Groupware design and implementation

Abstract

I have designed and implemented an application for collaborative work and socializing for the design group at the Institute for Informatics (IFI) at the University of Oslo (UIO) and this thesis will present the results of my particular design and the accompanying design process. The thesis was written to find out how to improve collaboration and socialization with design group by undertaking a groupware development project. The process followed software engineering procedures, and my approach was user oriented, favoring user collaboration and progress measured in features produced. The users work patterns and the environment was studied and technologies were researched to see how the project could be solved. Existing groupware solutions were also considered. An initial prototype was implemented and evaluated, but did not catch the interest of the users, even though the group wanted the project to happen and was enthusiastic about it. After developing another prototype evolving the features of the first one into features that were usable, more work was put into user-developer interaction analysis. The design process did not go as expected, with the users reluctant to commit to the project and provide necessary feedback. This behavior common as many software projects do fail. The thesis then explores the reasons why this behavior occur and I argue concrete actions that must take place with the design group to create a creative working environment for the people there and future students. Initiatives to increase user awareness and group identity along with a systematic approach to support software engineering are recommended.