Abstract
I have designed and implemented an application for collaborative work and socializing for
the design group at the Institute for Informatics (IFI) at the University of Oslo (UIO) and this
thesis will present the results of my particular design and the accompanying design process.
The thesis was written to find out how to improve collaboration and socialization with
design group by undertaking a groupware development project.
The process followed software engineering procedures, and my approach was user oriented,
favoring user collaboration and progress measured in features produced. The users
work patterns and the environment was studied and technologies were researched to see
how the project could be solved. Existing groupware solutions were also considered.
An initial prototype was implemented and evaluated, but did not catch the interest of the
users, even though the group wanted the project to happen and was enthusiastic about it.
After developing another prototype evolving the features of the first one into features that
were usable, more work was put into user-developer interaction analysis. The design
process did not go as expected, with the users reluctant to commit to the project and provide
necessary feedback. This behavior common as many software projects do fail.
The thesis then explores the reasons why this behavior occur and I argue concrete actions
that must take place with the design group to create a creative working environment for the
people there and future students. Initiatives to increase user awareness and group identity
along with a systematic approach to support software engineering are recommended.