Summary
The authors of this research paper devised an app that allows users to plan collaborative tasks automatically. The app assigns subtasks to the group taking into account dependencies and the skill-level of each member of the group. The researchers found that the app reduces startup time quite considerably.
Reflection
One key feature of this app is that all members of the group are collocated which means none of them is a remote user. This is important since all tasks done to research the effectiveness of the app require the members to be able to communicate and work alongside each other. The researchers are interested in learning if its possible to develop an app that improves the effectiveness of collaborative tasks. To answer this question, they had users perform various tasks with and without using the app. They discovered the app provides marginal improvements across the board with one considerable improvement in startup time. This means, users of the app took fewer time to get started on the task they were assigned.
The outcomes of this research tell us that it is seemingly possible to develop an app that could improve the effectiveness of teams across various different fields. This research was an initial study in improving the collaboration amongst collocated team members while performing physical tasks. The results of this research were not overwhelming but were encouraging nonetheless. Improving effectiveness in teams across industries is highly desirable therefore further research in this field would be welcome. Additionally, the outcomes of this research showed that marginal improvements could be made which raises the possibility of larger improvements provided more research.
The project seemed quite similar to my own research. The app described in the research paper was designed to improve the effectiveness of teams while performing physical work. My app is designed to improve the effectiveness of note-taking by allowing students to work together collaboratively. Both apps are designed to improve teamwork and collaboration with the end goal of improving outputs and minimizing inputs. In the case of the WeBuild app, the output is the deliverable of the task while the output of my app are lecture notes. In both cases, the inputs are effort and time.
The app seems to take a very simplistic approach towards teamwork. For instance, a member of the group may be able to perform a task well and may be skilled in it but that doesn’t mean the member would like to perform the task. Such considerations do not seem to be taken into account by the algorithm. On the other hand, if members are never required to perform a task because they lack the skills, then they would never have the opportunity to build or improve skills relating to that task.