electronic 
networks that support additional communication channels, the ability 
to exchange work and social information via those channels, and 
the increasing prevalence of distributed work groups.

I have studied various aspects of electronic communication within 
organizations from different perspectives:  the use of these tools 
to explicitly teach people, the ways in which people use these 
tools to learn by themselves, the design of better tools, improved 
processes for designing tools, and the ways in which people innovate
both with and as a result of electronic communication systems.

What do I mean by an electronic communication system?  It includes a 
variety of artifacts -- email, netnews, telephone, FAX, etc.  Not 
all integrated -- but they could be.


Based on observation and field studies, I have written a series of 
essays on different topics.


Make a claim and justify it:

Large ones:

The set of communication channels available to individuals within
large organizations make up a co-adaptive system.  First, what is it?
Second, is this true?  (What consistutes evidence?) Third, what 
are the implications?

If it is a co-adaptive system, what are the characteristics?
Claim that users will be better able to adapt and modify if they 
can choose the characteristics of the communication system.  
(e.g. choose voice, without choosing a phone).

To enhance the learning side of a co-adaptive system:

Users change, needs change, relationship to information changes.
So how do we help them learn what they need to know about the 
system?  Identify the influences on how people learn about a 
system -- then come up with a model that talks about how to 
deliver information when they need it.  What causes people to 
"freeze" and go into "survival mode" with a new piece of software
or a new gadget (how many people really use their vcr's? answering 
machines?)

The communication cube makes features more explicit.  Make the system
models more explicit -- communication cube features available.

What are the costs/benefits of trying something or using new features
or new tools to facilitate use?

To enhance the innovation side of a co-adaptive system:

How do we predict when people will innovate?  (feedback, major external
change, change in user model, )

Inhibitors to co-adaptive systems:

Extremely rigid tools or procedures.  People who are "in a rut".
Like people in like jobs that don't change.

========

Context:  the value of information changes over time, based on the 
user's previous actions with respect to it, and changes in the 
environment, and changes in needs.  Thus information management 
tools for "personal" information have different requirements from 
those designed for general purpose retrieval (e.g. bibliographic 
search).

Feedback:  user's assumptions about their own behavior do not 
match their behavior.  Providing feedback should increase the 
user's ability to optimize work and may provide insights into 
new methods of managing work.

Cost/benefit:  using coordination tools involves certain costs as 
well as benefits.  Like eating a cookie now vs being thin later, 
short term costs often outweigh long-term benefits.  Managing 
the cost threshold is critical to making things work.

co-adaptive:  

information access:

integrated communication:

Balance of control:  senders and receivers of messages have different
costs/benefits, which affects the use of communication channel.

semi-structure:  a method of sharing the trade-off between flexibility
and structure.  Can be extended to temporal and other "fuzzy lines".

Diversity:  individuals use the same tool in very different ways, 
especially when they can choose among different tools and the tools 
themselves are very flexible.  

innovations:  users use email for more than just passing messages.
(time management, coordinating work, accomplishing work, archiving 
technical information)

learning:  works best when user understands some of the underlying 
structure and information is presented in context.

