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TheEvolve project: Component-based tailorability for CSCW applications

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Abstract

Tailorability is generally regarded as a key property of groupware systems owing to the dynamics and differentiation of cooperative work. This article investigates the use of software components as a generic architectural concept for designing tailorable groupware applications. First, the issues raised by this approach are discussed in the context of an exploratory experiment during which component-based tailorability was applied to a real tailoring problem in thePoliTeam project. The experiment's results led us to concentrate on questions concerning the support of distributed CSCW applications. As a consequence, we have developed theEvolve platform, whose design concepts are described. Furthermore, a concrete example for the application of the approach to the design of a tailorable distributed coordination tool is given. We discuss related work, summarise the current state of the component-based tailorability approach and propose venues of further research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science III, University of Bonn, 53117, Bonn, Germany

    Oliver Stiemerling & Armin B. Cremers

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  1. Oliver Stiemerling
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  2. Armin B. Cremers
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Correspondence to Oliver Stiemerling.

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Stiemerling, O., Cremers, A.B. TheEvolve project: Component-based tailorability for CSCW applications. AI & Soc 14, 120–141 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01206131

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