APPLYING CSCW TECHNOLOGY TO OVERCOME TRADITIONAL BARRIERS IN GROUP-INTERACTIONS

CSCW systems are designed to improve group communication while allevia ting negative interactions. However, their developers often focus on t he technology, producing highly sophisticated software systems to addr ess problems that may not exist in real-life groups or may not effecti vely address problems encountered by them. As a result of an extensive review of the literature and a large-scale survey of meeting particip ants in a University setting, we believe that we have identified the m ost important problems in group interaction. These are matched with sp ecific features of CSCW technology, as well as with their potential dr awbacks. This problem-solution-drawback arrangement is posited as a po int of departure for a common knowledge base for future CSCW developme nt. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B,V, All rights reserved.