An Experimental Comparison of two Variants
of an Informal Communication Module for
Distributed Workgroups
Birgit Quante, Roland Buß, Lothar Mühlbach, David Przewozny, and Detlef
Runde
Heinrich Hertz Institut (HHI) für Nachrichtentechnik Berlin GmbH
Einsteinufer 37, D- 10587 Berlin, Germany
Phone:+49 30 31002 677, E-mail: quante@hhi.de
Abstract
We developed a module aimed at enabling informal communication for distributed workgroups and examined two variants of that module within the framework of a field trial, in
which three workgroups participated. One variant came with a ‘conventional’ user interface,
enabling (textual) communication similar to common chat systems. With the second variant
users could communicate by means of a virtual environment in which they were represented
by avatars. Information on the users' availability for communication was provided by the
module BINDI (Busy INDIcator). Among other things, it enabled the user to check whether a
potential communication partner was at his or her workplace, was currently talking, or was
using the computer. Data analysis showed, among other things, that information on the
current availability of potential communication partners seems to be crucial for informal
communication in distributed workgroups and that a virtual environment can only be beneficial if it comes with a high degree of usability.
Key words: informal communication, telework, tele co-operation, virtual environments, chat,
availability information, awareness information, workgroups
1.
Introduction and Background
Telework, distributed workgroups and virtual enterprises will be common in the near future.
Formal communication and collaboration within the framework of these working schemes can
be supported by groupware or by conventional telecommunication systems such as telephone,
fax or e-mail. However, the–not less important–informal communication (Kraut, et al., 1990)
is usually not supported to the same extend. The characteristics of informal communication
are that it is spontaneous, coincidental and impromptu. It happens on office floors or in the
course of coffee breaks of a congress. Various studies have shown that informal
communication is crucial for creative workgroups, such as research and technological
development teams (Kraut & Streeter, 1995). This applies not only to the well-being of the
group but also to its efficiency and productivity (Suwita & Mühlbach, 1997).
Considering this, several attempts have been made to develop systems that support informal
communication. Among those are the VideoWindow (Fish, et al., 1992), the Cruiser (Root,
1988), the Polyscope system (Borning & Travers, 1991), the Electronic Agora (Travis, 1995),
the FreeWalk system (Nakanishi, et al., 1996), the Piazza (Isaacs, et al., 1996), and various
1
Besides this virtual environment presentation, VE came with a central page which informed
about who of favourite communication partners ("buddies") was logged in and about links to
additional functions and options of the program. The main part of that page consisted of a
Web page presenting availability and calendar information of all group members.
3.
Field Trial
In order to examine the possibilities and restrictions of the variants Chat and VE and the
usefulness of the availability information provided by BINDI we ran an experimental field
trial. Our main focus was the extent to which such communication systems could support
informal communication between members of a distributed work group in their every day
working life.
3.1
Experimental Versions
Different versions of the two variants were used in the field trial (see Table 1):
Table 1:
overview of the experimental versions
No.
variant
version
availability info
permanent A-Bar
1
Chat
standard
absent, talking, using PC, task
no
2
Chat
A-Bar
absent, talking, using PC, task
yes
3
Chat
reduced
no
no
4
VE
standard
absent, talking
no
5
VE
A-Bar
absent, talking
yes
1. Chat standard: as described above.
2. Chat A-Bar:
as Chat standard with an additional Availability-Bar (see
on the right), which could permanently present the
availability icons (see Figure 1) of all group members.
3. Chat reduced: only the chat software in the narrower sense like common
IRC clients (IRC = Internet Relay Chat), no availability
frame, no permanent Availability-Bar
4. VE standard:
as described above.
5. VE A-Bar:
as VE standard with an additional Availability-Bar.
3.2
Experimental Procedure
Three distributed workgroups participated as test groups. These groups were selected by
criteria such as a considerable need for information exchange and the willingness of at least
one member to practice telework. The participants were asked to use each version for a period
of about four weeks during their everyday work.
4
Table 2 shows the experimental conditions of the field trial.
Table 2: experimental conditions
Stag
e
1
Group A and B
Group C
Baseline interview
2
VE standard
Chat standard
3
Chat standard
VE standard
4
No system for synchronous
communication
5
Chat A-Bar
6
VE A-Bar
7
Chat reduced
8
Final interview
The trial was divided into eight stages. At the beginning, a baseline interview was carried out
in order to get some data on the communication habits and working conditions of the workgroups. Additionally, some data on various other control variables that were assumed to affect
the use of telecommunication systems were gathered. The two variants Chat and VE were
tested in stage 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7, respectively. In order to control sequential test effects, two of
the groups started the test with VE standard, the third group with Chat standard (see Table 2).
