Just talk to me
David W. McDonald, Mark Steven Ackerman · 1998
Everyday, people in or-tions mti solve their problm to get their work accomp~dTo do so, they oti must tid others with kowldge and tiormatiom Systems tiat assist users \titi tiding sach qertise are rncreasin~y interesdng to orgtitions and scientic communities.But as we begin to design md co~ct sach systems, it is important to determine ~vhatwe are attempting to augment Accordin@y, \ve condnctd a fi'e-month fidd tidy of a mtium-tied sotiare h We found the participants use compl~% iterative behaviors to ~e the number of possiile eqertise somces, tie at the same time, provide a hi@ possii@ of garnering the nmessary qerdse.We briefly consider the design implications of the identicatiou seldoq and esctition behaviors found during om field etady. Ke~ords Ex~ertise nehvo*knowledge netwo*, compntermtiated comnmnications, qert locators, qertise lom-tio% ex~ertise &ding, tiomtion seeking, Wm, com-pnt~-mpported cooperative work 1NTRODUCTION Wayne is a support rep for a sofivare company.Today, a cfient sent ~ra~me a probl~one he -t seen before.Wa>me spent sevd how @g to diagnose the problem and eventn~y re&d that he codd not solve it done.Now Wayne has another probIa -deciding whom he Iti ask to help h Utiortnnately, this is not simple; Rrayne is not sure of the problem's react cme.k the problem rehted to mer training?Or, is the problem the retit of a recent custo=on by the developers?Wfi Waynend to resortto~asking aromd?Wayne must fid the experdse nded to solve his cfient's problm Hen-to ad the people who are most appropnateto =k and get&&help.. . .