Cues to common knowledge

We show that asynchronous collaboration can be made more effective by providing cues to common knowledge. We demonstrate this by empirically comparing two user interfaces used to support collaborative work. Our position is that effective collaboration is characterized by more co-ordinated and speculative interaction, and that cues to common knowledge help participants develop common ground for interaction. We also suggest that more effective collaboration is indicated by increased reliance on expectations of others’ knowledge which is characterized by implicit references to shared documents and ideas.