Investigating New Techniques for Developing Meaningful Models of Knowledge Work

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1 Invesigaing New Techniques for Developing Meaningful Models of Knowledge Work Mark Zachry Universiy of Washingon Absrac Wih he proliferaion of neworked digial echnologies and he concurren fragmenaion of work in globalized business organizaions, knowledge work is developing along complex lines ha are no accouned for adequaely in our lieraure. The field of echnical communicaion, for example, is being redefined as is professionals are ariculaed o work pracices ha did no exis monhs earlier. In an aemp o provide a principled means for making sense of such knowledge work, his paper repors on an ongoing effor o develop new echniques for creaing meaningful models of work oday. The paper offers an overview of his research and suggess ways ha his invesigaion will be pursued in he fuure. Keywords: workplace research, knowledge work, visualizaion echniques, genre ecologies, communicaive evens Inroducion In he field of echnical communicaion, models of communicaion in knowledge work have radiionally gained coherence and focus by aending only o aciviies ha operae on he primary ex under consideraion (e.g., he proposal, he whie paper, he documenaion se). These models have aended o such hings as he auhor s drafing, revising, ediing, formaing, and even conversaions reviewing he primary documen. Such focused models have provided a valuable foundaion for undersanding how exs are consiued. Ye, hey also arguably provide oo simple a version of he work associaed wih he developmen of exs in conemporary organizaions ha increasingly rely on disribued digial echnologies. Wih he proliferaion of hese echnologies, he knowledge work associaed wih wriing is ofen disribued across ime and space, and wrien exs are ofen disribued across muliple applicaions o be combined only a he momen of publicaion or delivery. An inelligen, informaics-based approach o modeling would help organizaions ranscend curren models ha are of limied use a bes because hey are predicaed on focused sequences of formal work o generae primary exs (see, for example, he discussion in [10]). Drawing on a se of exploraory sudies conduced by he auhor alone and wih collaboraors (Clay Spinuzzi and William Har-Davidson), his paper discusses an ongoing invesigaion ino how o consruc meaningful informaion abou knowledge work from he hisorical arifacs and evens associaed wih prior work in an organizaion. As discussed in his paper, consrucing meaningful informaion from such sources addresses an ineresing problem in informaion science: How o make sense of knowledge work as i becomes increasingly fragmened disribued in ime, space, and among muliple paricipans. To address his problem, his paper explores he developmen of a modeling approach ha is based on emerging echniques for concepualizing knowledge work. Specifically, his visualizaion approach is designed o model knowledge work by accouning for he use of he digial echnologies ha suppor such work as such echnologies leave hisorical races (records of messages, websies visied, voic messages, projec calendars, version files, ec.). The sysem being developed hrough his projec reconsiues hese and relaed races ino an inelligen sysem for creaing views of he knowledge work. Wih hese visualizaions, in urn, people will be able o creae informaion from recovered evens ha can be used o consider alernaive approaches o such work. Consideraion of such alernaives will allow people o eiher replicae prior successes or aler he srucure of aciviies ha did no yield he desired resul. The sysem being developed will use hisorical race daa o creae differen ypes of visualizaions o suppor analyical work. These views will allow users o gain concepual inelligence abou pas experiences ha hey can hen operaionalize in heir curren aciviies. The models being developed will be relevan o knowledge work /07/$ IEEE

2 generally, as such work is now conduced in disribued environmens ha require he coordinaion of humans, resources, and echnologies. An overall purpose for his research, hen, is o explore new mehods o define and sudy he rapidly changing work of echnical communicaion. Background The research being conduced in his area by he auhor and his collaboraors (Clay Spinuzzi and William Har- Davidson) is consruced around a se of assumpions abou wha needs o be accouned for in a meaningful model of knowledge work. Our working premise is ha a model should 1) accoun for knowledge work in pracice, 2) address pracice as i is consiued wihin meaningful combinaions of evens (i.e., a relaional approach), 3) accommodae he differen ways ha people have of hinking abou exs, and 4) include he mediaional ools wih which knowledge work is accomplished raher han ignore heir inegral relaionship wih hinking and doing The informaion called for in he consrucion of such models is challenging o gaher in ha i calls for real-ime, in siu, and muliple-sourced daa. In his regard, he modeling approach being explored here has some overlap wih knowledge managemen and workflow sysems, hough such sysems have significan limiaions and very seldom are oriened oward helping knowledge workers hemselves reason abou heir own work (see relaed discussion in [10] and [2]). The models we have experimened wih hus far mark progress oward an approach ha mees he four goals above, bu hese preliminary effors sill do no realize he poenial we see in his area. The following discussion, hen, is offered as a record of work in his area o dae as well as an agenda for work o be pursued. ineracion, using iconography and spaial arrangemens o indicae exs, emporal relaionships, and even paricipans. Figure 1 below is one such communicaive even diagram developed as par of his research. Here he several differen proposal projecs are idenified in he verical column, and communicaive exs associaed wih he projecs are ploed according o days of usage along he horizonal axis. Figure 1. A sample communicaive even diagram, represening a one-week span of work for a senior proposal developer. Genre ecology diagrams (see [4]; and also he relaed discussions in [5] and [7]) capure a broader view of relaionships beween genres and oher mediaional arifacs, offering insigh ino sociohisorical relaionships ha enable he accomplishmen of complex human aciviies. Figure 2 below is a sample genre ecology diagram based on a sudy in his area ([1] and [9]). Discussion of Daa Collecion Mehods To dae, he experimenal models ha have been developed o suppor his ongoing invesigaion include communicaive even diagrams and genre ecology diagrams. (For an exended discussion of he raionale behind hese modeling approaches, see [6].) Communicaive even diagrams (see [1]) represen a linear sequence of evens hrough which people have ineraced o share informaion oward he realizaion of some idenifiable end. These sequenced diagrams puncuae he muliple, maerial evens ha consiue goal-driven

