A contextual model of turns for group work

Abstract

The Contextual-Graphs formalism has been conceived to represent task realizations in the way they are actually performed. The objective is to provide decision makers with a clear panorama of the different ways a task can be realized (i.e. practices), and the implications of choosing one way or another. The Contextual-Graphs formalism has been successfully used in many fields, such as medicine, biology, and transports, for representing task realizations involving a single actor. In this paper we explore the representation of a group task by analyzing the paper-submission example, from which a turns mechanism is proposed as a way to adapt the Contextual-Graphs formalism to support this type of tasks. Moreover, the types of interaction among actors involved in group task realizations are studied in detail based on a set of definitions introduced in this paper. We claim that the real understanding of group task realizations will not just help decision makers, but will also provide groupware designer with real requirements for building successful applications.