A withdrawal phase (stage 4) was included as a reference condition. During that stage the
workgroups had to do without any informal communication software. Stages 5 till 7 were run
with groups A and B only. At stage 8 a final interview was conducted focusing on summarising all the experiences made during the field trial. The whole field trial lasted six months.
Data Collection
At the end of each trial stage, data were gathered by means of a partly standardised
questionnaire for repeated measures on relevant dependent variables such as the usefulness of
the availability information provided by BINDI, the feeling of telepresence, support of informal communication, efficiency, attractiveness, comfort and acceptance. The variables were
measured by means of a 5-point agreement scale. Furthermore, a 7-point Kunin scale was
used to measure overall satisfaction (Kunin, 1955).
Teleworkers were interviewed on individual experiences with the teleworking situation and
the feeling of involvement in group processes while working at home.
The use of the software was measured by logging data on frequency and duration of use, the
whereabouts of the subjects in the virtual world, frequencies of communication acts and
navigation of the avatars.
Test Subjects
23 members from three different research groups at HHI participated in the trial. 4 subjects
practiced telework. The sample was between 28 and 58 years of age, 5 were female, 18 were
male.
5
Besides this virtual environment presentation, VE came with a central page which informed
about who of favourite communication partners ("buddies") was logged in and about links to
additional functions and options of the program. The main part of that page consisted of a
Web page presenting availability and calendar information of all group members.
3.
Field Trial
In order to examine the possibilities and restrictions of the variants Chat and VE and the
usefulness of the availability information provided by BINDI we ran an experimental field
trial. Our main focus was the extent to which such communication systems could support
informal communication between members of a distributed work group in their every day
working life.
3.1
Experimental Versions
Different versions of the two variants were used in the field trial (see Table 1):
Table 1:
overview of the experimental versions
No.
variant
version
availability info
permanent A-Bar
1
Chat
standard
absent, talking, using PC, task
no
2
Chat
A-Bar
absent, talking, using PC, task
yes
3
Chat
reduced
no
no
4
VE
standard
absent, talking
no
5
VE
A-Bar
absent, talking
yes
1. Chat standard: as described above.
2. Chat A-Bar:
as Chat standard with an additional Availability-Bar (see
on the right), which could permanently present the
availability icons (see Figure 1) of all group members.
3. Chat reduced: only the chat software in the narrower sense like common
IRC clients (IRC = Internet Relay Chat), no availability
frame, no permanent Availability-Bar
4. VE standard:
as described above.
5. VE A-Bar:
as VE standard with an additional Availability-Bar.
3.2
Experimental Procedure
Three distributed workgroups participated as test groups. These groups were selected by
criteria such as a considerable need for information exchange and the willingness of at least
one member to practice telework. The participants were asked to use each version for a period
of about four weeks during their everyday work.
4
Table 2 shows the experimental conditions of the field trial.
Table 2: experimental conditions
Stag
e
1
Group A and B
Group C
Baseline interview
2
VE standard
Chat standard
3
Chat standard
VE standard
4
No system for synchronous
communication
5
Chat A-Bar
6
VE A-Bar
7
Chat reduced
8
Final interview
The trial was divided into eight stages. At the beginning, a baseline interview was carried out
in order to get some data on the communication habits and working conditions of the workgroups. Additionally, some data on various other control variables that were assumed to affect
the use of telecommunication systems were gathered. The two variants Chat and VE were
tested in stage 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7, respectively. In order to control sequential test effects, two of
the groups started the test with VE standard, the third group with Chat standard (see Table 2).
A withdrawal phase (stage 4) was included as a reference condition. During that stage the
workgroups had to do without any informal communication software. Stages 5 till 7 were run
with groups A and B only. At stage 8 a final interview was conducted focusing on summarising all the experiences made during the field trial. The whole field trial lasted six months.
Data Collection
At the end of each trial stage, data were gathered by means of a partly standardised
questionnaire for repeated measures on relevant dependent variables such as the usefulness of
the availability information provided by BINDI, the feeling of telepresence, support of informal communication, efficiency, attractiveness, comfort and acceptance. The variables were
measured by means of a 5-point agreement scale. Furthermore, a 7-point Kunin scale was
used to measure overall satisfaction (Kunin, 1955).
Teleworkers were interviewed on individual experiences with the teleworking situation and
the feeling of involvement in group processes while working at home.
