Real-time collaborative editing behavior in U.S. and Japanese distributed teams

Abstract

While there are tools that allow distributed teams to collaboratively edit in real time, little work examines this practice among real teams doing real work. Even less is known about how teams from different countries make use of real-time collaborative editing tools. The current work highlights results from a qualitative user study of real-world Japanese and U.S. distributed work teams who used LiveDeck, a real-time slide editing and whiteboarding tool. Through the implementation of various novel features used as probes, differences in behavior and attitudes between team members were uncovered. Differences in the use of slide navigation options, anonymity features, and pop-up 'emotes' representing nonverbal gestures are discussed. Copyright 2011 ACM.