What is an Activity? Appropriating an Activity-Centric System

1. What is an Activity?Appropriating an Activity-Centric System Svetlana Yarosh Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia, USA Tara Matthews, Thomas Moran, Barton Smith IBM Almaden Research Center, California, USA

2. Activity-Centric Computing (ACC)Seeks to address fragmentation of work across tools & documents by allowing users to organize work around the computation construct of an Activity.

3. Activity-Centric Computing (ACC)Seeks to address fragmentation of work across tools & documents by allowing users to organize work around the computation construct of an Activity. IBM, ActivityExplorer Microsoft, Scalable Fabric Georgia Tech, Giornata Umeå University, UMEA

4. How do I represent work activities in a system? • People have a hard time articulating what an activity is in the early stages of work • Leads to adoption issues for ACC systems • We study how successful users define & represent their work activities in an ACC system to understand how to make this less of a burden for new users Tara Matthews, USER Group Tara Matthews, USER Group 2009.8.26

5. Study of ACC System Appropriation Study usage of active users who had successfully appropriated an ACC system (i.e., adopted & adapted it to fit & evolve existing work practices) ACC System = Lotus Activities • 2+ year deployment • 32,000 users from which to sample (we selected 15 very active users) • 39,000 Activities created • Users used system of their own accord Research questions • What use patterns do active users develop in appropriating Lotus Activities? • How do they divide and structure their work into effective Activities? • How do these findings inform the design of ACC systems? Tara Matthews, USER Group

6. Lotus Activities Tags Objective Tools People Artifacts

7. Participants & Method Participants: Selected 15 highly active users Users # Activities 7,286 1 7,873 2 - 5 20,073 6 - 10 2,234 11 - 50 296 51+ Method • Analyzed content of selected public activities & templates (120 activities) • Open coding • Axial coding following interviews – use patterns evidenced in both content analysis & interviews converged into nine patterns • Semi-structured interviews & system tours (15 active users) Studied active users to understand successfulappropriation Tara Matthews, USER Group

8. Activities Patterns of Use 15 users Complete Activity Partial Activity Unifying Reuse Create a Document Collect Resources Manage Work Units 13 users Manage Personal Tasks Maintain a Team Space 13 users Organize an Event Create a Tutorial 12 users Solve a Problem 11 users 11 users 10 users 10 users 9 users Exchange Formalized Information 4 users 0 users

9. Activities Patterns of Use 15 users Complete Activity Partial Activity Unifying Reuse Create a Document Collect Resources Manage Work Units 13 users Manage Personal Tasks Maintain a Team Space 13 users Organize an Event Create a Tutorial 12 users Solve a Problem 11 users 11 users 10 users 10 users 9 users Exchange Formalized Information 4 users 0 users

10. Activities Patterns of Use 15 users Complete Activity Partial Activity Unifying Reuse Create a Document Collect Resources Manage Work Units 13 users Manage Personal Tasks Maintain a Team Space 13 users Organize an Event Create a Tutorial 12 users Solve a Problem 11 users 11 users 10 users 10 users 9 users Exchange Formalized Information 4 users 0 users

11. Activities Patterns of Use 15 users Complete Activity Partial Activity Unifying Reuse Create a Document Collect Resources Manage Work Units 13 users Manage Personal Tasks Maintain a Team Space 13 users Organize an Event Create a Tutorial 12 users Solve a Problem 11 users 11 users 10 users 10 users 9 users Exchange Formalized Information 4 users 0 users

12. Activities Patterns of Use 15 users Complete Activity Partial Activity Unifying Reuse Create a Document Collect Resources Manage Work Units 13 users Manage Personal Tasks Maintain a Team Space 13 users Organize an Event Create a Tutorial 12 users Solve a Problem 11 users 11 users 10 users 10 users 9 users Exchange Formalized Information 4 users 0 users

