Alberto L. Morán

Distributed pair programming on the Web

Pair programming is an extreme programming practice, where two programmers working sided by side on a single computer produce a software artifact. This technique has demonstrated to produce higher quality code in less time it would take an individual programmer. We present the COPPER system, a synchronous source code editor that allows two distributed software engineers to write a program using pair programming. COPPER implements characteristics of groupware systems such as communication mechanism, collaboration awareness, concurrency control, and a radar view of the documents, among others. It also incorporates a document presence module, which extends the functionality of instant messaging systems to allow users to register documents from a Web server and interact with them in a similar fashion as they do with a colleague. We report results from a preliminary evaluation of COPPER which provide evidence that the system could successfully support distributed pair programming.

Document presence notification services for collaborative writing

Instant messaging applications that convey presence awareness are quickly becoming some of the most popular groupware applications. They support lightweight and intermittent interactions that allow users to quickly move between a personal and a collective space, thus blurring the traditional distinction between synchronous and asynchronous systems. Often, however, the focus of collaboration is not another person, but a shared resource that is being produced in collaboration. Thus, rather than being interested in the presence and status of a collaborator, our main interest might be whether a given document is now available for one to read or review, or if such resource has changed since it was last visited. In this paper we describe Doc2U, a system that provides presence awareness of resources stored in the Web. We describe use scenarios that motivated its development and its current implementation as an extended service of a Web server. The tool forms part of the services currently being developed to support collaborative authoring on the WWW under the PINAS platform.

Supporting informal co-located collaboration in hospital work

Informal interactions, an important subject of study in CSCW, are an essential resource in hospital work; they are used as a means to collaborate and to coordinate the way in which the work is performed, as well as to locate and gather the artifacts and human resources necessary for patient care, among others. Results from an observational study of work in a public hospital show that a significant amount of informal interactions happen face to face due to opportunistic encounters. That is due to hospital work being mainly characterized by intense mobility, task fragmentation, collaboration and coordination. This encouraged us to develop an architecture and system tool aimed at supporting mobile co-located collaboration. Based on the findings of our study, this paper presents a set of design insights for developing collaborative applications that support co-located interactions in hospital work, as well as the implementation of these design insights in a collaborative tool. Additionally, we generalized the characteristic that must be fulfilled by tools that support mobile informal co-located collaboration through the design of a generic architecture that includes the characteristics of this type of tools.

Understanding and Supporting Lightweight Communication in Hospital Work

Informal communication is an essential resource in hospital work; it is used as a means to collaborate and coordinate the way in which work is performed, as well as to locate and gather the artifacts and human resources required for patient care. The need of physical proximity to establish and hold informal communications has motivated the development of tools that support remote informal interaction. However, this kind of technology has not been widely adopted in hospitals, where workers experience intense mobility. In this paper, we present the results of an observational study in a hospital aimed at understanding how local mobility changes the rules in the provision of support for informal communication, and how technology could improve this form of communication. We found that local mobility fosters opportunities for colocated communication; however, it faces some inconveniences related to the affordances of the physical environment. We address these issues through the design of SOLAR, a collaborative application that supports colocated interactions in hospital work through the implementation and integration of five services that form a ubicomp infrastructure. Additionally, we present a discussion about the perception of users related to the usefulness of this tool.

Towards a reference architecture for the design of mobile shared workspaces

Software design is a complex and expensive socio-technical process, for which reuse is an increasingly important concern. This article presents an abstract structure capturing the essence of a mobile shared workspace (MSW), and how a particular MSW can be obtained by instantiating such a structure. It is intended to assist designers of mobile groupware tools to conceive new products reusing design knowledge proved successful in previous solutions. The article also illustrates how the abstract structure can be instantiated to obtain MSWs that support construction inspection activities, hospital work and urban emergency responses. This abstract structure can be evolved in order to make it a reference architecture for mobile shared workspaces.

What Information Would You Like to Know about Your Co-worker? A Case Study

The lack of face-to-face interaction in Distributed Software Development (DSD) projects is a great obstacle for informal communication, which is the way in which we normally discover more about the co-workers along with building trust. Since we are attempting to reinforce the team spirit and improve trust between co-workers, we have analyzed what information software engineers consider to be important to know about their virtual colleagues. In this paper we describe the preliminary results obtained from this study and outline the features of a tool, called Trusting Social Network, with which to support DSD and help stakeholders to know each other better.

Before Getting There: Potential and Actual Collaboration

In this paper we introduce the concepts of Actual and Potential Collaboration Spaces. The former applies to the space where collaborative activities are performed, while the second relates to the initial space where opportunities for collaboration are identified and an initial interaction is established. We present a characterization for Potential Collaboration Spaces featuring awareness elements for the potential of collaboration and mechanisms to gather and present them, as well as mechanisms to establish an initial interaction and associated GUI elements. We argue that by making this distinction explicit, and characterizing Potential Collaboration Spaces, designers of groupware can better identify the technical requirements of their systems and thus provide solutions that more appropriately address their users concerns. We illustrate this concept with the design of an application that supports Potential Collaboration Spaces for the PINAS web-based coauthoring middleware.

CAMMInA: a mobile ambient information system to motivate elders to exercise

Several strategies have been identified for designing effective persuasive technology that encourages people to adopt healthy lifestyle habits. However, to implement these strategies for motivating elders to exercise, we need to take into account the elders’ particular characteristics, their needs, and the problems they face to exercise. This paper presents the results of a case study conducted to identify the factors that influence elders to maintain a regular exercise routine. These results enabled us to inform the design of an ambient information system, which by requiring minimal attention and cognitive effort from elders, makes them aware of relevant information that motivates them to exercise. To reach this end, the system implements the following strategies for persuading: abstraction, historical information and reflection, triggers for exercising, and positive and playful reinforcement. A system usability evaluation enabled us to validate these strategies for motivating elders.

Supporting informal interaction in a hospital through impromptu social networking

Social networking systems allow users to keep in touch with relatives and friends in the absence of physical proximity. These tools are also increasingly supporting productive interactions in diverse working environments. In this paper, based on the understanding of informal communication in hospitals, we identify opportunities for the use of social networking software in support of hospital work. This has inspired the design of meetU, a tool aimed at supporting impromptu social networking through an ad-hoc communication infrastructure. The services offered by the system are illustrated through interaction scenarios, which were also used to evaluate the system with a group of medical interns.

Collaborative Working Spheres as support for starting collaboration in distributed software development

One important tendency in software development has been the globalization of its industry. Software developers are frequently required to work in groups which are distributed throughout multiple geographic locations. People and processes (e.g. software design) are consequently distributed. Providing the support that will allow distributed software developers to collaborate at a convenient moment, is therefore extremely complicated both for the person making contact and the person being contacted. We therefore propose a characterization and a model of Collaborative Working Spheres (CWS) through which to understand the management of activities in distributed software development (DSD). Our work first aims to characterize DSD activities mainly through a survey of literature. We then describe a projected scenario to illustrate how DSD activities can be supported by technology and finally we propose a characterization of CWS through which to represent how DSD workers can collaborate at a moment which is suitable for all involved participants.