The Activity Circle: Building a Bridge between Workflow Technology and Social Software

Abstract

The paper proposes the Activity circle, a Social Visualization mechanism based on the concept of Social proxy. A Social proxy is a minimalist graphical representation that portrays socially salient aspects of users' interactions. The Activity circle aims to facilitate users in socializing how they perceive the accomplishment of their work activities when these are regulated by workflow management technologies. In particular, the social information visualized by the Activity circle should primarily facilitate people in sharing their attitudes toward used workflow technologies; secondly, this information should aim to create and maintain a common identity among co-workers. Third, it should facilitate the implementation of informal modes of control, i.e., attempts that workers locally make to informally regulate their behavior in order to reach the organization's goals. Finally, this information could also be used by management to understand how much the regulation of work, as imposed by technology, is accepted. The Activity circle will be integrated into novel forms of Workflow Management Systems, i.e., Workflow Management Social Systems; these systems are designed to enhance current workflow management technologies by taking into account socio psychological findings regarding the way people usually interact, in particular focusing on the nature of interactions when Social Visualization approaches are used.