Groupware is any type of software designed for groups and for communication.
This section provides a general overview of groupware, computer-supported cooperative
work (CSCW), and associated design and usability issues.
- Introduction to Groupware
This section provides an introduction to the main ideas in groupware and computer-supported
cooperative work and why it's an important domain of interest in user interface
design.
- Typical Groupware Applications
This section describes some of the main groupware application types, such as
email, workflow, video, chat, and collaborative writing and drawing systems.
We also have a bibliography for video communications systems
that emphasizes papers on usability aspects of videoconferencing systems.
- Groupware Design Issues
This section introduces some of the main issues that designers need to be aware
of: the groupware design process, issues affecting the success of a groupware
system, how people communicate, and how groups form and interact. We discuss
many of the tradeoffs that must be considered.
- Groupware Links
An immense variety of information on Groupware is available through our links
page.
- The Usability First Glossary's groupware category is a
good resource for more information on groupware principles, applications, and widgets.
- If you're just getting started, you might try reading Readings in Computer-Supported
Cooperative Work, edited by Ron Baecker -- while the book is several years
old, the papers provide an appropriate foundation in the field.
- A good professional
organization to know about is the ACM's
SIGGROUP (Special Interest Group on Groupware). The primary
conferences in the area are the CSCW conferences and the ECSCW (European
CSCW) conferences, which take place on alternate years.
|
