Meetings in a virtual space: creating a digital document

Improvements in computer network infrastructures and information utilities have led to an increase in the number of social and work interactions carried out `virtually´ by geographically separated group members. In this paper, we describe the design and evaluation of a prototype system that supports synchronous and asynchronous collaboration between researchers separated by space and time. The system provides non-collocated team members with a digital virtual space for information sharing and discussion. For synchronous interactions, our design prioritizes the provision of shared context, real-time discourse, and real-time problem-solving and negotiation between the team members. In the case of asynchronous interactions, we have prioritized the capture of team decision-making and negotiation processes and the representation of these processes in a context-rich, hypertextual document of team problem-solving and negotiation