Cutting into collaboration: Understanding coordination in distributed and interdisciplinary medical research

Saeko Nomura*, Jeremy Birnholtz, Oya Rieger, Gilly Leshed, Deborah Trumbull, Geri Gay

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Coordinating goals, schedules, and tasks among collaborators is difficult, and made even more so when there are disciplinary, geographic and institutional boundaries that must be spanned. Designing CSCW tools to support coordination in these settings, however, requires an improved under-standing of the constraints and conflicts that impede effective collaboration. We present findings from a study of distributed collaborations between academic surgeons and biomedical engineering researchers. These two groups differ significantly in their work priorities and institutional contexts, but are nonetheless able to work together and co-ordinate effectively. They accomplish this via human mediation, frequent ad hoc communication, and optimizing the use of their limited face-to-face interaction opportunities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationCSCW 08 - Conference Proceedings, 2008 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work
Pages427-436
Number of pages10
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008
Event2008 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, CSCW 08 - San Diego, CA, United States
Duration: Nov 8 2008Nov 12 2008

Publication series

NameProceedings of the ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, CSCW

Other

Other2008 ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work, CSCW 08
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CitySan Diego, CA
Period11/8/0811/12/08

Keywords

  • Coordination issues
  • Design implication
  • Distributed and interdisciplinary research teams
  • Ethnography

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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