APPENDIX 10: INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR EXTRA COPS

Part A: Background

1. What is the structure of the group—who is where?

2. How did the group come into being? (evolution)

3. How is the group progressing now? (evolution)

4. What is the work of the community?

5. What difficulties are there in operating in a distributed environment?

6. And what benefits?

7. Are people members of different groups? (marginals)

Part B: Media

Looking for importance of face-to-face interaction, what media are used for doing different tasks.

1. How do you solve problems?

2. How do you contact colleagues in other locations?

3. What media do you use in the course of your work in the community?

4. Do you meet face-to-face?

• Who with?

• How often?

• Prearranged or ad hoc or both?

• Importance of ad hoc

• How do you get ad hoc with people elsewhere?

5. What do you like/dislike about the media?

6. Do you get help with technical problems from your colleagues in other locations?

7. How do you build up a relationship with your colleagues?

• How important is face-to-face in this?

• How does it work in e-media?

8. How important is it to build up this relationship?

9. How do you develop trust with your colleagues?

10. Would being aware that a colleague was at his/her desk be of benefit?

Part C: Artefacts

1. Do you ever use artefacts such as shared documents in meetings?

   Co-located?

   Distributed?

2. Do you ever work on shared documents with colleagues here?

   What kind?

   What of? How do you develop the document?

3. Do you ever work on shared documents with colleagues in other locations?

   What kind?

   How do you communicate? How do you develop the document?

4. Does the artefact substitute for face-to-face at all?

5. Use of artefacts

   As:

1. Discussion document:

   Does the document serve to drive a discussion; is it a focus of discussion?

2. Collaboration catalyst

   Does working with a shared document highlight areas for further collaboration?

3. Planning

   Do you ever use a joint document for planning?

   Do you create a planning document?

   What is of most use— the process of creating the document or the actual finished product?

4. Reflection

   Does using/working on a shared document cause you to reflect (as a group) on what you are doing?

5. Demo

   Do you ever use any shared artefacts to demonstrate anything to anybody—e.g., how to do something?

6. Problem solving

   Does working on a document or going thorough a document flag up any possible problems that you then turn your minds to as a group?

7. History (minutes)

   Do you record minutes of meetings?

   How do you do this?

8. Clarification of understanding

   Do you ever use the shared document to clarify understandings?

9. Communication tool

   Do you use a shared document as a communication tool?

10. Boundary object

    Does your shared document cross any boundaries?

    What boundaries does it cross?

11. Interpretation

    Do different people get different interpretations of things that are in the document?

    Is this a good or a bad thing?

    Explain.

    How do you cope with different interpretations?

12. Representation propagation

    How does the document get created?

    What input is there?

    Vertical

    Horizontal

Can you show me any examples of artefacts and talk me through what has been done with them?

CD technique—trying to root an account in the past in context

Can I have any examples of shared artefacts?

Where are the documents kept? (intranet, shared folders) Who has access?