Emergent Use-Patterns: Studying the Integration of Groupware in a Networked Organisation

When a networked organisation chooses to invest a considerable amount of esources in deploying a groupware application the reasons and goals can vary. No matter why the groupware was initially deployed it is in general very difficult to monitor and evaluate how it is actually used and integrated with the work practice. This research-in-progress investigates the possibilities of evaluating the integration by characterising emergent use-patterns. We have studied the deployment and use of a generic web based groupware application – Lotus QuickPlace (QP) – in a large networked organisation distributed throughout Scandinavia and elsewhere. We have employed a research method comprising different data-gathering techniques – interview, participant observation, document analysis, survey, and http-log analysis – in an attempt to analyse how the groupware is used and which general use-patterns emerge after deployment. The ongoing research has been carried out since the initial installation of the application in summer 2000, and has identified different types of general use-patterns, which have emerged in the subsequent use of the groupware in the organisation. We examine four cases of QP use and describe the emergent use-pattern in each case. Characterising factors of these four use-patterns are discussed in order to show some preliminary findings of this approach and discuss future research efforts.