Cooperative work across cultural boundaries in

CooperativeworkacrossculturalboundariesinsystemsdesignHildaTellioglu&InaWagnerhilda.tellioglu@tuwien.ac.ataandina.wagner@tuwien.ac.atbViennaUniversityofTechnologyInstituteofDesignandAssessmentofTechnologyAbstractThispaperisconcernedwithheterogeneityandthenotionofboundarieswithinsystemsdesign.Itusescasestudymaterialtoidentifysourcesofheterogeneityandtounder-standhowtheseareorientedtowithinthepracticalitiesofdesignwork.Akeyconceptforanalysingworkpracticesisthenotionofplace.Thepaperanalysesthequalitiesoftheplacesinwhichdesignworktakesplace(regionalisation,neutrality,specificity)andexploresinhowfartheseplacesallowmembershipinmultipleworlds.Keywords:CSCW,workpracticeresearch,boundaries,systemsdesign1.IntroductionBuildingsoftwareisaboutmakinglinkagesbetweenamultiplicityofobjectworlds,prac-tices,andcommitments.Onewayofbringingthesemultipleworldstogetheristhroughsharedtoolsandprocedures,anotherwayisthroughimagery,metaphors,anddescriptionswhichcantranslatebetweendifferentviewsoftheproducttobedeveloped.Itisthenecessityofworkingwithandmakingproductiveuseofheterogeneityandmultiplicitywhichmotivatesouranalysisofworkpracticeinsystemsdevelopment.Withthisweaddressacentralissueofstudiesofcooperativework:Howdopeopleengagedinsystemsdesignaccountformultipleperspectives-ofdesignerswithdifferentknowledges,ofmanagement,ofthemultiplefutureusersoftheirproduct,etc.-whileatthesametimeensuringcooperationacrossboundaries?Ourkeyconceptforanalysingthedynamicsofheterogeneityinsoftwaredevelop-mentteamsisthenotionofplacewhichisincreasinglyusedwithinCSCWresearch(e.g.Fitzpatricketal.1996,Benfordetal.1996,HarrisonandDourish1996).Benfordetal.arguethatspatialapproachestoCSCWhelpunderstandphenomenasuchasthepersistencyofhumancooperationoverlongperiodsoftime,peripheralawareness,navigationandori-entation.Webuildonanintegratedsociologicalandarchitecturalviewonplace(LainerandWagner1998a).Aplaceisaspecificcontextofpeople,(built)environment,history,tools,events,lifestyles,etc.Analysingthecharacteristicsofplaceiscrucialinunderstandingthemultiplevisibleandinvisibleclosuresofinteractionspacesandthedense,complexandmulti-layeredconnectionsbetweenpeoplewhoarenotnecessarilyco-presentinspaceandtime(ClementandWagner1995).Wewillelaboratethisnotionofplaceinouranalysisofcase-studiesofdesignprac-tice.ThecaseshavebeenresearchedintoanddiscussedaspartoftheSoftwareCultures1Project.Allofthemarecasesofsmallsoftwaredevelopmentteams(varyingbetween2and12people).Eachofthemoffersadifferentviewonheterogeneityasafeatureofdesign1.'SoftwareCultures'wasanationallyfundedresearchprojectwithintheCOSTA4framework(fortheFinalReportseeTelliogluandWagner1995).Itcombinedcase-studyworkinAustriansoftwarecompanieswithcross-culturalcomparisons.Thiswasdonethroughaseriesofinternationalworkshopsaswellascross-visitstoRoskildeUniversity,RisøResearchLaboratory,andLancasterUniversity.practice.Ourowncase-studyworkhasbeenanalysedinapreviouspaperwithafocusonissuesofcooperativework(TelliogluandWagner1999),and,morespecifically,onconfig-urationmanagementasapracticeandtool(TelliogluandWagner1997).Inthispaperwewillwidenourframeworkforacooperativecaseanalysis,includingfieldworkdonebyourpartnerswithintheSoftwareCulturesframework.Thecasesdiffermarkedlywithrespecttotime,sizeandprofileofthedevelopmentteam,andtask.Alsomethodsofdatacollectionvariedconsiderably.FortheDocumentCase(1986-1993)wechosetoreconstructsomeofthecrucialphasesofthedesignworkthroughin-depthinterviewswithsomeofthekeyparticipantsand,inaddition,analysedprojectdocumentssuchastheteam'spaper-basedreportsandmemoranda.OneoftheprojectsdescribedaspartoftheTVCasewaswellenoughboundedintimeandcomplexitytomakeacombinationofparticipantobservationwithin-depthinterviewing(in1994,overthecourseofseveralmonths)possible.RegardingtheDanishRadioCase(Kensingetal.1998)andtheFossElectricCase(Carstensenetal.1995,CarstensenandSørensen1995)wenotonlyrelyonin-depthdiscussionsaswellasinterviewswiththeirresearchersbuthadtheopportunityofdoingsomeadditionalfieldwork.TheDispatchCase(ClementandHalonen1998)waspresentedanddiscussedinoneoftheSoftwareCulturesworkshops.Ouranalysisisstructuredasfollows:•Section2developsatheoreticalframeworkforstudyingheterogeneity,basedonthenotionofplaceandboundaries;•Section3presentsthecase-studymaterial,discussingthemanagingofheterogeneitywithinsoftwaredevelopmentteams;•Section4discussesdifferentaspectsofheterogeneityindesignwork,substantiatesournotionofboundarymanagementandlooksathowthisisreflectedinplace;•Section5drawssomeconclusionsregardingtheneedforboundariesindesignworkandpracticesofboundarymanagement.2.LookingatDesignSpacesandBoundariesTalkingaboutspaceandplacerequiresaninterdisciplinaryapproach.Somesociologicalworkhasexplicitlylookedatbuilding(s)asadomainofknowledgeinsofarasitembodiesaspatialorderingofcategoriesandadomainofcontrolinsofarasitinvolvesanorderingofboundaries(Prior1990,p.92).Fromthisworkweconcludethatheterogeneityisreflectedinandsupportedbythespatialorganisationofwork.Bucciarelli'sstudiesofengineeringdesign(1988)comeclosesttoaspatial