3 To undersand he asks involved in knowledge work as i is being enaced, we have had some paricipans mainain a log of heir work for exended periods of ime (7 o 21 days). A sample diary log from one sudy is shown in Table 1. These logs have ypically asked paricipans o selfidenify he communicaive evens ha make up heir work, o idenify ime spen on muliple evens, o lis echnologies employed in he work, and o explain he relaionship of a given even o he overall work ha person is accomplishing. The daa from such logs, hen, have been used o creae (by hand) differen forms of he diagrams described above. Table 1. A Sample Diary Even Log wih Enries Figure 2. A sample genre ecology diagram, offering a visualizaion of he muliple mediaional arifacs and relaionships involved in planning a proposal even. By combining hese wo ypes of diagrams o provide muli-modal views of knowledge work, we have realized some progress oward he modeling approach described above. Tha is, by allowing work pracices o be represened as boh evens and ecologies, we have begun o realize some of he conexually rich represenaions we have been pursuing. However, in our ongoing invesigaion, we are now individually and collecively exploring how oher represenaions migh producively be layered wih communicaive even diagrams and genre ecology models. Socio-echnical graphs [3] as described by Laour e al. appear, for example, o offer a meaningful conribuion in his effor. While he approach(es) o visual represenaion presen a real challenge in his effor, so, oo, does he collecion of daa needed o generae such models. Our daa collecion mehods hus far have relied on labor-inensive mehods in which research paricipans have played an essenial role. Through a series of exploraory sudies of knowledge workers employed in such areas as proposal developmen, publicaions managemen, and websie developmen, differen daa collecions mehods have been considered for developing his modeling approach. The key daa collecion mehods used in his research o dae are briefly described below. Diary Logs Communicaio Conneced Time Tex(s) Technology(ies Explanaion n even o Which (sar / involve ) and oher Projec? end imes) d ools involved Check All 8:40 / M Oulook 8:42 Elecrical 8:42 / M Oulook Edi Enhancemen 8:46 Elecrical 8:46 / M Oulook Edi Enhancemen 8:53 Elecrical 8:53 M Oulook edi Enhancemen /8:54 PRU 8:54 / M; Oulook; 8:55 Word doc; pdf file Phone Calls / PRU 9:18 / Iweb 9:30 Send PRU 9:30/9:3 0 Company reques o read IP manual and sign/reurn acknowledgmen form Trying o ge fax number Phone; compuer M Oulook Asking for fax number For example, Figure 3 is a basic genre ecology diagram based on daa colleced in his sample diary even log. Company Direcory Telephone Word Processor Figure 3. Basic genre ecology diagram based on diary even log show in Table 1. Inerviews Web Browser Applicaion PDF Reader IWeb IP Manual Acknowledge Form Pre-sudy, periodic in-process, and pos-sudy inerviews wih paricipans have offered considerable insighs ino heir work beyond wha has been capured hrough he oher means of daa collecion described here. These

