Awareness is being informed about when others are active, or when critical events occur in a shared application. For asynchronous shared applications such as Notes, users need to be notified of such changes without necessarily having to open the application and inspect its contents for changes. Again Notes discussion databases have been unsuccessful because users are uncertain when and whether their contributions have been seen and responded to by others. Users may contribute to a discussion, but in the absence of notification it may be some time before others become aware of the change. Furthermore, the absence of notification means that such databases cannot be used for urgent or time critical interactions.
Solutions discussed include polling and specialised server processes.
We are keen to elicit criteria from the audience as well as the panellists. Forms will be distributed at the beginning of the panel. These use the following headings. A. Name and affiliation B. Possible name for criterion. C. Illustration of the problems that arise if this criterion is not met.