Embodied actions in time and place: The cooperative design of a multimedia, educational computer game

Abstract

This paper reports a field study of the design of a multimedia, educational software product, from the early articulations about the kind of product to be made, to the production of the prototype used for capital raising. The designers were members of a small distributed company who used computer systems and communication technology, as well as highly developed communication skills and procedures, to enable them to work together over distance. The focus of the paper is the work people did to create and maintain the cooperative design process within a specific organisational framework and in relation to the design of an actual product. The basic conclusion is that the cooperative design of the product was enabled and achieved by the work the designers did communicating with each other. Any future selection of additional CSCW technology by the company will be determined by its contribution to the communicative resources of the designers.