13. Activities Patterns of Use 15 users Complete Activity Partial Activity Unifying Reuse Create a Document Collect Resources Manage Work Units 13 users Manage Personal Tasks Maintain a Team Space 13 users Organize an Event Create a Tutorial 12 users Solve a Problem 11 users 11 users 10 users 10 users 9 users Exchange Formalized Information 4 users 0 users

14. manage a set of job-specific work units “Each Activity corresponds to an account, so I call the Activity by the account name and then within there, I have different sections by brand and I put the opportunities within those sections and I notify the appropriate team members.” • Goal: manage your primary work • Method • Create multiple identically-structured “work unit” Activities (e.g., a customer account) • Created from a template, which facilitated work reuse • Often managed as a set (e.g., view status across all units; filter set to specific sub-sets of units) • Tracked status with a code prefix in the Activity title • Heavy use of tagging to provide alternate views • Some units observed: • Customer (Client Relationship Rep.) • Customer & Product (Sr. IT Specialist) • Version (Technical Sales Specialist) • Work Request (Bus. Support IT Analyst) • Proof-of-Concept (Sftwr. Sales Leader) • Customer Report (L3 Service Specialist)

15. manage a job-specific work unit: customer report (also: personal, solve problem) unit definition info to fill in user’s notes required APAR form additional to-dos user does for APARs

16. filled-in version of the customer report APAR number APAR info many tags for finding user’s notes completed & re-uploaded APAR form checked-off to-dos

17. Manage a set of job-specific work units Supplementing existing tools for work outside a workflow “I still definitely use Siebel, because we have to. But, like most CRM systems, they are for reporting only… It’s great for management, but it’s not so great for the sales reps, who have to track their own opportunities and their own communications with the client.” Reuse & sharing “I had to show [a new team member] how to properly do the [customer report]… I just pointed her to the Activity… I didn’t have to do a lot of explaining of the [customer report] process. It was all kind of self-explaining.” User needs • Ability to templatize (for reuse & sharing) • Awareness of status of multiple units • Quick updating of status • Custom views of units Tara Matthews, USER Group

18. Activities Patterns of Use 15 users Complete Activity Partial Activity Unifying Reuse Create a Document Collect Resources Manage Work Units 13 users Manage Personal Tasks Maintain a Team Space 13 users Organize an Event Create a Tutorial 12 users Solve a Problem 11 users 11 users 10 users 10 users 9 users Exchange Formalized Information 4 users 0 users Tara Matthews, USER Group

19. exchange formalized information “What you're looking at here are Lotusphere proposals. I created a template that I asked people to instantiate and fill in what was being requested.” Goal: Manage a workflow where specific info is requested from (often multiple) contributors Methods • Coordinators requested & managed specific info from multiple people • Usually planned out & made into a template • Included detailed instructions requesting specific info & indicating how to “submit” the info to coordinators Activity Centric Computing Research 2008.7.23

20. exchange formalized info: gather feedback about software (primary pattern: solve problem) request for feedback feedback & discussion

21. exchange formalized info: demo request identification code goal of this is to remove email load these requests cause instructions, including how to enable form managers to see this request enter info from step #2 here post-form completion correspondence

22. Exchange formalized information User needs • Provide instructions & specify information needed • Define to whom info will be routed • Manage many completed responses or “submissions” Tara Matthews, USER Group

23. Activities Patterns of Use 15 users Complete Activity Partial Activity Unifying Reuse Create a Document Collect Resources Manage Work Units 13 users Manage Personal Tasks Maintain a Team Space 13 users Organize an Event Create a Tutorial 12 users Solve a Problem 11 users 11 users 10 users 10 users 9 users Exchange Formalized Information 4 users 0 users Tara Matthews, USER Group

