Global Teams: Engaging the paradox: Design prototypes as boundary objects for software development in a global team setting.
Translated title
Global Teams: Engaging the Paradox
Author
Suchocki, Michal
Term
4. Term
Education
Publication year
2020
Submitted on
2020-09-17
Pages
34
Abstract
When COVID-19 hit in 2020, many software companies shifted all their work online. This study examines what happened to design prototypes—the sketches and mock-ups teams use to share ideas—when everyone suddenly worked remotely. It focuses on prototypes as boundary objects: shared artifacts that help different roles (such as designers, developers, and managers) coordinate their work. The study also draws on a pragmatic view of knowledge, which treats knowledge as something people create and use together in practice. Using participatory observations from inside a software company, the research finds that the lack of face-to-face interaction in the early stages of prototyping made these prototypes less effective in their usual role as boundary objects. As a result, prototypes lost some of their central position in the software development process. The study seeks a framework that can better support the role of prototypes under remote-work conditions.
Da COVID-19 ramte i 2020, flyttede mange softwarevirksomheder hele deres arbejde online. Dette studie undersøger, hvad der skete med designprototyper – de skitser og mockups, som teams bruger til at dele idéer – da alle pludselig arbejdede på afstand. Fokus er på prototyper som grænseobjekter (boundary objects): fælles artefakter, der hjælper forskellige roller (fx designere, udviklere og ledere) med at koordinere deres arbejde. Studiet bygger også på et pragmatisk syn på viden, hvor viden forstås som noget, mennesker skaber og bruger sammen i praksis. Med deltagende observationer inde fra en softwarevirksomhed finder studiet, at manglen på fysisk samvær i de tidlige faser af prototyping gjorde prototyper mindre effektive i deres sædvanlige rolle som grænseobjekter. Som følge heraf mistede prototyper noget af deres centrale plads i softwareudviklingsprocessen. Studiet søger et rammeværk, der bedre kan understøtte prototypers rolle under fjernarbejde.
[This apstract has been rewritten with the help of AI based on the project's original abstract]
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