What is coordination theory and how can it help design cooperative work systems?

TLDR

Cooperative work tools can be designed intuitively, yet historical evidence shows that solid theories have greatly aided technology development, and many disciplines have addressed coordination, though a unified theory is still lacking. The paper seeks to position coordination theory as a promising framework for designing computer-supported cooperative work tools and to explore its interdisciplinary potential. The authors describe coordination theory as an interdisciplinary perspective, outline its relevance to cooperative work, and propose tentative definitions and component analyses to extend the framework. They find that similar coordination phenomena arise across the diverse disciplines cited, indicating a common underlying structure.

Abstract

It is possible to design cooperative work tools based only on “common sense” and good intuitions. But the history of technology is replete with examples of good theories greatly aiding the development of useful technology. Where, then, might we look for theories to help us design computer-supported cooperative work tools? In this paper, we will describe one possible perspective—the interdisciplinary study of coordination—that focuses, in part, on how people work together now and how they might do so differently with new information technologies.In one sense, there is little that is new about the study of coordination. Many different disciplines—including computer science, sociology, political science, management science, systems theory, economics, linguistics, and psychology—have all dealt, in one way or another, with fundamental questions about coordination. Furthermore, several previous writers have suggested that theories about coordination are likely to be important for designing cooperative work tools (e.g., [Holt88], [Wino86]).We hope to suggest here, however, that the potential for fruitful interdisciplinary connections concerning coordination is much greater than has as yet been widely appreciated. For instance, we believe that fundamentally similar coordination phenomena arise—unrecognized as such—in many of the fields listed above. Though a single coherent body of theory about coordination does not yet exist, many different disciplines could both contribute to and benefit from more general theories of coordination. Of particular interest to researchers in the field of computer-supported cooperative work is the prospect of drawing on a much richer body of existing and future work in these fields than has previously been suggested.In this paper, we will first describe what we mean by “coordination theory” and give examples of how previous research on computer-supported cooperative work can be interpreted from this perspective. We will then suggest one way of developing this perspective further by proposing tentative definitions of coordination and analyzing its components in more detail.