Designing for Local Mobility

Abstract

This thesis investigates the characteristics of local mobility from a CSCW perspective using ethnographically informed workplace studies and presents a framework for designing IT support. In this thesis local mobility is defined as a work related situation where workers move within a specified physical area while performing their tasks. The research is presented in an introductory chapter and four research papers. The overall research question is: what are the characteristics of local mobility and how can we design IT support for it? The main contributions are a set of characteristics of local mobility and a framework for design composed of a set of design dimensions. The identified characteristics are co-ordination (managing interdependent tasks), exceptions management (handling situations not covered by co-ordination tools), problem solving (the need to solve work related problems) and information sharing (sharing information perceived as relevant for others). The design dimensions are relevance (how important a task is in relation to the overall work performed), dependence (whether a task is carried out autonomously or collaboratively) and reach (the type of interaction workers engage in to accomplish a task, either local between co-located persons or remote when interacting with off-site persons).