Approaching and leave-taking: Negotiating contact in computer-mediated communication

A major difference between face-to-face interaction and computer-mediated communication is how contact negotiation---the way in which people start and end conversations---is managed. Contact negotiation is especially problematic for distributed group members who are separated by distance and thus do not share many of the cues needed to help mediate interaction. An understanding of what resources and cues people use to negotiate making contact when face-to-face identifies ways to design support for contact negotiation in new technology to support remote collaboration. This perspective is used to analyze the design and use experiences with three communication prototypes: Desktop Conferencing Prototype, Montage, and Awarenex. These prototypes use text, video, and graphic indicators to share the cues needed to gracefully start and end conversations. Experiences with using these prototypes focused on how these designs support the interactional commitment of the participants---when they have to commit their attention to an interaction and how flexibly that can be negotiated. Reviewing what we learned from these research experiences identifies directions for future research in supporting contact negotiation in computer-mediated communication.