Computer mediated communication systems (CMCSs) are increasingly being used to support activities ofvirtual teams, improving information exchange and capacity of these teams. However, the technology thatenables these teams to benefit from effective and timely information exchange suffers from constraints ofmedia richness, limiting the amount of social information that can be transmitted. This missing informationcan affect the formation of trust between members of these teams. In this paper, we conducted anethnographic study to identify behaviors that facilitate the development of trust within face-to-face teams asan opportunity to design interface design objects with similar effects. A key observation was trust tokening,where trust is conveyed through social referents. Trust tokening has the potential to be adapted for use incomputer support systems where establishing interpersonal trust is just as important as face-to-facecollaborations.
展开▼
