FROM TAILORING TOAPPROPRIATION SUPPORT:NEGOTIATING GROUPWARE USAGE

This thesis contributes to the field of collaborative information systems and Computer-SupportedCooperative Work (CSCW). It extends the notion of technological support for design activities "inuse" beyond providing the flexibility to tailor collaborative software, to provide means to support theappropriation process of these tools in their application fields.Two long-term studies on the evolution of usages of collaborative software in a German authorityand in a network of freelancers in the field of consulting form the foundation of this work. Based onthe experience there, it was possible to identify user activities that drive the appropriation process andto establish a perspective on the appropriation of a Groupware as a social process. Appropriation canbe described as a collaborative effort of end users, who perform "appropriation activities" to makesense of the software in their work context. Besides activities to configure the software to fit into thetechnological, organisational and individual work context of the users ('Tailoring'), there is a largerarea of technology-related communication, demonstration and negotiation activities aimed atestablishing a shared understanding of how a software artefact works and what it can contribute to theshared work context. The mutual shaping of the technology and organisational contexts resemble anongoing design process that end users perform largely without any involvement of professionaldevelopers.[...]