Tasks-in-interaction
Paul Luff, Christian Heath, David Greatbatch · 1992
Drawing on field studies of three, real world, organisational environments, namely an architectural practice, a medical centre and the Control Rooms on London LJnderground, this paper explores the ways in which personnel use paper and screen based documentation to support synchronous and asynchronous collaborative activity.It discusses how collaboration involves a complex configuration of coparticipation by personnel in a range of activities, ranging from seemingly individual tasks to mutually focussed, real time cooperation.By addressing the ways in which personnel manage collaboration and interactionally organise a range of activities, we discuss the ways in which paper and screen based media provide rather distinctive support for cooperation.These observations form the basis for some suggestions concerning requirements for CSCW systems.