Volker Wulf

End-User Development: An Emerging Paradigm

We think that over the next few years, the goal of interactive systems and services will evolve from just making systems easy to use (even though that goal has not yet been completely achieved) to making systems that are easy to develop by end users. By now, most people have become familiar with the basic functionality and interfaces of computers, but they are not able to manage any programming language. Therefore, they cannot develop new applications or modify current ones according to their needs. In order to address such challenges it is necessary a new paradigm, based on a multidisciplinary approach involving several types of expertise, such as software engineering, human-computer inter- action, CSCW, which are now rather fragmented and with little interaction. The resulting methods and tools can provide results useful across many application domains, such as ERP, multi-device services (accessible through both mobile and stationary devices), and professional applications.

IT to support knowledge sharing in communities, towards a social capital analysis

Ignoring the informal, non-canonical nature of knowledge sharing, including peoples motivation, ability and opportunity to share knowledge, is one of the key causes of resistance to use knowledge-sharing tools. In order to improve knowledge sharing supported by information technology (IT), tools need to be embedded in the social networks of which it is part. This has implications for our knowledge on the design requirements of such socially embedded IT. The paper reviews tools that are designed for the purpose to foster social capital. We will then discuss what is needed for an IS design theory related to knowledge communities and how such a theory could incorporate social capital theory.

Communities and Technologies

The book contains 24 research articles related to the emerging research field of Communities and Technologies (C&T). The papers treat subjects such as online communities, communities of practice, Community support systems, Digital Cities, regional communities and the internet, knowledge sharing and communities, civil communities, communities and education and social capital. As a result of a very quality-oriented review process, the work reflects the best of current research and practice in the field of C&T.

Towards an integrated organization and technology development

Nowadays organizations are seen as self-organizing social systems. To cope with dynamics of a continuously changing environment they have to be able to react flexibly. To support organizational change we will work out the concept of integrated organization and technology development. This approach offers a framework to deal with organizational and technological change jointly in an evolutionary and participative way. We will investigate on methods to organization development, work psychological guide-lines, approaches to software development and tailoring in use. Based on these results we will develop an integrated approach to organization and technology development.

Component-based technologies for end-user development

Component-based software development (CBSD) involves multiple roles. Framework builders create the infrastructure for components to interact; developers identify suitable domains and develop new components for them; application assemblers select domain-specific components and assemble them into applications; and end users employ component-based applications to perform daily tasks [7].

Sports over a Distance

Sport is a domain full of movement-based interactions. These interactions typically have positive health effects as well as an impact on social bonding. We have investigated ways in which computer augmented devices can lead to new sport experiences and explored opportunities to combine physical activities with remote social bonding. Three prototypes have been implemented which showcase movement-based interaction in sports. “Breakout for Two” allows geographically distant users to play a physically exhausting ball game together. “FlyGuy” gives users a hang-glide experience controllable through body movement. “Push’N’Pull” uses isometric exercise equipment over a network to encourage users to complete a cooperative game whilst performing intense muscular actions. A comparison of these applications shows that such movement-based interaction in a networked environment allows players in different locations to achieve a work out and also to socialize. Based on these projects, we conclude with practical design implications for future Exertion Interfaces.

How to make software softer—designing tailorable applications

The design of tailorable systems is an important issue for fields of application which are characterized by differentiation and dynamics. We show how tailorability can be combined with approaches of evolutionary and participative software-engineering and discuss some conceptual problems arising from this approach. Moreover, we present two case studies on how to design tailorable functionality in a groupware development project.

Engaging with practices: design case studies as a research framework in CSCW

Information and communications technology (ICT) pervades most aspects of our lives and changes everydays practices in work and leisure time. When designing innovative ICTs, we need to engage with given practices, institutional arrangements, and technological infrastructures. We describe the research framework used at the University of Siegen. It is based on a collection of design case studies in particular fields of practice and identifies cross-cutting issues to compare and aggregate insights between these cases. To illustrate this framework, we describe our research activities and discuss three themes which became important in different design case studies.

A groupware's life

The paper describes a long-term study of a groupware application which covers the complete lifecycle from the groupwares introduction to its removal. During that time our field of application offered the opportunity to gain deep insights into personal, organizational and technical aspects of the groupwares usage. We focus on the late phases of a groupwares life, i.e. on the new aspect of groupware removal and the resulting requirements for groupware platforms. Additionally we contribute to the current discussion on organizational change processes which are initiated by the introduction of groupware.

A new dimension in access control: studying maintenance engineering across organizational boundaries

Inter-organizational cooperation has specific requirements for access control. The paper presents the results from a field study which looks at the cooperation between two engineering offices and a steel mill. Based on these findings we have developed new mechanisms for access control in groupware. These mechanisms allow to restrict operations on shared data while or even after they take place. The new access mechanisms can be decomposed and implemented into a component-based framework. We show how this framework can be extended to realize additional mechanisms for access control with little efforts.