Authors:
Frank Spillers, M.S.
Daniel Loewus-Deitch, M.S.
Abstract
The following paper discusses artifact-sharing with an emphasis on temporal, social and cognitive influences in multi-user collaborative task environments. The need to understand the temporal and social attributes of tasks has intensified as information management responsibilities grow. The proliferation of information technology in traditionally low-tech environments has created an opportunity to understand the needs of collaborative users and user interfaces that are temporally distributed. Inquiries into the cognitive and social artifacts of collaborative workflow and subsequent fluctuations or exceptions caused by the task environment are essential to successfully modeling task requirements. Focusing on a key element of collaboration, artifact sharing, we discuss the temporal qualities that reduce error and increase productivity in collaborative task environments.
