Beyond imprisonment of meaning: Technology facilitating redefining

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• 作者：Sanne Akkerman ; Maarten Overdijk ; Wilfried Admiraal ; Robert Jan Simons
• 关键词：Meaning potential ; Communication technology ; Flexible features ; Evoking features
• 刊名：Computers in Human Behavior
• 出版年：2007
• 出版时间：November 2007
• 年：2007
• 卷：23
• 期：6
• 页码：2998-3011
• 全文大小：165 K

文摘

Defining is a natural and necessary response to an ambiguous world, but causes fixation of categories and perspectives. On the basis of two earlier studies of project groups, we came to argue that redefining, and hence constructing various ways in which one perceives and understands something, enables groups to overcome imprisonment in meaning, establishing continuous development and flexibility. In this article, we first build a rationale for facilitating a process of redefining, to be taken into account when designing technology. Departing from this rationale, we discuss features of groupware technology that permit change by being flexible, and evoke redefining by engaging the user more actively. In so doing, we argue to think along new lines in the design of communication and collaboration technology. This paper proposes a specific perspective on technology, facilitating groups to engage in a productive, creative fashion of exploiting meaning potential.