Name Agnieszka Matysiak Szostek
Advisors Berry Eggen
Website www.smart-surroundings.nl

Informal communication between coworkers is considered as an optimal way to exchange rapid feedback, share local context and reference common depictions. But it comes at a cost: interruptions. If communications are initiated at wrong moments they cause loss of concentration, anxiety and time pressure. But once initiated at right times they serve as natural breaks and provide content for expressive interaction between colleagues. Therefore, designing tools supporting people in handling mediated communications requires understanding of communication negotiation as a dynamic and multidimensional process of managing interactive boundaries dependent on the constantly changing context. In this PhD project we aim at examining how the notion of Social Translucence and Common Ground can serve as basis for designing mechanisms supporting people in managing their communications through different tools supporting mediated communication, like Instant Messaging and e-mail applications.