Summary:
The primary purpose of this paper was to highlight several major reasons (at least to the author), why groupaware software fails. The staple example it provides is that of an electronic calendar and the amount of work required for one group of users (those who schedule) vs. those who just view (those who simply view the schedule). From here, listed are problems such as additional work being required and design process failure due to non-realistic design (design is based upon users similar to designer and not real-world ones). Another important component of this paper was the distinctions made between Multi-user systems vs. Multi-user applications vs. Single-user Applications. With these distinctions, valuable points about organizational change, overall benefits and costs become apparent.
Response:
Overall, I thought this was a significant paper because it highlighted problems that STILL exist today. The staple electronic calendar problem is still a problem today. Although admittedly, Google Calendar has done a pretty good job for some of the problems.
To me however, the most important component of the paper were the distinctions between all the systems. Especially when framing the problems in that of a tabletop application, these problems are further enhanced in my view. In some regards, a tabletop application, with its inherently collaborative nature, can be all 3 of these at the same time, if not separately. Although I have not looked into it extensively, a more modern version of this paper could cover not just systems, but multi or single surface environments.
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