Email, communication and more: How software engineers use and reflect upon email at the workplace

Abstract

This thesis presents an empirical study into the use of email within a software engineering en-vironment. It aims at filling a gap in the research area of professional email use, looking at specialists within a technology driven industry that is central to the phenomenon of email and electronic communication. An interpretative qualitative methodology allows an investigation into how software engineers use and relate to email in their everyday work. Sixteen software engineers currently engaged in industrial practice constitute the sample for this thesis and pro-vide their subjective views on the topic. Beyond the communicative function, email helps software engineers with personal infor-mation management, such as filtering, archiving and retrieving important information. Moreo-ver, social behaviour when using email, including response expectation and email etiquette, appears to be of significance. Asynchrony, the compression of time and space, and email as a distraction at work, amongst others, were vital considerations for software engineers’ percep-tion when using email at work. The findings indicate that the email behaviour of software en-gineers mostly resembles behaviour found in other professions, with some subtle differences. The study provides a starting point into the use of email within a specific profession and con-cludes with several further research suggestions such as different methodological approaches into the same profession as well as comparative studies into other professions.