A one-day workshop on workspace models for collaboration

12th April 1999


Hosted by The Department of Computer Science,
Queen Mary & Westfield College,
University of London

Supported by a grant from the 
Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council

Changing Places is one of a week of events in London and Glasgowof interest to the human factors research community, 10-16 April, 1999.See the British HCI Groups's Users First page.


 

Contents

Workshop Aims

The aim of this workshop is to gather experience of designing, using and evaluating models of workspaces for collaboration -- in particular, the ability of these models to support users' differing and changing needs.The workshop will consist of talks by and discussion with invited speakers, and debate and discussion about the issues raised.

Several models exist of network 'places' -- electronic workspaces for collaborating and socially interacting groups of users. These include Web-based models such as BSCW, purpose-built 2D places such as Mushroom, Orbit and TeamWave, and 3D places such as MASSIVE and Sony'scommunity places.

These systems are platforms for cooperative working and social interaction: they aim to support a variety of user groups, collaborative tasks and activities, and shared artefacts. The workshop will raise and discuss some key questions on the theme of adapting workspaces to suit different needs. To what extent is such a generic platform possible --are collaborations so specific in their requirements, that no singleframework could support more than a few of them? Can the platform support adaptation to changing requirements as collaborations evolve? If we can produce such an adaptable platform, what fundamental properties should it have, and what should be its model of configuration and evolution?
 

Workshop Topics

The following list gives an outline of topics on the theme of adaptable workspace models, and is not
intended to be exhaustive: 
  • Surveys, characterisations and critical appraisal of existing workspace models, including their modes of adaptation and configuration for different groups and tasks 
  • Requirements studies: task requirements, group requirements (social, cultural etc.) 
  • Identifying design features and dimensions e.g. navigation models, consistency & integrity, awareness, etc. 
  • Relationships to theories of work-group dynamics and social theories 
  • Case studies and evaluations 
  • User interface design

Programme

The programme is here. Please note that this is subject to change.

Attendance and registration

Registration is between 09:00 and 09:30 on the day of the workshop in the area outside room PP1, with the programme commencing at 09:30.

The workshop will be limited to 50 attendees. Those wishing to attend should read the registration details, which include a form required for registration. 
 

Programme Committee

 
George Coulouris Department of Computer Science, Queen Mary & Westfield College
Alan Dix School of Computing, Staffordshire University
Paul Dourish Xerox Palo Alto Research Centre
Geraldine Fitzpatrick Distributed Systems Technology Centre, TheUniversity of Queensland
Tim Kindberg Department of Computer Science, Queen Mary & Westfield College

Important Dates

Position papers due 29th January 1999 -- Note revised deadline
Notification of acceptance 11th February 1999
Registration deadline 26 March 1999
Workshop 12 April 1999

Location

The workshop will be held in room PP1 which is in the People's Palace on Mile End Road, London (note that the entrance is from the driveway leading up to the neighbouring Queen's building, not from Mile End Road). The map shows the People's Palace highlighted in orange within the QMW campus. The department of computer science provides directions to the QMW campus.

The departmental office will handle calls to attendees on the day of the workshop. Their number is 0171 975 5200.

For more information

Contact Tim Kindberg: timk@dcs.qmw.ac.uk.
The Mushroom Project.

This workshop is being supported by a grant from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council.