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EEE RRR A A A PPP AAA RRR TTT JJJuuudddiiittthhh SSS... OOOlllsssooonnn GGGaaarrryyy MMM... OOOlllsssooonnn AAAbbbooouuuttt S SSYYYNNNTTTHHHEEESSSIIIsss TTThhhisiis sv vvooolulluummmeee i siis sa aa p pprrirniinntetteeddd v vveeersrrsisoiioonnn o oof ffa aa w wwooorkrrkk t htthhaaat tta aappppppeeeaaarsrrs si niinn t htthheee S SSyyynnnthtthheeesisssiiss DDDigiiggitiiattaal llL LLibiibbrrraaarrryyy o oof ffE EEnnnggginiinneeeeeerrriniinnggg a aannnddd C CCooommmpppuuutetteerrr S SScicceiieennnceccee. .. S SSyyynnnthtthheeessissiis sL LLeeeccctuttuurerreesss MMM ppprorroovvvidiiddeee c ccooonnncccisiiessee, ,,o oorirrgiigginiinnaaal llp pprerreesesseennntattaatittoiioonnns sso oof ffi miimmpppooortrrattaannnt ttr erreesesseeaaarcrrcchhh a aannnddd d ddeeevvveeelolloopppmmmeeennnttt ooo rrr tottoopppiciiccs,ss ,,p ppuuubbblillsiihsshheeeddd q qquuuiciicckkklyll,yy ,,i niinn d ddigiiggitiiattaal lla aannnddd p pprirrniinnt ttf offoormrrmmaaatstt.ss ..F FFooor rrm mmooorerree i niinnfoffoormrrmmaaatittoiioonnn ggg aaa vvvisiisistii ttw wwwwwwww.m..mmooorrgrggaaannnccclallaayyypppooooool.llc..ccooommm nnn SSSYYYNNNTTTHHHEEESSSIIISSS LLLEEECCCTTTUUURRREEESSS OOONNN &&& IIISSSBBBNNN::: 999777888---111---666000888444555---000555000---333 CCC MMMOOORRRGGGAAANNN & && CCCLLLAAAYYYPPPOOOOOOLLL PPPUUUBBBLLLIIISSSHHHEEERRRSSS 999000000000000 lll HHHUUUMMMAAANNN---CCCEEENNNTTTEEERRREEEDDD I IINNNFFFOOORRRMMMAAATTTIIICCCSSS aaa yyy ppp wwwwwwwww...mmmooorrrgggaaannnccclllaaayyypppoooooolll...cccooommm ooo 999777888111666000888444555000555000333 ooo lll JJJooohhhnnn M MM. ..C CCaaarrrrrrooollll,ll ,,S SSeeerrriieieesss E EEdddiitittooorrr Working Together Apart: Collaboration over the Internet iii Synthesis Lectures on Human-Centered Infomatics Editor John M. Carroll, Penn State University Human-Centered Informatics (HCI) is the intersection of the cultural, the social, the cognitive, and the aesthetic with computing and information technology. It encompasses a huge range of issues, theories, technologies, designs, tools, environments and human experiences in knowledge work, recreation and leisure activity, teaching and learning, and the potpourri of everyday life. The series will publish state-of-the-art syntheses, case studies, and tutorials in key areas. It will share the focus of leading international conferences in HCI. Working Together Apart: Collaboration over the Internet Judith S. Olson and Gary M. Olson 2013 Surface Computing and Collaborative Analysis Work Judith Brown, Jeff Wilson, Stevenson Gossage, Chris Hack, Robert Biddle 2013 How We Cope with Digital Technology Phil Turner 2013 Translating Euclid: Designing a Human-Centered Mathematics Gerry Stahl 2013 Adaptive Interaction: A Utility Maximization Approach to Understanding Human Interaction with Technology Stephen J. Payne and Andrew Howes 2013 Making Claims: Knowledge Design, Capture, and Sharing in HCI D. Scott McCrickard 2012 iv HCI Theory: Classical, Modern, and Contemporary Yvonne Rogers 2012 Activity Theory in HCI: Fundamentals and Reflections Victor Kaptelinin and Bonnie Nardi 2012 Conceptual Models: Core to Good Design Jeff Johnson and Austin Henderson 2011 Geographical Design: Spatial Cognition and Geographical Information Science Stephen C. Hirtle 2011 User-Centered Agile Methods Hugh Beyer 2010 Experience-Centered Design: Designers, Users, and Communities in Dialogue PeterWright and John McCarthy 2010 Experience Design: Technology for All the Right Reasons Marc Hassenzahl 2010 Designing and Evaluating Usable Technology in Industrial Research: Three Case Studies Clare-Marie Karat and John Karat 2010 Interacting with Information Ann Blandford and Simon Attfield 2010 Designing for User Engagement: Aesthetic and Attractive User Interfaces Alistair Sutcliffe 2009 Context-Aware Mobile Computing: Affordances of Space, Social Awareness, and Social v Influence Geri Gay 2009 Studies ofWork and theWorkplace in HCI: Concepts and Techniques Graham Button andWes Sharrock 2009 Semiotic Engineering Methods for Scientific Research in HCI Clarisse Sieckenius de Souza and Carla Faria Leitão 2009 Common Ground in Electronically Mediated Conversation Andrew Monk 2008 Copyright © 2014 by Morgan & Claypool All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Working Together Apart: Collaboration over the Internet Judith S. Olson and Gary M. Olson www.morganclaypool.com ISBN: 9781608450503 print ISBN: 9781608450510 ebook DOI 0.2200/S00542ED1V01Y201310HCI020 A Publication in the Morgan & Claypool Publishers series SYNTHESIS LECTURES ON HUMAN-CENTERED INFORMATICS #20 Series Editor: John M. Carroll, Penn State University Series ISSN 1946-7680 Print 1946-7699 Electronic Working Together Apart: Collaboration over the Internet Judith S. Olson and Gary M. Olson University of California, Irvine SYNTHESIS LECTURES ON HUMAN-CENTERED INFORMATICS #20 M &C MORGAN & CLAYPOOL PUBLISHERS viii ABSTRACT Increasingly, teams are working together when they are not in the same location, even though there are many challenges to doing so successfully. Here we review the latest insights into these matters, guided by a framework that we have developed during two decades of research on this topic. This framework organizes a series of factors that we have found to differentiate between successful and unsuccessful distributed collaborations. We then review the kinds of technology op- tions that are available today, focusing more on types of technologies rather than specific instances. We describe a database of geographically distributed projects we have studied and introduce the Collaboration Success Wizard, an online tool for assessing past, present, or planned distributed collaborations. We close with a set of recommendations for individuals, managers, and those higher in the organizations who wish to support distance work. KEYWORDS distance work, virtual teams, teamwork, distributed teams, managing virtual teams, communica- tion, coordination, technology support, infrastructure, cyberinfrastructure, team science, trust