The use of the software was measured by logging data on frequency and duration of use, the
whereabouts of the subjects in the virtual world, frequencies of communication acts and
navigation of the avatars.
Test Subjects
23 members from three different research groups at HHI participated in the trial. 4 subjects
practiced telework. The sample was between 28 and 58 years of age, 5 were female, 18 were
male.
5
Group A was the project group that had developed the informal communication module.
Project group C participated only in the first three stages of the trial. Working conditions inside the project changed and the need for such a communication tool decreased that much that
the group decided to quit participating in the trial. The remaining trial stages were run with
project groups A and B, 12 test users in total, 3 of them teleworkers.
Each teleworker was equipped with a multimedia computer and was connected to his/her
colleagues via the Internet over an ISDN line. At the beginning of each new test stage,
subjects got an introduction into the version to be tested next. Technical support was available
at any time.
4
Results and Discussion
Some differences between the groups have to be mentioned, because these group
characteristics influenced the evaluation of the test media: Group A was significantly more
used to the communication style the media required. The two other groups indicated that it
took them a while to get used to text based communication. They felt less comfortable with it
even after half a year of usage. The analysis of the log files revealed a different usage of the
media. Group A used the system as a group communication system: Usually, all group
members were logged in and were potentially accessible. The other groups were never logged
in as a whole. Only two or three group members used the communication system at the same
time. Therefore, they could not experience a ‘virtual group feeling’.
Project group A communicated significantly more often informally within their group in
comparison to the other groups. Accordingly, the need for a synchronous communication
system that supports informal talks was higher in that group. As a general effect one could
observe the following: The more frequently a group used the system, the more likely was a
successful communication, which in turn reinforced positively further usage. The less
frequently a group communicated informally, the less practice could be gained, the more
difficult was it to realise the advantages of such systems, which again let the software turned
out to be more dispensable.
The hypothesis on the superiority of the VE variant could not be verified. This result was
particularly due to the comparatively low usability of the VE software and the difficulties the
subjects had in learning its handling (see Figure 3).
user-friendliness
5
overall satisfaction
group A
group B
group C
4
3
7
group A
6
group B
5
group C
4
3
2
2
1
1
Chat
Chat
ABar
Chat
reduced
VE
VE ABar
Chat
experimental condition
Figure 3: user friendliness
Chat ABar
Chat
reduced
VE
experimental condition
Figure 4: overall satisfaction
6
VE ABar
All in all, VE was rated as being too complicated to use. Basic functions as starting the
system, visiting colleagues in their virtual rooms, navigating in the virtual space, and
controlling the avatars were rated as to be difficult. Subjects indicated that they often had forgotten to update the state of their avatars. Actions an avatar could perform were rated as being
not very helpful and that performing these actions took too much time. This might have led to
the fact, that users concentrated on the pure chat function of the system and omitted the
graphical area. Compared with the amount of effort the usage of the virtual environment
required in a work situation, the advantages of the graphical user interface got lost. One can
conclude that the usability of the VE variant has to be improved in order to make it an
appropriate tool in the context of telework.
The chat variant offered some additional features which could not be performed while using
the VE variant. In Chat users could manually indicate their current task, they could leave a
short note to colleagues who were not online or they could refer to a specific chat contribution
by simply clicking on it. These features were rated very positively. They alleviated cooperation and made it easier to integrate the system into the workflow.
The non-optimal user friendliness of the VE variant and its poor adaptation to the workflow
might have affected the overall satisfaction ratings. Our data revealed that all test groups were
significantly more satisfied with Chat than with the VE variant (see Figure 4). All users could
imagine to keep using Chat at work after the end of the field trial (and two groups actually
have done it). That was not the case with VE.
Nevertheless, data showed that VE could produce a considerable degree of virtual presence.
Although they did not have the feeling, “as if they shared a common room” members of group
A experienced the teleworker as to be comparatively more present when using VE. The
graphical representation of the entire workgroup including the teleworker in a virtual team
room integrated the teleworker visually. This in turn increased the feeling of virtual presence.
