Internet-based GROupware for User Participation in product ...

Internet-based GROupware for User Participation in product development A CSCW'98/PDC'98 Workshop Report Monica Divitini, Babak A. Farshchian (University of Trondheim, Norway), Tuomo Tuikka (University of Oulu, Finland) Introduction The workshop on Internet-based GROupware for User Participation in product development (IGROUP) was held on November 14, 1998, in conjunction with the conferences CSCW'98 and PDC'98 in Seattle, WA, USA. The workshop focused on the adoption of Internetbased groupware for promoting user participation in collaborative development of both software and nonsoftware products. User participation is one essential way to gain increased product quality in a development process. This is true for all types of products, and becomes particularly important for products characterized by a high level of complexity and interactivity, such as multimedia software systems and advanced telecommunication devices. User participation has traditionally been dependent on the organizational structures and communication channels in companies. Inhouse development has the longest tradition in user participation due to the physical proximity of end-users and developers. With the emergence of groupware technology, geographical and cultural barriers can be overcome to some degree, thus opening for closer cooperation among end-users and developers. Groupware has the potential to create a virtual collaboration space where different stakeholders can meet, discuss, and coordinate the development activities. In the area of groupware, we particularly see the importance of Internet-based groupware as suited for user involvement since Internet provides a connecting infrastructure that is available by most of the customers/users. Internet-based communication systems with limited groupware functionality are already used by many developers as a medium for the development and distribution of products. With this workshop we started an investigation on the potentialities of Internet based groupware in this area, providing a forum for gaining better understanding of user participation in the product development process through the Internet, as well as of the support that can be provided through groupware systems.

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SIGGROUP Bulletin April 1999/Vol 20, No.1

The workshop gathered participants from both academia and industry and it allow discussing different aspects of user involvement from different perspectives. The papers presented at the workshop report on different applications of technology, as well as on direct experiences using groupware for user involvement. Different topics have been discussed at the workshop venue, such as issues related to user and developer feedback, requirement elicitation and organizational factors. Our final discussion was around the requirements for an ideal infrastructure for facilitating user involvement, identifying difficulties and some initial requirements. During this one-day workshop we have not managed or even intended to address all the problems in this area, but we have started a process that needs to be followed up. The workshop has made us aware of some problem areas, and has also convinced us that the topic is of importance to many researchers and practitioners. We hope to be able to continue the work in future and thank all the participants for a fruitful workshop.

Workshop Participants Jakob Bardram (IBM, Denmark), Gerome Canals (INRIA, France), Tom Fukushima (SMART Technologies Inc., Canada), Hazem Hamoudia (HEINZ NIXDORF INSTITUT, Germany), Matthew Holloway (Healtheon, USA), Vidar Heps~ (Stat Oil, Norway), Daniela Herlea (Univ. of Calgary, Canada), David M. Hilbert (Univ. of California, Irvine, USA), Kristin Mauseth (StatOil, Norway), David R. Millen (AT&T labs, USA), Pascal Molli (University Henri Poincar6, Nancy 1, France), David F. Redmiles, (Univ. of California, Irvine, USA), Jeffrey D. Smith (NTT Lab.,

USA).