4 inerviews have been paricularly helpful in refining daa collecion mehods o beer capure imporan dimensions of he work being conduced. For example, hough such inerviews we have learned abou he echniques knowledge workers use ouside he office o suppor heir effors on he clock. Sie Visis and Arifac Collecion Firs-hand exploraions of he sies a which he work is being conduced have allowed he research o be responsive o he ofen complex environmenal condiions of knowledge work. In muliple insances, such visis have generaed insigh ino he mediaional arifacs ha suppor work ha is repored in diary logs and inerviews. Paricipans have also shared arifacs (calendars, checkliss, diagrams, ec.) ha play an inegral hough ypically under-examined role in knowledge work. Video Recordings In an aemp o gain a rich undersanding of conexual facors in he conduc of knowledge work, some experimenaion wih filming his work in progress has been aemped. While difficul o conduc, such filming has added considerable daa o undersanding knowledge work as well as he mehods for sudying i. For example, such recordings have offered a way of riangulaing selfrepored daa on diary forms. Compuer Session Recordings Recordings of all sysem evens on paricipans compuers have offered an exensive consellaion of daa poins o be considered in his research. Alhough his approach o daa collecion is less labor-inensive for paricipans, i has axed he capaciy of he compuer processing echnologies of paricipans. Lower-impac means for acquiring similar daa will be explored in fuure research. Fuure Direcions Through he research conduced hus far, several findings have developed ha are guiding fuure work in his area. Firs, i has become clear ha involvemen of he research paricipans has been key in he developmen of appropriae daa collecion mehods and visualizaion echniques. Paricipans have been invaluable in poining ou wha is no being capured hrough he daa collecion echniques a work in a given insance of hese exploraory sudies. Likewise, heir feedback on he models of heir work has helped shape he echniques used o reflec heir work pracices and o envision alernaives. Secondly, in fuure phases of his research, experimenaion wih alernaive forms of visualizaions will be imporan. In paricular, for hese represenaions of knowledge work o be as robus as desired, a greaer degree of auomaion in daa collecion and represenaion is necessary. To suppor his, his ongoing research will be srucured o faciliae he invesigaion of parallels beween our visualizaion echniques and nework applicaions hrough which user-relaed daa (e.g., ags, compiled views, search paerns, applicaion use logs) can be combined wih oher daa sreams o generae composie views ha are meaningful o hose engaged in he knowledge work. Conclusion The sofware-suppored approach o visualizing knowledge work developed hrough his research is designed o advance knowledge abou he cenraliy of communicaion in he knowledge work ha underpins our emerging digial sociey. I should, in fac, provide a new way of undersanding how work is accomplished in digially-mediaed, dynamic organizaions where radiional hierarchical srucures and pre-planned ask flows no longer provide adequae explanaions of how large-scale projecs are accomplished. The approach is specifically being envisioned as a ool for undersanding work pracices and for anicipaing wha choices knowledge workers migh make o refine he communicaive aciviies in which hey engage o realize generalizable goals in recurren siuaions. Furher, his effor is ulimaely designed o advance our collecive undersanding of how echnical and social knowledge can work ogeher o complemen he objecives of human paricipans. Specifically, he underlying logic of hese visualizaions assumes ha while humans always reain agency in how hey decide o employ communicaive evens in heir work aciviies, hey ofen choose o regulae such evens in a ypified fashion [8]. By allowing paricipans o see communicaive evens a boh he macro and micro levels and o view such paerns across many differen hisorical insances, he echnology supporing his approach will allow for alernaive scenarios o be visualized and facored ino emerging plans. References [1] Har-Davidson, W., C. Spinuzzi, and M. Zachry. Capuring & visualizing knowledge work: Resuls & implicaions of a pilo sudy of proposal wriing aciviy. In SIGDOC 07: Proceedings of he 25h annual inernaional conference on design of communicaion. ACM Press, New York, NY. (forhcoming) [2] Har-Davidson, W., C. Spinuzzi, and M. Zachry. Visualizing wriing aciviy as knowledge work: Challenges & opporuniies.

5 In SIGDOC 06: Proceedings of he 24h annual inernaional conference on Design of communicaion. ACM Press, New York, NY, 2006, pp [3] Laour B., P. Mauguin, and G. Teil. A noe on socioechnical graphs. Social Sudies of Science. 22: 33-57, [4] Spinuzzi, C. Modeling genre ecologies. In Proceedings of he 20h annual inernaional conference on compuer documenaion. ACM Press, New York, NY, 2002, pp [5] Spinuzzi, C. Tracing genres hrough organizaions: A socioculural approach o informaion design. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, [6] Spinuzzi, C., W. Har-Davidson, and M. Zachry. Chains and ecologies: Mehodological noes oward a communicaivemediaional model of echnologically mediaed wriing. In SIGDOC 06: Proceedings of he 24h annual inernaional conference on design of communicaion. ACM Press, New York, NY, 2006, pp [7] Spinuzzi, C., and M. Zachry. Genre ecologies: An opensysem approach o undersanding and consrucing documenaion. ACM J. Compuer Documenaion. 24 (3): , [8] Zachry, M. Regulaion and communicaive pracices. In Communicaive pracices in workplaces and he professions: Culural perspecives on he regulaion of discourse and organizaions, Eds. M. Zachry and C. Thralls. Baywood, Amiyville, NY, [9] Zachry, M., W. Har-Davidson, and C. Spinuzzi. Researching proposal developmen: Accouning for he complexiy of designing persuasive exs. In SIGDOC '06: Proceedings of he 24h annual inernaional conference on design of communicaion. ACM Press, New York, NY, 2006, pp [10] Zachry, M., C. Spinuzzi, and W. Har-Davidson. Visual documenaion of knowledge work: An examinaion of compeing approaches. In SIGDOC 07: Proceedings of he 25h annual inernaional conference on design of communicaion. ACM Press, New York, NY. (forhcoming) Abou he Auhor Mark Zachry is associae professor of echnical communicaion a he Universiy of Washingon. His research focuses on he regulaion of communicaive pracices in he workplace. Mos recenly, he has been engaged in he developmen of new research echniques o sudy knowledge work in conex. He is also he edior of Technical Communicaion Quarerly. Professor Zachry can be reached by a zachry[a]u.washingon.edu