Design and Analysis of a Mega-Collaborative Interface Indiana University, Indianapolis, in M.S
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE EFFECT OF SHARED DYNAMIC UNDERSTANDING ON WILLINGNESS TO CONTRIBUTE INFORMATION: DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A MEGA-COLLABORATIVE INTERFACE Christine Mae Newlon Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Informatics and Computing Indiana University August 2016 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ________________________________________ Davide P. Bolchini, Ph.D., Chair ________________________________________ Anthony Faiola, Ph.D., M.F.A. Doctoral Committee ________________________________________ Anna M. McDaniel, Ph.D. May 6, 2016 ________________________________________ Karl F. MacDorman, PhD ii © 2016 Christine Mae Newlon iii DEDICATION To my husband, who has supported my efforts with great patience. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my research committee members, Davide Bolchini, Anthony Faiola, Karl MacDorman, and Anna McDaniel for guiding and encouraging my research. I would also like to thank Mark Pfaff, Gert-Jan de Vreede, Himalaya Patel, Paul Scerri, Brian Dixon, Afarin Pirzadeh, and the North Meadow Circle of Friends for their support. v Christine Mae Newlon THE EFFECT OF SHARED DYNAMIC UNDERSTANDING ON WILLINGNESS TO CONTRIBUTE INFORMATION: DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A MEGA- COLLABORATIVE INTERFACE Collaborative helping via social networking conversation threads can pose serious challenges in emergency situations. Interfaces that support complex group interaction and sense-making can help. This research applies human-computer interaction (HCI), computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW), and collaboration engineering in developing an interactive design, the Mega-Collaboration Tool (MCT). The goal is to reduce the cognitive load of a group’s growing mental model, thus increasing the general public’s ability to organize spontaneous collaborative helping. The specific aims of this research include understanding the dynamics of mental model negotiation and determining whether MCT can assist the group’s sense-making ability without increasing net cognitive load. The proposed HCI theory is that interfaces supporting collaborative cognition motivate contribution and reduce information bias, thus increasing the information shared. These research questions are addressed: 1. Does MCT support better collaborative cognition? 2. Does increasing the size of the shared data repository increase the amount of information shared? 3. Does this happen because group members experience 1) a greater sense of strategic commitment to the knowledge structure, 2) increased intrinsic motivation to contribute, and 3) reduced resistance to sharing information? These questions were affirmed to varying degrees, giving insight into the collaborative process. Greater content did not motive group members directly; instead, half of their motivation came from awareness of their contribution’s relevance. Greater content and organization improved this awareness, and also encouraged sharing through increased enthusiasm and reduced bias. Increased commitment was a result of this process, rather than a cause. Also, MCT increased collaborative cognition but was significantly hampered by Internet performance. This challenge indicates MCT’s system vi components should be redesigned to allow asynchronous interaction. These results should contribute to the development of MCT, other collaboration engineering applications, and HCI and information science theory. Davide P. Bolchini, Ph.D., Chair vii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................... xii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................xiv CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................1 The Phenomenon of Mega-Collaboration .....................................................................1 The Importance of Supporting Mega-Collaboration......................................................2 Potential Benefits of Collaborative Helping ..............................................................2 Potential Problems of Collaborative Helping ............................................................3 What We Need to Learn about Supporting Mega-Collaboration ...................................5 Understanding the Dynamics of Large-Scale Collaboration ......................................5 Designing More Supportive Interfaces ......................................................................8 Summation of the Issues and How this Research Addresses Them ............................. 10 Expected Contribution of this Research .................................................................. 11 Overview of Methodology and Findings ................................................................. 12 Organization of this Document ............................................................................... 13 CHAPTER TWO: BACKGROUND.............................................................................. 14 Related Research ........................................................................................................ 14 The Issues Surrounding Mega-Collaboration .......................................................... 14 Mega-Collaboration Dynamics ............................................................................... 20 Mega-Collaboration Interfaces................................................................................ 33 Current Understanding ............................................................................................... 44 The Mega-Collaboration Tool ................................................................................ 44 Implications for the Building of Better Tools .......................................................... 48 Summary of What Is Still Unknown About Support for Collaborative Cognition .... 50 Research Questions .................................................................................................... 53 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ....................................................................... 55 Overview of Research Study Aims and Experimental Design ..................................... 55 The Study’s Major Aims ........................................................................................ 55 Experimental Design .............................................................................................. 57 Participants ................................................................................................................ 59 IRB Human Subject Clearance ............................................................................... 59 viii Recruitment and Sample Size ................................................................................. 59 Procedures and Interventions...................................................................................... 62 Materials and Instruments .......................................................................................... 62 1. Pre-Test Questionnaire .................................................................................... 63 2. Test Scenario Details ....................................................................................... 63 3. Simulated Information Supplied to Each Individual ......................................... 64 4. Test Interfaces ................................................................................................. 66 5. Artifacts Generated by the Collaborative Process............................................. 69 6. Interruptive Questionnaire for Shared Information ........................................... 70 7. Interruptive Questionnaire for Unshared Information ....................................... 70 8. Post-Test Quiz ................................................................................................. 71 9. Post-Test Questionnaire ................................................................................... 72 Methods of Analysis .................................................................................................. 74 Variables Collected ................................................................................................ 74 Treatment of Missing Values .................................................................................. 81 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS ...................................................................................... 83 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 83 Specific Findings ....................................................................................................... 83 First Aim – Determine the Efficacy of the Collaboration Support Interface............. 83 Second Aim – Theory of Collaborative Information Sharing .................................. 95 Third Aim – Characteristics of the Three Intervening Factors ............................... 102 Fourth Aim – Characteristics of the Emergent Data Structure ............................... 107 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION ................................................................................ 113 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 113