24. create a tutorial “I take entries from a several different problems that share some common factor and start a new Activity around that. I invite others to it or make it public and others can now see how to solve this problem. Instead of coming back to me with questions, they can just refer to that.” • Goal: teach others how to do an activity • Methods • Often created by copying a successful Activity (process steps & useful info are already there) • Process tutorials • intended to be instantiated to guide users through a process • created as a template with directions for instantiator on how to use it • advantage over static guides or paper checklists: can be used to create an independent Activity & tailored to the needs of the user carrying it out • Teaching tutorials • intended to be read for educational purposes

25. tutorial: how-to material about a technical topic technical topic collection of documents, links, & how-to info related to this technical topic

26. tutorial: process w/lessons learned for setting up a technology demo (also: process) lessons learned from other users checklist for setting up a technology demo

27. Create a tutorial Needs • Enable finding of tutorials • Motivate people to create or contribute to tutorials • Enable users to distinguish instruction from process Tara Matthews, USER Group

28. Evolution of Activities 15 users Complete Activity Partial Activity Unifying Reuse 1 3 Create a Document Collect Resources 2 Manage Work Units Manage Personal Tasks Maintain a Team Space Organize an Event Create a Tutorial Solve a Problem Exchange Formalized Information 0 users

29. What is an Activity? • The concept of an activity in the real world does not map in a simple way to organizing work in an ACC system • The Activity construct is used to support objectives at various levels of granularity • “The thinking is the startup cost” Complete Activity Partial Activity Unifying Reuse Tara Matthews, USER Group

30. Common Process for Determining Activity Structure • Seeding: Seed structure from previous tools • Evolving: Evolve existing system Activities • Reusing: Reuse successful system Activities Tara Matthews, USER Group

31. Common Process for Determining Activity Structure • Seeding: Seed structure from previous tools • Provide ways to transition data between the previous tools used and a system Activity • Evolving: Evolve existing system Activities • Reusing: Reuse successful system Activities Tara Matthews, USER Group

32. Common Process for Determining Activity Structure • Seeding: Seed structure from previous tools • Provide ways to transition data between the previous tools used and a system Activity • Evolving: Evolve existing system Activities • Provide effective tools for reorganizing Activities, • Selectively propagate Template changes to its Activity instances • Reusing: Reuse successful system Activities Tara Matthews, USER Group

33. Common Process for Determining Activity Structure • Seeding: Seed structure from previous tools • Provide ways to transition data between the previous tools used and a system Activity • Evolving: Evolve existing system Activities • Provide effective tools for reorganizing Activities • Selectively propagate Template changes to its Activity instances • Reusing: Reuse successful system Activities • Improve discoverability of shared Activities • Create incentives for authors to share Tara Matthews, USER Group

34. Opportunities to leverage rich accounts of work An Activity is a rich account of how work was carried out (rather than how it is prescribed). Future opportunities: • Training or knowledge sharing (e.g., tutorials) • Transitioning work among employees • Idea sharing across teams • Accounting for one’s time • Reporting status • Reflecting on past work to solve new problems Tara Matthews, USER Group

35. Conclusion Mapping real work into system “Activity” construct is a challenge for users Study of active users’ patterns of usage & successful strategies showed potential of ACC systems & revealed ways to mitigate this challenge • Explicitly support common patterns identified in this study • managing work units, teams, & personal tasks • producing deliverable outcomes • gathering information • coordinating processes • sharing knowledge • Enable transition from existing tools by suggesting similar, ready-made structures • Support incremental evolution over time & reuse Tara Matthews, USER Group

36. Did you find this interesting? Come to our talk Thursday, 10:30am, “Human-Work Interaction” session Ownership and Evolution of Local Process Representations Thomas Moran, Tara Matthews, Laurian Vega, Barton Smith, James Lin, Stephen Dill Tara Matthews, USER Group

37. Thanks! Lana Yarosh Tara Matthews Thomas Moran Barton Smithlana@cc.gatech.edu tlmatthe@us.ibm.com tpmoran@us.ibm.com basmith@almaden.ibm.com Tara Matthews, USER Group

38. Tara Matthews, USER Group

39. Participant demographics Tara Matthews, USER Group