Designing Collaborative Systems: A Practical Guide to Ethnography (Computer Supported Cooperative Work) [Paperback]

Andy Crabtree (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1852337184 | ISBN-13: 978-1852337186 | Publication Date: May 12, 2003 | Edition: 1st Edition.

An invaluable introduction to the new ‘ethnographic’ approach to designing effective and user friendly collaborative and interactive systems. Here, designers are shown how to analyse the social circumstances in which a particular system will be used. Consisting of four sections the book covers: the requirements problem; how to describe and analyse cooperative work; the design process; and how to evaluate systems supporting cooperative work. Practical examples are provided throughout, based on the development case of a collaborative library database system.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From the reviews: "The text is emminently readable.  Crabtree is able to synthesize and reflect upon material from a number of areas ... with great clarity of argument.  This makes such complex and diverse subject matter approachable for all types of audiences from the social science to computer science, from research to academia.  The requirements problem discussions in Chapter1 provide a most coherent and convincing argument about the problems associated with both traditional requirements gathering techniques and more cognitively focused HCI approaches for socially situated software.  This should be compulsory reading for all students of HCI/CSCW/software requirements." Geraldine Fitzpatrick, University of Sussex - The Computer Journal, Vol 47, No 3, 2004 Fieldwork methods and sociological analysis have become increasingly relevant for designing interactive systems, but how to bring fieldwork, analysis and design together is still mysterious. Crabtree provides a unique insider's perspective and demonstrates the applicability of ethnomethodological analysis throughout the process of design. As well as providing valuable lessons to practitioners, his book will also contribute significantly to ongoing debates about the role, contribution, and practicalities of these methods. Paul Dourish, University of California, Irvine, USA "Of the various perspectives that jostle together under the rubric of ethnography, ethnomethodology has often held the most appeal for designers. Yet, surprisingly, there has not been a systematic explication of ethnography and ethnomethodology for the purposes of system design. Andy Crabtree puts this to rights in a comprehensive, informative, and accessible practical guide which will be of great value to not only designers but also the ethnographers who work with them." (Graham Button, Lab. Director, Xerox Research Centre, Europe) "Not only is the book a must for those interested in bringing a social dimension to the system design process, it also makes a significant contribution to ethnomethodology." (Professor John A. Hughes, Lancaster University, UK) "This book makes a significant contribution, reflecting the work of ethnography itself, in accounting for the practical work of understanding and design in a coherent and accessible manner. This book could be read equally by ethnographers as a book about applied ethnomethodologically informed ethnography, and by designers or developers as a book about how to apply an understanding of the ‘real world, real time character of work’ … ." (Geraldine Fitzpatrick, The Computer Journal, Vol. 47 (3), 2004) "Andy Crabtree’s is a slim, quiet, slightly academic book that somehow manages to bring the airy theoretical concepts to life, and to recommend simple and practical ways of using the ideas … . Crabtree has produced a fine pioneering essay which sketches, on the basis of a mountainous literature, how in principle ethnography could migrate from the research lab of a university to the research and development lab of a large software or systems corporation." (Ian Alexander, Requirenautics Quarterly, July, 2003)

Product Details

• Paperback: 189 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1st Edition. edition (May 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852337184
• ISBN-13: 978-1852337186
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,157,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars it's a philosophical review of methodology and design practice, January 22, 2009

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MSJ (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Designing Collaborative Systems: A Practical Guide to Ethnography (Computer Supported Cooperative Work) (Paperback)

I was looking for theory and insight into issues concerning how collaborative systems operate and how to design them. This book begins with a long discourse on the good and mostly bad of current and prior methods of observing collaboration in situ. I found the critique of "cognitive science" to mostly apply to early "cognitive psychology" methods. Cognitive science, in my professional view, is much more in line with what the author advocates, i.e. situated cognition.

The book then goes on to discuss methods of collaboratively designing a system. What I missed was theory concerning collaboration, per se. I got the impress that Crabtree believes that theory is misleading and elides over critical details. I disagree. I think concepts like discourse grounding and transactive memory can guide designers to better solutions - and I was looking for more of that. It's not here.

So be sure you want what this book offers.

That said, it's well written, and the critique is interesting and useful.