Helping CSCW applications succeed: the role of mediators in the context of use

  • Authors:
  • Kazuo Okamura;Wanda J. Orlikowski;Masayo Fujimoto;JoAnne Yates

  • Affiliations:
  • Information Systems Research Laboratory, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., 1006 Kadoma Osaka 571 Japan;Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 50 Memorial Drive (E53-545), Cambridge, MA;The Sumitomo Research Institute, Inc., 27-2 Shinkawa 2-chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104, Japan;Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 50 Memorial Drive (E53-545), Cambridge, MA

  • Venue:
  • CSCW '94 Proceedings of the 1994 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work
  • Year:
  • 1994

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Abstract

This study found that the use of a computer conferencing system in an R&D lab was significantly shaped by a set of intervening actors—mediators—who actively guided and manipulated the technology and its use over time. These mediators adapted the technology to its initial context and shaped user interaction with it; over time, they continued to modify the technology and influence use patterns to respond to changing circumstances. We argue that well-managed mediation may be a useful mechanism for shaping technologies to evolving contexts of use, and that it extends our understanding of the powerful role that intervenors can play in helping CSCW applications succeed.