Gathering big data for teamwork evaluation with microworlds

Abstract

We identify some of the challenges related with conducting research into teamwork, addressing in particular the data gathering problem, where researchers face multiple tensions derived from different viewpoints regarding what data to gather and how to do it. To address this problem, we propose a microworld approach for conducting research into teamwork. We present the main requirements guiding the microworld development, and discuss a set of components that realise the requirements. Then, we discuss a study that used the developed microworld to evaluate a groupware tool, which was designed to support team activities related to infrastructure maintenance. The paper emphasises the range of data gathered with the microworld, and how it contributed to simultaneously evaluate team behaviour and tool design. The paper reflects on the major contributions brought by the microworld approach, emphasising in particular the capacity to gather diverse data, and to combine behaviour and design evaluations. This research contributes to consolidate the microworld approach in teamwork research. It also contributes to reduce the gap between behavioural-oriented and design-oriented research. The combination of the behaviour-oriented and design-oriented views is of particular importance to design science, since it is founded on iterative cycles of development and evaluation.