The comparison of the two variants VE and Chat showed that the representation of the
availability information by means of icons was easier to interpret than the representation by
means of avatars (see Figure 5). The comparison of the three chat versions showed that the
availability information generated by BINDI was very important. Users could assess the
willingness or unwillingness for a talk to a far better extend in Chat and Chat A-Bar than in
Chat reduced (cf. Section 3.1). This applied also to signalling the own availability for
communication to others (see Figure 6).
availiability for communication is
difficult to estimate
5
group A
group B
group C
5
4
group A
4
3
3
2
2
1
1
Chat
Chat ABar
Chat
reduced
VE
signalisation of availability for
communication
group B
group C
Chat
VE ABar
Chat ABar
Chat
reduced
VE
VE ABar
experimental condition
experimental condition
Figure 5: assessment of availability
Figure 6: signalling availability
7
Although the availability icons facilitated the assessment of a communicator’s readiness for a
talk to a far extent they did not seem to indicate unambiguously whether he or she would feel
disturbed when actually being contacted. However, in face-to-face situations some visual
indicators of a person’s availability to communicate are ambiguous as well. One usually has
to take into account also information on personal and situational factors as well as some
background knowledge.
The three groups agreed with respect to the importance of the availability information
provided by BINDI. Most important was the information ‘presence/absence at his or her
workplace’.
Concerning group cohesion and co-operation, the Chat variant was rated by all groups as to be
a good group communication system. Group A, the group with a higher level of experience,
evaluated also VE as to be a good group communication medium. The analysis of the log files
showed that group A restricted the usage of virtual rooms to the common office room. In
doing so, all group members could be reached easily and a long lasting search for colleagues
in different virtual rooms was not necessary. The comparison of the three chat versions
revealed, that ‘Chat reduced’ could transfer social awareness information significantly less
well. One could monitor the current conversation in the chat window but context information
about the ongoing activities and the working places of the colleagues was missing and made it
more difficult to initiate an informal conversation in comparison to the versions with
availability icons. The VE A-Bar version was evaluated to be significantly better in terms of
“being up to date” of what was going on in the group than VE standard.
Concerning the functions of informal communication, i. e. a quick and spontaneous
information exchange, both variants Chat and VE were evaluated as being useful. However,
both variants were rated as being inadequate for discussing more complex or private issues.
Subjects indicated that they did not use the system to talk about confidential issues or “to let
off steam”. Both variants did not seem to be transparent enough and there was a lack of trust
due to the boundary conditions of use (e.g. other people could glance at the monitor). A telephone call or a face-to-face meeting seemed to be more appropriate for confidential affairs.
With respect to the efficiency of the system, Chat was evaluated as being more tailored to
requirements of informal communication than VE. Chat was judged as being less intrusive
and as demanding less attention and, hence, caused less distraction from work.
Unexpectedly, the VE variant turned out to have only a low degree of attractiveness. An oversupply of graphics, which did often not fulfil the expectations caused by them, resulted in low
ratings in terms of fun and attractiveness. The simple and plain design of the Chat variant (not
leading to unrealisable expectations) made much more fun and did not require such a great
effort.
The users’ feeling of being monitored, which was expected by some social sciences experts as
a result of BINDI’s possibility to indicate users activities, did not turn out to be severe. An
unpleasant feeling caused by the camera installed on top of the monitor was experienced only
to a moderate extend in all three groups.
5
Summary & Outlook
We examined two variants of a communication module–a more conventional chat system and
a virtual environment–aimed at facilitating synchronous informal communication among team
members of distributed workgroups. A central feature of the system was the provision of
availability information which could automatically be detected by the module BINDI. By
8
analysing video images, audio frequencies, and keyboard or mouse activities BINDI allowed
to check whether a potential communication partner was at his or her workplace, was talking,
was using the computer, etc.
At least two versions of each variant were tested within a six-month lasting field trial by three
project groups at HHI. Among other things, the results showed that availability information is
crucial for enabling informal communication and increases the attractiveness of such a
system.
Although receiving comparatively decent ratings in terms of telepresence, many users rated
the virtual environment as an “unnecessary gadget”. Especially controlling the avatars and
updating their status required too much effort in a working situation. Positive features of the
virtual environment, such as initialising a conversation by conveying non-verbal signals, were
overshadowed by usability problems. However, the VE variant was rated a bit more userfriendly by a group that had more experiences with chat systems and virtual environments.
In order to reduce the effort for interacting with a virtual environment we will study in the
future new interaction techniques such as gaze control or gesture recognition for the control of
virtual actors.
More basic research is needed in order to clarify which conditions or circumstances affect a
user’s decision for starting a communication attempt and how relevant information should be
presented to users in order to be most effective. Particularly in the course of the implementation of 2.5-3G mobile technologies it will be investigated how outdoor staff, such as sales
representatives or consultants, benefit from a proper communication management enabled by
awareness information.
Acknowledgement
The work presented in this paper was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economics
and Technology (BMWi) and the Federal State of Berlin. The authors are responsible for the
contents of this paper.
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