CSCW challenges in large-scale technical projects

CSCWchallengesinlarge-scaletechnicalprojects-acasestudy∗KajGrønbæk,MortenKyng,PrebenMogensenComputerScienceDepartment,AarhusUniversity,NyMunkegade116,DK8000AarhusC,[e-mail],[e-mail],[e-mail][phone].August1992AbstractThispaperinvestigatesCSCWaspectsoflarge-scaletechnicalpro-jectsbasedonacasestudyofaspecificDanishengineeringcompanyanduncoverschallengestoCSCWapplicationsinthissetting.Thecompanyisresponsibleformanagementandsupervisionofoneoftheworldslargesttunnel/bridgeconstructionprojects.OurprimaryaimistodeterminerequirementsonCSCWastheyunfoldinthisconcretesettingasopposedtosurveyandlaboratoryinvestigations.There-quirementsprovidefeedbacktoproductdevelopmentbothonspecificfunctionalityandasalongtermvisionforCSCWinsuchsettings.Theinitialqualitativeanalysisidentifiedanumberofbottlenecksindailywork,wheresupportforcooperationisneeded.Examplesofbottlenecksare:sharingmaterials,issuingtasks,andkeepingtrackoftaskstatus.Groundedintheanalysis,cooperativedesignworkshopsbasedonscenariosoffutureworksituationswereestablishedtoinves-tigatethepotentialofdifferentCSCWtechnologiesinthissetting.In∗ToappearintheproceedingsofCSCW-92,December,1992.1theworkshops,mock-upsandprototypeswereusedtosupportend-usersinassessingCSCWtechnologiesbasedonconcrete,hands-onex-periences.Theworkshopsuncoveredseveralchallenges.First,supportforsharingmaterialswouldrequireahugebodyofdiversematerialstobeintegrated,forexampleintoahypermedianetwork.Second,dailyworktasksareeventdrivenandplanschangetoorapidlyforpeopletoregisterthemonacomputer.Finally,tasksarecloselycoupledtomaterialsbeingprofessedthusacoordinationtoolshouldintegratefacilitiesformanagingmaterials.KeywordsCooperativedesign,hypermedia,coordination,evaluation,casestudy.1IntroductionSincethefirstCSCWworkshopin1984interestintheareahasgrownrapidly,yetsuccessfulproductsarerelativelyfew.Grudin[11]pointtoexplanationssuchas:thosewhodotheworkdon’tgetthebenefit;anddifficultiesinevaluatingCSCWapplications.Fromourperspectiveofcooperativedesignonecouldadd:insufficientinvolvementofend-users.Cooperativedesign,asdevelopedinScandinaviaoverthelastdecades,stressestheimportanceofcreativeparticipationofpotentialend-usersindesignprocessesingen-eral[4,10,5].Kyng[16]arguesthatforCSCWapplicationstheproblemscreatedbylackofuserinvolvementareparticularlysevere.Thispaperde-scribesanattempttotakeasteptowardsgreateruserparticipationinthedesignofCSCWapplications.Suchparticipationrequirestechniquesthatenableend-userstounderstandthepossibilitiesforcomputersupportandtoenvisionworkwithaproposedsystem.Traditionalrequirementspecifica-tionsarenotsuitedforthispurposesincemostusersarenotabletobridgethegapbetweendrydescriptionsandtheirprofessionalknowledgeandskills.Insteadweapplytoolsandtechniquesdevelopedspecificallyforcooperativedesign.Theseincludecooperativedesignworkshopswithend-users,wherefutureworksituationsareenvisionedbysimulationofpossiblecomputersup-portusingmock-upsandprototypesthusallowingend-userstogethands-on2experiences.However,thefocusofthispaperisondevelopingCSCWre-quirementsinaconcretesettingusingcooperativetechniques,notonthetechniquesthemselves.Wereferreadersinterestedincooperativedesigntothepaperslistedabove.Theworkdescribedinthispaperispartofamultinational,ECEspritIIproject,EuroCoOp,developingsystemssupportingdistributedcollaborativework.TheprimarygoaloftheanalysispresentedanddiscussedhereistoprovidefeedbacktoproductdevelopmentintheEuroCoOpproject,bothonspecificfunctionalityandasalongtermvisionforCSCWinsuchsettings.Asecondarygoalistofunctionasfacilitatorfortheongoingdevelopmentoftheuserorganizationinquestion.Thepaperincludesexcerptsfromaprojectreport[13],anditisorganizedasfollows.Section2describesthecasebeingstudied.Section3discussesbottlenecksindailywork,particularlywithrespecttocooperationintheuserorganization.Section4discusseschallengesinovercomingtheidentifiedbottlenecks.Section5concludesthepaper.2Thecase:Alarge-scaletechnicalprojectThedomainconsideredislarge-scaletechnicalprojectmanagement,inourcase,theGreatBeltbridge/tunnelproject.Thebridge/tunneloverTheGreatBeltconsistsofarailwaytunnelandaroadwaybridgefromHalsskov,ZealandtoSprogø(8km)andacombinedbridgefromSprogøtoKnudshoved,Funen-theWestBridge(7km).ThecompanyhasofficesinCopenhagen,Halsskov,KnudshovedandSprogø.Whenthedecisiontobuildabridge/tunnelwasagreedupon,GreatBeltLinkLtd.(GBL)wasestablished.Earlyworkcentredaroundcreatingtheorganizationandproducingthematerialfortheinvitationoftenders.LaterGBLmanagedtheselectionofcontractorsandformationofcontracts.InthethirdphaseGBLissupervisingtheconstructionactivities.Inthisphasetheorganizationhaschangedagainbyestablishingsite-offices.Whenthebudgesandtunnelarecompletedinthelate‘90’s,theorganizationwillberesponsibleforoperationandmaintenance.32.1SupervisionInthissectionwefocusonGBL’ssupervisionoftheconstuctionoftheWestBridge.ThemajorpartofthisworkisdonebytheGBLsite-officeinKnud-shoved(Figure1).TheconsructionoftheWestBridgeisdonebyanin-tenationalconsortium.Theconstructionisspecifiedinthousandsofp