| Designing for Networked Communications: Strategies and Development is a book about how we plan, use, and understand the products, dynamic social processes, and tasks upon which depend some of the most vital innovations in the knowledge society—social as well as technological ones. Focusing on various forms of design, implementation, and integration of computer-mediated communication (CMC), the book bridges the academic fields of computer science and communication studies. In this way, an interdisciplinary approach allows us to substantiate the overall argument of this book: The successful designing, integration, and adaptation of networked communications must involve users and actors at all stages of the development process, from the first outline of a strategy for the designing of systems and artefacts to the manner in which they are finally integrated and merged with existing practices, technologies, and media.
Managing complex processes such as these requires the development of strategies that will take into account some of the problems and processes, which can be anticipated. As will be demonstrated repeatedly in the chapters to follow, it is essential to further our understanding of such processes by identifying strategies employed by both developers and users in the dynamic processes of creating and using artefacts and systems. This book contributes substantially to answering some of the questions that arise from such challenges, as it presents the findings from well-documented research projects and in-depth studies of organizational work practices and learning environments. |
