Hypermedia Use in Group Work: Changing the Product, Process, and Strategy

Abstract

Hypermedia structures have beenintegrated with CSCW functionality to develop theDOLPHIN system, an electronic meeting roomenvironment. In this paper, a study is reportedinvestigating how the DOLPHIN environment affectsgroup work. Different aspects of group problem solvingwere examined to understand the effects of workingwith hypermedia: the group's product, cognitivefactors, and the group process. The results showedthat groups can easily work with hypermediastructures, and that these structures influence groupsto produce a different product, to use a differentstrategy, and to use a different collaborative style,namely of dividing up their labor. The experimentalresults are explained in a model which suggests theinvolvement of both procedural and semantic componentsin hypermedia use. We discuss wider implications ofhypermedia for CSCW and group work.