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Tailoring as Collaboration: The Mediating Role of Multiple Representations and Application Units

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Abstract

In this paper we see tailoring as indirectlong-term collaboration between developers and users:initiated by developers when they build softwaresystems, and responded to by end users when they latertailor the systems. We have identified two features weconsider important when supporting this kind ofcollaboration: multiple representations andapplication units. Their main benefit is that they canenhance communication between developers and users,hence making it easier for users to do the tailoring.We present two tailorable systems we have built totest these ideas. One of the systems (ECHOES) is acollaborative system based on multiplerepresentations, and the other system (BasicDraw) isan individual productivity tool based on multiplerepresentations and application units. We discusslessons learned from the two projects and suggestdirections for future work, including identifying somechallenges that need to be overcome in order to bringend-user tailoring out of the prototyping laboratoryand into user organizations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Engineering, Oslo College, 0254, Oslo, Norway

    Anders I. Mørch

  2. School of Management, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK

    Nikolay D. Mehandjiev

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  1. Anders I. Mørch
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Mørch, A.I., Mehandjiev, N.D. Tailoring as Collaboration: The Mediating Role of Multiple Representations and Application Units. Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) 9, 75–100 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008713826637

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