The Problem with 'Awareness': Introductory Remarks on 'Awareness in CSCW'
Citation: Kjeld Schmidt (2002/09) The Problem with 'Awareness': Introductory Remarks on 'Awareness in CSCW'. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) (RSS)
DOI (original publisher): 10.1023/A:1021272909573
Semantic Scholar (metadata): 10.1023/A:1021272909573
Sci-Hub (fulltext): 10.1023/A:1021272909573
Internet Archive Scholar (search for fulltext): The Problem with 'Awareness': Introductory Remarks on 'Awareness in CSCW'
Download: http://link.springer.com/10.1023/A:1021272909573
Tagged: Computer Science
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Summary
This article is the introduction to a special issue of the CSCW journal. The article describes in high-level terms the articles which follows, and then proceeds to problematize what we mean by awareness in the first place. Awareness as a concept in the context of CSCW came from the observation that when people work together, they do more than exchange artifacts or information, they also maintain some tacit sense of where others are and what they are doing, in order to coordinate actions, adjust their own actions, prevent problems, and so on. This coordination work is necessary for smooth execution of tasks, but difficult to characterize in ways that allow for the same capability to be supported in software. Schmidt observes that part of the challenge is the multiple ways in which the term awareness is used, sometimes with adjectives attached, signifying anything from knowledge ("cancer awareness") to mutual monitoring to direct exchange of instant messages. Schmidt also observes that the object of awareness ("awareness of what?", p. 288) is often not specified, but should be, in order to render the phrase meaningful. He suggests that the key issue for CSCW is to examine what our informal notion of awareness really is, and how it's accomplished -- how "displaying and monitoring" of work status, progress, actions, etc. come to be "subtly attuned"(p. 291). He closes with suggested areas for further research, each unpacking what we mean by awareness and how it is accomplished.
Theoretical and Practical Relevance
Schmidt's work is useful in that he inspects and problematizes a key concept in CSCW work. Designers taking account of how their work supports collaboration, or researchers seeking to characterize task-oriented interactions, are likely to find his expansion on the concept illuminating.
