Making ESSENCE Work
Download as PPT, PDF1 like380 views
The document discusses the goals and challenges of the ESSENCE project, which aims to develop online tools to facilitate structured analysis and dialogue around global issues like climate change. It notes that while argument mapping tools exist, they can be difficult for most users and lack incentives for both creation and use of arguments. The document advocates taking a socio-technical systems approach to develop tool systems tailored to specific collaborative communities, by understanding user goals, roles, and collaboration patterns in their unique context of use.
Making ESSENCE Work
- 1. Making ESSENCE work Aldo de Moor CommunitySense the Netherlands WWW.COMMUNITYSENSE.NL ESSENCE’09 - May 5, 2009
- 2. Mission of ESSENCE? pilot software tools designed to help facilitate structured analysis and dialogue . develop a comprehensive, distilled, visual map of the issues, evidence, arguments and options facing the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, and being tackled by many other networks, which will be available for all to explore and enrich across the web. build a definitive, public collective intelligence resource on the climate change debate. support dialogue that builds common ground, resolves conflict, and re-establishes trust To enhance the ability of people worldwide to collaborate on solving global wicked problems .
- 3. Insufficient use of tools Argument mapping in terms of defining concepts and relations is inherently difficult Maps too large for users to literally continue to see the bigger picture. the functionalities and interfaces are often way too complex for the average user. Who cares? Incentives for argument creation? Incentives for argument use? How are creation and use processes related?
- 4. Towards actionable sensemaking Sensemaking involving Relevant stakeholders Appropriate actions Issues What types of maps? How to put the maps to good use ? What alliances of stakeholders would have an interest in contributing to/making use of the maps? What goal-oriented argumentation needs do these actors have? What are incentives for making actor networks of creators and users of maps self-sustaining? Key question What exact role do tool functionalities play in the purposeful context of their communities of use ?
- 6. Tools in socio-technical context Tool system Mass-media Governments Social system “ climate change policy making” ? Corporations NGOs Institutes Subject matter experts Citizens Journalists
- 7. Collaborative communities Communities Strong, lasting interactions Bonds between members Common space Collaborative communities Common goals Effective/efficient communication Perform/coordinate work Community governance structures/processes Sense of community Common space: Internet + face-to-face Such communities don’t need tools, but services
- 8. Tool systems Tool system the system of integrated and customized information and communication tools tailored to the specific information , communication , and coordination requirements of a collaborative community Tool system levels Systems : “group report writing system” Tools : “blogs”, “courseware”, “authoring support tool” Modules : “position definition/taking”, “argument creation” Functions : “add argument pro”, “add argument con” No standard solutions Socio-technical systems design Collaborative communities need to evaluate the functionalities in their unique context of use Understand the purpose of the technologies in this context Adopt a process view
- 9. Usage context Goals Activities : operationalized goals, with deliverable “ writing a group report” Aspects : abstract goals, across processes and structures “ legitimacy”, “sociability” Actors Detailed role ontologies “ Administrator”, “Facilitator”, “Member” “ WikiChampion”, “WikiZenMaster” “ Position Defender”, “Argument Summarizer”, “Report Conclusion Editor” Domains Professional culture, work practices, …
- 10. Collaboration patterns Patterns Define relatively stable solutions to recurring problems at the right level of abstraction Collaboration patterns Capture socio-technical lessons learnt in optimizing the effectiveness and efficiency of collaboration processes Typology of collaboration patterns (De Moor, 2006) Goal patterns Communication patterns Information patterns Task patterns Meta-patterns
- 11. E-learning case: an enabled communication pattern
- 12. Activation: socio-technical solutions Research problem online collaborative communities Not lack of motivation Many self and other-oriented motives to get critical mass, e.g. in Wikipedia The ESSENCE community has at least the same drive Lack of activation Fragmentation of communicative acts across tool system functionalities Collaborative community activation supporting the initiation , execution , and evaluation of goal -oriented (online) communication processes to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of collaboration R&D objectives Frame these activation problems Model socio-technical design solutions
- 13. ESSENCE systems development Community- tool systems 1 st layer: argumentation tool system Tool functionalities and interoperability Sensemaking processes (gardening, federation) 2 nd layer: external tool system: specific stakeholder services E.g. StateOfTheScienceAndPolitics-service for investigative reporters and policy makers Create – human and technical - “ linking pins ” between maps and services Define collaboration patterns of roles, functionalities, processes and norms Use patterns to configure services Evolve the system!
Editor's Notes
- #2: - communities for e-collaboration