May 10, 2012 @ 14:30, Room: 16AB
Chair: Eric Gilbert, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
The Impact of Communication Structure on New Product Development Outcomes - Paper
Contribution & Benefit: Our study found that hierarchical communication patterns improve delivery performance but hinder quality outcomes in new product development projects. On the other hand, small-world communication structures exhibited opposite effects.
Abstract » New product development teams face important challenges to their performance due to the novelty of the work and the need to rapidly develop shared knowledge and goals. However, little is known about the relationship between the structural properties of communication and performance in these teams. This study examined the effect of communication structure, specifically hierarchical and small-world structures on the delivery performance and quality outcomes of a large-scale new product development project. Our longitudinal analyses revealed that structuring communication patterns in a hierarchical manner significantly improves delivery performance. However, hierarchical communication has a detrimental effect on quality while small-world communication structures improved the quality outcomes of development teams. We discuss the implications of these results for collaborative tools that support communication tradeoffs
ACMOne of the Gang: Supporting In-group Behavior for Embodied Mediated Communication - Paper
Contribution & Benefit: Presents the results from an experiment, which examines how verbal and visual framing affect collaboration using mobile remote presence systems. Can inform the design of embodied remote collaboration systems.
Abstract » As an emerging technology that enables geographically distributed work teams, mobile remote presence (MRP) systems present new opportunities for supporting effective team building and collaboration. MRP systems are physically embodied mobile videoconferencing systems that remote co-workers control. These systems allow remote users, pilots, to actively initiate conversations and to navigate throughout the local environment. To investigate ways of encouraging team-like behavior among local and remote co-workers, we conducted a 2 (visual framing: decoration vs. no decoration) x 2 (verbal framing: interdependent vs. independent performance scoring) between-participants study (n=40). We hypothesized that verbally framing the situation as interdependent and visually framing the MRP system to create a sense of self-extension would enhance group cohesion between the local and the pilot. We found that the interdependent framing was successful in producing more in-group oriented behaviors and, contrary to our predictions, visual framing of the MRP system weakened team cohesion.
ACMCross-Cutting Faultlines of Location and Shared Identity in the Intergroup Cooperation of Partially Distributed Groups - Paper
Contribution & Benefit: Presents results of a study examining the influence of location and shared identity in distributed work.
Abstract » This paper reports the results of a study comparing the relative influence of location and shared identity in partially distributed work. Using an experimental task called Shape Factory, groups of eight participants were configured such that in the baseline �strangers� condition only the location-based faultline was present while in the experimental �intergroup� condition, participants from two different shared identity groups engaged in distributed collaboration, creating an additional, cross-cutting faultline. The results showed that participants in the intergroup condition, with both location-based and shared identity faultlines, performed at a higher level than participants in the strangers condition, with only the location-based faultline. In the intergroup condition, the performance effects of location and shared identity were roughly equal and did not affect each other differentially in combination.
ACMTime Travel Proxy: Using Lightweight Video Recordings to Create Asynchronous, Interactive Meetings - Paper
Contribution & Benefit: Time Travel Proxy enables interactive, asynchronous meetings through recorded videos. A field study in actual usage reflects on the design concepts and identifies opportunities for future refinement.
Abstract » Time Travel Proxy (TTP) enables participating in meetings that you cannot attend in real time, either because of time conflicts or global time zone differences. TTP uses lightweight video recordings to pre-record your contributions to a meeting, which are played on a tablet that serves as a proxy for you during the meeting. Reactions and responses in the meeting are also captured in video to give you feedback of what happened at the meeting. A working prototype of TTP was deployed and studied within four developer teams in their daily stand-up meetings. The study found that the affordances of video helped integrate the time traveler into the social context of the meeting, although the current prototype was better at enabling the time traveler to contribute to the meeting than it was in conveying the meeting experience back to the time traveler.
ACM