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Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing (2019) 10:4789–4818
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12652-018-1165-9
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Descriptive theory ofawareness forgroupware development
CésarA.Collazos1· FranciscoL.Gutiérrez2· JesúsGallardo3 · ManuelOrtega4· HabibM.Fardoun5·
AnaIsabelMolina4
Received: 23 November 2017 / Accepted: 6 December 2018 / Published online: 14 December 2018
© Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract
People working in a cooperative manner need to be updated on events and informed about other users and their activities
in their workspaces in order to collaborate effectively. It is necessary that group members feel they are part of the group,
in particular when they are geographically dispersed. This kind of information is called awareness and it is an important
research aspect in the computer supported cooperative work and computer supported collaborative learning areas. Sup-
porting awareness has important, if subtle, benefits, such as increasing the effectiveness of collaborative work, fostering
social relationships, and improving the general wellbeing of individuals. To create and define awareness mechanisms in
collaborative environments supported by computers is a complex process that includes several steps that need to be con-
sidered, focused on understanding characteristics of interdependent group work with the objective of designing adequate
computer-based technology to support cooperative work processes. However, in the literature it is so difficult to find out
a structured method that allow designers to develop collaborative applications centered on awareness aspects. This paper
proposes the definition of a framework that could assist groupware engineers to incorporate awareness mechanisms in their
developments. This framework has a methodological proposal or set of phases to follow, as well as a taxonomy that includes
the awareness information that should be incorporated to improve the collaborative experience. The paper presents a review
of several awareness mechanisms, frameworks and uses proposed in the literature from a software engineering perspective,
focusing on the aspects to be considered when designing and implementing awareness mechanisms in groupware tools. A
descriptive theory of awareness for the purpose of supporting groupware development is thus generated. Finally, a case study
is described using the framework proposed.
Keywords Awareness support· CSCW· Groupware· Taxonomy· CSCL
1 Introduction
Computer-supported cooperative work or CSCW is com-
puter-assisted coordinated activity carried out by groups
of collaborating individuals (Baecker etal. 1995). CSCW
is the area of research in which the impact of technology
on group interaction is studied in order to facilitate group
work (Ellis etal. 1991). Groupware is distinguished from
normal software by the basic assumption it makes: Group-
ware makes the user aware that he is part of a group, while
most other software seeks to hide and protect users from
each other (Lynch etal. 1990). Group members interact with
each other either through the manipulation of artifacts or
through direct communication channels (Tee etal. 2009). It
is clear that group members need to remain updated on the
state and changes of the virtual shared-space and the actions
other group members are carrying out in order to interact
* Jesús Gallardo
jesus.gallardo@unizar.es
1 Departamento de Sistemas, Universidad del Cauca, Popayán,
Colombia
2 Departamento de Lenguajes y Sistemas Informáticos,
Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
3 Departamento de Informática e Ingeniería de Sistemas,
E.U. Politécnica de Teruel, Universidad de Zaragoza, Ciudad
Escolar, s/n, 44003Teruel, Spain
4 Departamento de Tecnologías y Sistemas de Información,
Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, CiudadReal, Spain
5 King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, SaudiArabia
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